Lee Sung-hoon, a referee with the Korea Golf Association, served as a rules official at the U.S. Women's Open, a major tournament held this June at Riviera Country Club near Los Angeles. He was the only referee based in Korea to receive an invitation. A former finance professional who later ran a golf equipment company, Lee has continued his relationship with the sport by turning to officiating. This uncommon young rules official in his 50s combines fair-minded reason with a warm sensibility, drawing attention as a fresh presence both on and off the course. Now serving as a member of The Seoul Economic Daily's selection committee for Korea's Top 10 golf courses, he envisions a future as a world-class rules official.
From Global Golf Equipment CEO to Rules Official
Golf became his profession in 2011. After handling finance at a previous company, he joined the board of the U.S. headquarters of Acushnet Company, which owns the global golf equipment brands Titleist and FJ (FootJoy). At the time, Acushnet President Wally Uihlein saw both his professional ability and his serious approach to golf, and offered him the position of chief executive of Acushnet Korea on the spot.
Lee spent an intense period as CEO of Acushnet Korea. He worked tirelessly, overseeing the overhaul of the company's operating systems and the expansion of its business, and his affection and sincerity toward the game of golf grew deeper still. After stepping down in 2019, while considering his next path, he was encouraged by a Korea Golf Association official to become a referee and took on the challenge. "I was drawn by the idea that I could stay in the field of golf by drawing on my passion and knowledge of the game and my foreign-language skills," he said. "I studied hard for about a year."
A Demanding but Rewarding Volunteer Role
After completing the process to become a rules official and being deployed at a tournament, he felt overwhelmed. In his early days as a referee, he said, "when a radio call came in requesting a ruling, my heart would pound." Then came a moment that shaped his sense of vocation. It happened at the 2022 Korea Junior Golf Championship. A young high school player, after receiving relief, cheerfully greeted him: "Thank you, sir." Time passed, and this June came the scene at Riviera Country Club, host of the U.S. Women's Open. When a rules situation arose on the 15th hole in the first round and he arrived, the player who had called was the very same one from four years earlier. Unfortunately, the situation did not allow relief in the player's favor. Once again, the player replied brightly, "Yes, I understand." Without a single word of complaint, she struck a fantastic low-trajectory punch shot through a narrow gap between a tree blocking her view and an immovable temporary obstruction, landing the ball safely on the fairway. "Without realizing it, I let out a 'Beauty!' and felt a little embarrassed," Lee said. "At that moment, a sense of pride I couldn't quite explain brought a smile to my face. I thought that both that player, once so young, and I, once a novice referee, were growing together through these tournaments." The subject of the story is Kim Min-sol, who this season is aiming to claim both the Rookie of the Year and the money title on the Korea Ladies Professional Golf Association (KLPGA) tour.
Lee continued. "A rules official is essentially a volunteer role that comes with no financial reward. You can never neglect the demanding study of the rules, and the work is physically and mentally intense — you cannot let your guard down on the course from dawn to sunset, whether in scorching heat or in the cold of wind and rain. The morning after I returned from the U.S. Women's Open, I headed to Lakewood Country Club in Yangju, Gyeonggi Province, to work at the Korea Women's Open. There, I was in charge of the 18th hole and was able to watch from the closest vantage point as Kim Min-sol won in a playoff. I think this kind of fulfillment is why rules officials, myself included, take on this challenging work."
Dreaming of Advancing Korea's Golf Culture and Officiating Internationally
Last year, Lee earned R&A-certified Level 3 qualification at St Andrews in Scotland. This year he also obtained the U.S. Golf Association's (USGA) Expert Rules Certification, the highest grade required to qualify as a rules official at open tournaments run by the USGA.
What are the rules and principles of play he values most? "Play the ball as it lies, and if you break a rule, simply apply the penalty to yourself fairly — that's all there is to it," he answered. "If you get four touches in volleyball to send the ball over, it's no longer volleyball," he said. "Why go to the trouble and expense of finding a golf course only to ignore the rules and turn it into a driving range?" He was emphasizing the spirit of the game of golf and self-governance.
Lee, a standard-bearer among officials in his 50s, is full of drive. "Despite the ongoing efforts of the R&A and the USGA, the rules of golf are not easy to understand, and translating the English into Korean makes them even harder. Given the chance, I want to build up a full understanding of and reflection on the entire system and principles of the rules, so that I can help Korean golfers understand and apply the rules more easily and accurately. And when I visited the Old Course at St Andrews for training last year, I stood on the Swilcan Bridge at the 18th hole and resolved that one day I would become a skilled referee invited to The Open. I intend to keep that resolution in mind and work toward it."
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10 Questions, 10 Answers | Lee Sung-hoon, Korea Golf Association Referee
1 Years playing and average score
"This is my 20th year since I first picked up a club, and it has been a little over 10 years since I started learning and playing golf properly, when I joined Acushnet Korea in 2015. My handicap is 9 based on the blue tees."
2 What's in my bag?
"Everything from driver to wedges is Titleist. I've never felt the need to use anything other than products from the No. 1 brand, which offers the best fitting service. My putter is a Scotty Cameron, my ball is the Titleist Pro V1x, and my glove and shoes are all FJ."
3 The impact golf has had on my life
"When I was invited to Augusta National Golf Club in 2015, I was reading about Bobby Jones — the founder of the Masters Tournament and a man regarded as a sage of golf — and a passage struck me. It's the one I still keep on my KakaoTalk profile: 'In life, as in golf, we play the ball as it lies.' I think that captures the impact golf has had on my life. Just as a well-struck ball can end up in a divot mark on the fairway, our lives too can meet unexpected misfortune or hardship. At such times, instead of complaining, 'Why does this only happen to me?', the message is to think that it was you, the player, who brought the ball to that spot. I understand it as meaning that you should accept reality with a responsible attitude and focus on the best possible next stroke from that situation. His encouragement to carry on with life in that spirit, and that spirit of golf, have been a great source of strength for me in living a life that has not been easy."
4 What are your criteria when evaluating a golf course?
"Among various evaluation criteria, I focus on the course's strategy factors and playability — such as its risk-reward profile, meaning whether the course is designed so that a player who takes a risk with an aggressive shot receives a fitting reward."
5 What are your criteria on the service side, including the clubhouse?
"I pay close attention to whether the teeing areas, fairways, bunkers and putting greens are well maintained so that golfers can enjoy a pleasant round, and whether tee-time intervals and waiting times after nine holes are managed reasonably."
6 Your personal favorite domestic golf course and why
"Jack Nicklaus Golf Club Korea. Because I think it's a course designed with careful thought given to the risk-versus-reward consideration I mentioned earlier."
7 The type of golf course you personally dislike
"Courses where the fairways are excessively wide and demand no strategic choices from the player; where the tee-shot landing area is not secured at a reasonable level; where the green speed is slow, under 2.7 meters; where blind holes and uphill and downhill holes make up too large a proportion; or where so many groups are accepted that waiting occurs on the course throughout the round."
8 Domestic golf courses you'd like to visit and why
"I don't think there's a prestigious course in the Seoul, Gyeonggi or Gangwon regions I haven't been to. I'd like to visit local prestigious courses such as Asiad Country Club whenever the chance arises."
9 People you'd like to play golf with, and those you wouldn't want to play with twice
"Any golfer who is considerate of their playing partners while focusing on their own play is always welcome. I decline partners who take rule violations for granted — those who claim that the rules differ for pros and amateurs and apply the 'one-in-all-in' scoring convention, overuse mulligans, play from the middle of the fairway when taking penalty relief, or move a ball at rest before hitting it. Such golfers undermine the credibility of the score, draining the tension and enjoyment from the game. I also don't want to play again with partners who blame others for the results of their own poor strokes and sour the mood, or who treat caddies and course staff carelessly."
10 What is your golf motto?
"A player plays in accordance with the rules and the spirit of the game of golf. It comes from Rule 1 of the Rules of Golf."
