INCHEON– During her Hall of Fame golf career that spanned nearly two decades, Pak Se-ri blazed a trail for many that followed her, winning LPGA major championships and inspiring a whole generation of youngsters to pick up the club.
Six years after her retirement, Pak, 44, says she hopes to keep inspiring younger players in other ways, so that they will follow her direction in helping the game grow with charity endeavors.
To that end, Pak has launched Seri Pak Hope Foundation. “Seri Pak World Match,” a charity match play event Pak hosted Monday, with a handful of fellow LPGA legends and a half-dozen Korean tour stars in action, is part of such efforts, too.
“There are a lot of talented young golfers who want to realize their dreams of playing professionally, and I want to create a better environment for those players,” Pak said at a press conference before the charity match play at Bears Best Cheongna Golf Club in Incheon, just west of Seoul.
“Golf has grown so popular over the years in Korea, but I feel that training infrastructure for young players has become worse,” Pak said. “I will try to help our junior golfers gain more experience at an early age.”
Pak hosts a regular Korea LPGA tournament and also holds a junior tournament under her name. She said in addition to helping those already playing the game, she will turn her eyes to less privileged children who can’t afford to play golf.
“Once I keep doing these things to help the new generation, I think other players will follow in my footsteps,” Pak said. “I want to create more opportunities where players of all generations can come together for charitable causes.”
The players played the fourball matches on the front nine, where two partners each played their own balls, and then played the foursome on the back nine, with each player taking turns to hit shots.
For the fourball portion, Pak’s foundation will raise money based on the number of total birdies. For the foursome event, 200 million won (US$139,870) will be donated in the name of the winning team.
Source: Yonhap News Agency