The Korea Professional Golf Association (KPGA) announced on the 6th, “Kim Kyung-tae will return to the Korean Tour as a permanent seed holder.” This year, KPGA changed the permanent seeding qualification from ‘a person with 안전놀이터a career record of 25 or more wins’ to ‘a person with a career of 20 or more wins and winners of four major tournaments’. As a result, the current permanent seed holders are Choi Sang-ho, Choi Kyung-joo, Han Jang-sang, Park Nam-shin, Yang Yong-eun, and Kim Gyeong-tae. Kim Kyung-tae recorded 6 wins in Korea and 14 wins in Japan.
Kim Kyung-tae built a brilliant career from his amateur days. From 2003 to 2006, he wore the Taegeuk mark, and in 2005 and 2006, he won the Japan Amateur Championship consecutively. He also reached the top at the Pocari Energen Open and Samsung Benest Open, which he participated in in 2006. In December of that year, he won gold medals in both individual and team events at the Doha Asian Games.
Kim Kyung-tae, who debuted on the tour in 2007 after turning pro, won his first event of the season, the Tomato Savings Bank Open. He wrote the history of winning his debut match for the first time in KPGA history.
Kim Kyung-tae, who is returning to the Korean Tour after 16 years since 2007, said, “I received many congratulations from his family, acquaintances, and senior and junior players. He is proud and rewarding,” he said.
“This year is the ‘17th year of the tour’. In the early days of entering the tour, senior players who are now active on the senior tour, such as Park Nam-shin, Kang Wook-soon, and Shin Yong-jin, were holding the tour tightly,” he said with a laugh. I am happy that I have done a great job that will remain in my name for the rest of my life.”