GOLFZON Hosts 3rd International Simulator and On-Course Golf Tournament

GOLFZON announced that it will host its 3rd GOLFZON International Tournament in the Republic of Korea this week. The event follows a distinctive format in which competing players play the same golf course on a simulator and on an actual field, with the world champion determined by a combined 36-hole score.

The 18 finalists will arrive in Korea on Wednesday, October 17. On Thursday, October 18, they will compete in the simulator round on the digitally rendered GOLFZON County Anseong Q course at GOLFZON’s headquarters, Joymaru, in Daejeon. Then, on Friday, October 19, they will play a field round at the actual GOLFZON County Anseong Q. GOLFZON County Anseong Q is a par-72, 7,100-yard public course.

Now in its third edition, this international tournament brings together 18 players from 11 countries to compete for the championship. Finalists from the United States, Korea, Canada, China, Indonesia, Israel, Japan, South Africa, Taiwan, the United Kingdom, and Vietnam advanced through qualifiers held at 150 locations worldwide, including 21 sites across North America. The finalists are the top performers among 1,266 qualifying participants.

From the United States, John Bouldin of Richmond, Texas, and Christopher Wisen of Grand Haven, Michigan, advanced to the finals. The tournament offers more than USD 11,000 in total prizes and rewards.

John Bouldin, 30, works as a social studies teacher and coach of the men’s and women’s golf teams at B.F. Terry High School in Rosenberg, Texas. He previously spent three years in Korea as an ESL English teacher, where he first experienced a golf simulator. Christopher Wisen, 26, works as an accountant and manager and played using a golf simulator at home as a child. He currently uses a GOLFZON simulator installed at the Wisen Asset Management office in Grand Haven, Michigan.

Bouldin said, “It will be interesting to see how play differs between simulator golf and real golf,” adding, “I’ve never played the actual course of one I’ve played on a simulator, so I’m looking forward to seeing for myself just how similar—and how different—the two environments are.”

Chinese players won the championship in the two previous finals. At the 2017 tournament, 12 finalists out of 900 participants from seven countries—the United States, South Africa, Taiwan, Thailand, Japan, China, and Australia—traveled to Korea, and Han Zue Gang of China claimed the individual title. The first international tournament, held in 2016, drew about 900 golfers from seven countries, with 20 reaching the finals. In that November final, Chinese professional golfer Bin Gao became the inaugural champion.

Recalling his 2016 victory, Bin Gao said, “It was an honor to win the first international golf tournament hosted by GOLFZON,” adding, “I was amazed by the outstanding simulation golf skills of players from other countries, and it was an opportunity to enjoy simulation golf just as much as field golf.”

This year’s finalists include John Bouldin and Christopher Wisen of the United States; Wayne Palmer of the United Kingdom; Michael du Plooy and Kyle-Martin Prange of South Africa; Eden Bitzachi of Israel; Gao Kai-huang and Ryu Heng of Korea; Zheng Seong-uk, Zhang Guang-zhe, and Pi O-jin of China; Asakuma Kenjiro and Kudo Yukino of Japan; David Harris of Canada; Jorge Gonzalez of Mexico; Jin Seong-ha and Lee Sang-ho of Vietnam; and Uiro Lim of Indonesia.