A golf industry official I met recently could not hide his bitterness about the "special seed system" the Korea Ladies Professional Golf Association (KLPGA) introduced for the first time this year. Saying it wanted to support veterans and minimize the five- to six-year gap before players become eligible for the Champions Tour at age 40, the KLPGA granted full regular tour cards for this season to Kim Ji-hyun (35), Jang Su-yeon (32), Seo Yeon-jeong (31) and Lee So-young (29) — players who had failed to secure a seed but qualified either as "players active on the regular tour for 10 consecutive years" or as those with "career earnings of at least 2.5 billion won."
KLPGA Tour seeds are divided into seed holders and ranked seed players, with seed holders given priority in tournament entry. The special seed effectively added four players to the existing pool of seed holders, meaning that when they exercise their entry rights, four ranked seed players are shut out of that tournament.
The recipients used up that valuable privilege far too easily. Seo Yeon-jeong recently retired, and Kim Ji-hyun went on maternity leave before the season even began. Lee So-young and Jang Su-yeon, the two still on the course, are languishing between 80th and 100th on the money list.
The association's failure to communicate compounds the disappointment. It reportedly did not even confirm the players' intentions during the selection process. One player who had been weighing retirement and another who was preparing for the qualifying tournament learned they had been chosen only through media reports. The players were said to have been bewildered, asking, "Why am I on this list?"
A tour card is a player's livelihood. A full regular tour seed requires meeting demanding criteria, such as finishing in the top 60 on the previous season's money list. Legends like Pak Se-ri and Park In-bee are honored with "lifetime seeds," but no one questions that because their achievements were overwhelming.
The KLPGA said the special seed would "strengthen the continuity of players' careers and competitive environment and enhance the tour's diversity," but the recipients' actions suggest the opposite. With unilateral administration and seeds squandered to no purpose, a well-intentioned program was buttoned up wrong from the very first button.
