‘The goal is to create a Daegu-Gyeongbuk Park Golf Club’… Kim Ye-jin, CEO of Jincurus

“Keep your arms fixed, spread your legs shoulder-width apart and slightly bend your knees. Move your waist flexibly and hit the ball. Just like golf.”

Jincurus CEO Kim Ye-jin (32) met at a park golf course in Suseong-gu on the 23rd of last month. As she, who had the instructor’s license, told me, I steadied my posture and mind and swung the stick. The result was a missed swing. It’s embarrassing. After receiving coaching to bend my knees and move naturally, I swung the park golf club again. The ball stopped after less than two steps at an adult’s pace. The park golf ball, which is closer to the size of a tennis ball than a golf ball, did not roll even though it was hit with quite a bit of force.

Daegu Gyeongbuk Park Golf infrastructure is quite solid. There are about 40 park golf courses, and about one-third of the nation’s park golf population is gathered in Daegu and Gyeongbuk. CEO Kim acquired Park Golf’s youngest instructor license in 2020 and has been running related businesses for about 5 years, including distributing supplies in Daegu and Gyeongbuk.

-Please introduce Jincurus.

▶Jincurus is a company founded in 2019. We are doing business with park golf as an item. Guidance classes are being conducted not only in Daegu and Gyeongbuk but also in other regions. He also works as a YouTuber to promote park golf. We also distribute park golf supplies and go directly to Japan, the birthplace of park golf, to import the products.

-The sport of park golf is a bit unfamiliar.

▶As the name suggests, it is golf played in the park. It can be understood as a sport for the common people that is more free and expandable than golf, which requires forming a team and having many conditions to meet. Clubs made of wood are used, and the balls are heavy plastic. There are fewer risk factors than golf, so it can be accessed by a variety of age groups. It is a sport that originated in Hokkaido, Japan, but in Korea, each city and county has been building and operating a park golf stadium for welfare purposes since around 2004.

-There must be many people of similar age who play golf.

▶I found it attractive because it was easier and faster to learn than golf. I also liked the fact that, unlike golf, where you have to form a team, it is a sport where you can come alone and hang out with people you don’t know. In general, people in their 50s and 60s enjoy it. In particular, Daegu-Gyeongbuk is so large that about one-third of the nation’s park golf members are concentrated there. The infrastructure is so well-equipped that people deliberately visit Daegu and Gyeongbuk from the metropolitan area. It is a good environment for park golf.

-Did you have any intention for park golf?

▶Originally, I majored in chemical engineering. I studied well since my school days, and even when I entered university, I graduated at the top of my department. I received a scouting offer from a large chemical company, but my parents wanted me to go to pharmacy school, so I prepared for pharmacy school. Actually, I didn’t really have any dreams. I was the type to plan my life according to what my parents told me to do.

-It’s interesting that you suddenly jumped into the park golf business while graduating top of your class and preparing for pharmacy school.

▶In 2017, my younger brother, who was two years older than me, passed away in a fall accident. That incident completely changed my life. My younger brother, who had many dreams and many things he wanted to do, always felt sorry for me when he was alive. The reason was that it felt like living like a doll. My younger brother said that there were many things he wanted to do and that he wanted to start a business with his older sister.

He was a very motivated younger brother, but he passed away in vain. Because he was the younger brother who was greedy for life and had many dreams, I often blamed myself, saying, ‘I should have died while my younger brother lived longer, and I, who was not so greedy, should have died.’ Then I thought that I should live that life for my younger brother.

From then on, I decided to do something challenging. My attitude toward life has changed 180 degrees. The name of the current business, ‘Gincurus’, was also greatly influenced by my younger brother. My younger brother once gave me a flower called Ranunculus. It was made by combining the words ‘Jin’ from the name Yejin and ‘Curus’ from Ranunculus. My younger brother asked me to do business with him.

-Is there a reason why you chose Park Golf as your business?

▶Originally, I wanted to start a different business. My younger brother was in the intensive care unit after the accident. While carefully examining my younger brother there, a good item related to patient hygiene came to mind. Simply put, it is a table cleaner. It has become common now after COVID-19, but around 2017-2018, there were no good products, so I thought I should start a business.

Then, in 2019, my business items were stolen. The company that entrusted the production sold the item through home shopping. Because it was registered as intellectual property rights, I was able to win a legal battle. However, since it was a start-up project carried out as a government project to help young entrepreneurs, it seemed like it would be a headache. I moved on with a feeling of desperation, thinking, ‘Is that the only item I have?’ Then, I started after hearing at a youth representative meeting that the prospects for park golf were good.

-I heard that the age group that enjoys park golf is mainly those in their 60s. I don’t think it would have been easy to reconcile.

▶That’s right. The market target itself is the elderly. Although it is said to be a sport for the common people, it is very territorial. There is a very wary and closed atmosphere. First of all, I thought I should not fall behind in terms of skills, so after deciding to start a business in 2019, I decided to get a leadership certification right away. Whether it rains, snows, or typhoons, I spent two years learning as if I was living in the stadium and practicing as if I were going to die.

I acquired it in 2020, two years later. At that time, he was the youngest person to acquire it. Meanwhile, a rumor unintentionally spread among those who play park golf. The fact that ‘no matter what natural disaster occurs, there is always a young girl who comes to the stadium’ was an interesting thing for the seniors. At that time, it became famous nationwide. After obtaining my instructor’s license, I received inquiries for lessons from all over the country and was able to start my Jincurus business in earnest.

-The YouTube channel ‘Lannon J Park Golf’ operated by Jincurus also has over 10,000 subscribers.

▶Even though park golf may seem simple, lessons are essential. The stadium is not as large as a golf course, but the number of people playing is large. In that situation, you swing the club and the ball rolls around, and if an accident occurs there, at least a fracture will occur. Even if we go out for lessons all over the country, we cannot keep up with the demand because we have only one body.

In particular, Jincurus is active in Daegu and Gyeongbuk, but cannot easily travel to the metropolitan area. Because the park golf infrastructure in the Daegu-Gyeongbuk region is good, there are at least a few hundred members who come directly to Daegu-Gyeongbuk from other regions. I thought it would be a good idea to use YouTube to provide convenience to those people.

-It’s been about 5 years since we started the business, and the results seem to be good. Do you have a goal?

▶One of our goals is to create a club under the company’s name. Park golf will soon be selected as an official Olympic sport, and we are targeting that time. In order to become a coach and director, I plan to go to graduate school and take a professional instructor course. In Korea, there is no professional training program, so we have to create a path.

The long-term goal is to create Jincurus’ own park golf course. It is a large park golf course with good accessibility and 27 holes. I also want to create a space that families can enjoy, as there is a clubhouse, a restaurant, and a cafe.