Golf in Korea – Fairway Journal

  If you’ve played golf in the U.S. or Europe, you know the rule: hit it Out of Bounds (OB), and you march back to the tee. Same with a water hazard — you either re-tee or drop under Rule 17. Painful, slow, and often embarrassing. But in Korea? You almost never go back. 📌 What Are OB and Hazard Tees? Korean courses often set up special forward tee boxes called OB Tees or Hazard Tees . OB Tee : When your shot goes Out of Bounds, instead of walking back, you proceed to a designated OB tee up ahead and continue play with a penalty. Hazard Tee : Same idea, but for penalty areas (water hazards, lateral hazards). You don’t re-tee or measure relief — you just move to the hazard tee and play on. This system is not part of the USGA/R&A official rules. It’s a local adaptation for pace of play. 💡 Why Korea Does This Pace of Play → Korean golf is fast-paced; foursomes must keep moving. Course Culture → Tee times are tightly scheduled, and slow play is frowned upon...

 

Want to capture every valuable moment of your golf rounds and manage your progress systematically? Fairway Pro is more than just a scorecard; it's a smart logbook designed to take your golf game to the next level. 🏌️‍♂️ Intuitive Score Entry We’ve removed all the clutter, so you can focus entirely on the round. Simply enter the score , fairway hit (FW) , and putts for each hole, and all your stats are calculated automatically. 📊 Round Analysis at a Glance Your entered data is automatically analyzed and neatly organized on the round summary page. Now you can instantly check your GIR (Greens in Regulation) and average putts to easily pinpoint areas for improvement. 💡 Key Features Effortless Score Entry : Just a few taps to log your score, drive, and putts. Real-time Round Calculation : See your current score and stats as you play. Automatic Round Summary : Get an instant stat report after every round. Round Log History : Keep all your past rounds in one place for easy review. ✨...

⛳ OK is a Gimme in Korea! When foreigners play golf in Korea for the first time, one cultural detail often causes confusion: the little word OK . If you blurt out this harmless word, OK on the green, you’re allowing your playing partner to waive that putt—however far away it is. So in Korea, OK on the green may not always be okay for you. 📌 So, What Is an OK Putt in Korea? Simple definition: If your ball is within a short distance of the hole (usually inside the length of a putter shaft—or even more, depending on the handicap), your partner says OK , and you pick it up without putting. Examples: 30cm tap-in → “OK!” 50cm downhill slider → “OK!” (sometimes too generous!) 💡 Why Koreans Use It Korean golf culture emphasizes speed and group harmony. Courses are busy, tee times are tight, and rounds are always in foursomes with caddies. Reasons for the OK putt rule: Pace of Play → Keeps the game moving smoothly. Social Courtesy → Seen as polite and generous to your partner...

  Sometimes I just wonder if the AI is toying with me

"I didn’t even sweat during job interviews… but this? This made me nervous."

 ⛳ A Fun, Random, and Beginner-Friendly Korean Golf Tradition What Is the Bbopgi Game? If you’re new to golf betting in Korea, you might hear someone say, “Let’s play bbopgi today.” It’s a game I personally learned when I first started playing for money — and it’s perfect for golfers with very different skill levels. Why? Because bbopgi isn’t about skill alone — luck plays a huge role. 🔄  How It Works The game is played without handicaps (no “strokes given”) because the randomness naturally evens things out. The basic concept is similar to skins : Each hole has a set prize (money, drinks, or points). The winning team for that hole takes the prize. The twist? The teams don’t stay the same. 1. Team Selection (after playing each hole) Use 5 sticks (or cards) to decide teams after playing each hole: 2 red sticks (Team Red) 2 blue sticks (Team Blue) 1 black stick (the “Joker”) The black stick acts as a wild card — often counted as a bogey re...

Why I Ended Up Practicing Golf in a Dress that Day I’m a true night owl, and honestly, unless it’s for golf, I rarely step outside. Call me an expensive homebody. But on September 6, I made the exception and went all the way to Gangnam—to meet my friend’s son. And because I’m a hardcore J (yes, MBTI J-type to the bone) and secretly wanted to hear “You’re the best auntie ever,” I searched for something fun we could do together. I ended up booking a game I had tried twice before—Jumping Battle, the stepping-pad game. (Sorry in advance, my friend. 😂) How It Works You enter a small room full of stepping pads.  (Depending on the group size, there are 3 room size options to choose from. We chose the smallest) The rules are simple: Green = safe Blue = points Red = minus points You stand on green, avoid the red, and step on as many blue pads as possible. Easy, right? The price was reasonable too: about 7,000 KRW for adults and 5,000 KRW for kids. With three of us, the total came...

Why is there already an app with the same name… that was released just two months ago?!" ⛳ The Name Sprial I picked the first name that came to mind, made a logo, even edited a promo video. And two days before submission — bam. I discovered the exact same name was already on the Apple App Store. It wasn’t trademarked, but still… what if I get sued over my tiny hobby app? Meanwhile, the Google Play listing was fine, which only made it more confusing. 😱 Meltdown Mode I had already: Designed a logo Made an intro video Even started instagram with the id FairwayJournal Pro Now? All useless. All because of one name. 🤯 Denial I told myself: “It’s fine, it’s only on Google Play…” “They didn’t even trademark it…” “I wasn’t going to publish to iOS anyway…” But deep down, I knew I couldn’t risk it. Too much of a coward to do anything risky. 📝 Endless Naming  So began the great renaming quest. With both ChatGPT and Gemini open, I spammed ideas. The ...

 

🌱 Round Conditions ★★☆☆☆ Wow… I’ve been to Uni-Island GC several times, but this round was the worst yet. The fairways were completely burnt out, and with rain the night before, it was just muddy and soggy. The greens were clean but frustratingly slow even at midday — around 2.4 speed! Source: Uniisland webpage Pros Not a short course, with subtle undulation that makes for fun strategy. Known among my friends as a PB-friendly course (though I’ve never gone low here myself). For a kentucky bluegrass course, the price is usually great — excellent value when conditions are good. Famous for its saltwater bathhouse. Cons Need to allocate more time than the distance: you have to travel island-to-island to get there, and if there’s a jam, there’s only one road in and out... so a 1 hour drive can easily turn into 1.5 hour drive, to say at the least. Course condition right now is not worth the long trip. Food is mediocre (Honestly, the ssambap restaurant just outsi...

  "I said it would be simple — buy why do I keep adding features?" ⛳ The Original Plan: Keep It Light and Simple When I first started, my vision was a clean, lightweight golf app : Score Input → Par, driver shape, putts, score Stats → 5/10 round averages, driver tendency, GIR, average putts, best/worst scores Scorecard → Simple/detailed PDF Settings → Language toggle (KR/EN), save/load rounds, profile, privacy That was it. A neat little companion to review my rounds at home. 📈 What Happened: The Maximalist Instinct Kicked In But waiting 14 days for the closed test was torture. With 5 days left, the “final-final-final” build spiraled into this: Score Input → secretly added Fairway Hit tracking Stats → one-round summary stats, FH %, trend graph Scorecard → in-app webview preview (smartphone-friendly) UI → split-screen optimization for tablets & Galaxy Fold Extra → bug report link (hey, it’s paid, right?) 🌱 The “Hidden” Fair...

 Great Service — But Not Without Its Downsides Intro After a few rounds of golf in Korea, you might start to notice something — you’re not quite playing the same game you would abroad. Caddies make things easier, but sometimes… they can make your 5-hour round very miserable. In Korea, they’re mandatory, so you’re stuck with them whether you like it or not. 1) The Bad Caddie All the services that feel like benefits that I mentioned in my previous post can quickly turn into disadvantages if you get a bad or rookie caddie. They bring all your clubs — but what if they bring the wrong one? Or someone else’s? They read the green for you — but what if their read is completely off? Of course, it’s not 100% their fault. You’re still responsible for your own clubs and decisions. But if your caddie is inexperienced, there will be consequences for your score and your experience. 2) The Cost Adds Up Standard fee: ₩120,000–₩160,000 per round (shared among four players) Over...

  Red 100+ gang… we’ve all been there 😭 But one day, we’re going green 💚 #SingleLife (the golf one 😂)

📌 The Sad Tale of How I Ended Up With Two Apps Back in episode 5, I had a bold plan: recoup my $25 Google Play developer fee by selling my app to my friends. But because I foolishly registered it as a  free  app at the very start, that dream died quickly. (Remember: You can start paid → switch to free, but you can’t go free → paid. Ever. Please tattoo this in your brain.) Without knowing this, I—your friendly neighborhood fool—hired a freelancer on Kmong (₩50,000 gone) to run a 14-day closed test (12 testers)  on the free app . (Gemini said if I didn’t have friends, I should do it that way.) You hear that sound? That’s the sound of money bleeding out twice as fast. 💸💸 (₩100,000 down.) ⚙️ Registering a Paid App + The Verification Hell Because I was going to make at least five friends pay for it, I registered a separate paid version. Registering a paid app is a pain: Account verification If you’re Korean, you need a business license/telecom registration number Wait a day...