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Night Golf Is Taking Over South Korea

Night Golf Is Taking Over South Korea

City lights shimmer in the distance.

Shadows splay in every direction on glowing green grass.

It’s close to midnight, the moon hangs high in the dark night sky, and South Koreans are still outside, golfing.

This is “white night” golf, a nocturnal sports phenomenon in South Korea that reflects the still surging popularity of the sport there, the persistent challenges many encounter in nabbing a tee time in the country’s dense cities, and the lengths some will nevertheless go to get one.

South Korea is the third-largest market for golf in the world, behind only the United States and Japan.

For golf fans worldwide, the game’s grip on the country is most easily observed in its surplus of elite professional players, particularly in the women’s game. As of last week, 32 of the top 100 players in the women’s world rankings, including 4 of the top 10, were from South Korea.

But on the ground, golf is very much a participatory pastime, even if the popularity of the sport and the undersupply of courses in metropolitan areas make opportunities to actually play scarce and expensive. Seoul, a city of nearly 10 million people, has only one course, and it is open only to military personnel.

Some make do with screen golf, a virtual simulation game played indoors, which has become its own booming pastime in South Korea, with some facilities offering 24-hour service.

But golfers understandably desire the real thing. So what do you do when the demand for tee times outstrips the sunlight in a given day?