▲ This photo, provided by Yongin-si, shows Park Se-ri and Mayor Lee Sang-il at the business agreement ceremony. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)

SEOUL, Mar. 14 (Yonhap) -- South Korean former professional golf player Park Se-ri, CEO of Baz International, is gearing up to establish a golf R&D center and a golf theme park in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province.

Park, also dubbed the Golf Empress, inked a business agreement for the development of sports culture in Yongin with Mayor Lee Sang-il at the City Hall on Monday.

Park is widely recognized as the first generation golf player in South Korea, who entered the LPGA in 1998 and won 25 trophies. She then created her own Baz International to contribute to society and foster domestic athletes.

The soon-to-be-established Golf R&D Center will serve as a venue to develop educational programs, plan competitions, raise up future sports leaders and junior golf players, and organize programs that would contribute to the golf craze in South Korea.

The Center will also support promising golf players in Yongin and establish a “Golf Hall of Fame” including PGA, Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA), and Asia.

In addition, the city is also looking forward to establishing a golf theme park, with the tentative name Seri Park, which will combine sports, culture, art, shopping, golf education, and experiential spaces.

Yongin assured that it will provide all kinds of administrative support to realize Park’s business plan. The specific size of the investment and the site for the establishment of the facility are yet to be determined; the city and Baz International will come up with detailed cooperation plans through future discussions.

“This agreement will serve as an opportunity to give hope and confidence to Korean youth golf players who have the dream of becoming the next Park Se-ri,” the Mayor said. “I would like to express my sincere gratitude to CEO Park for choosing Yongin as the next golf city.”

Park also responded, “The most important thing for every sports player, not only golf players, is the environment where one can exercise and practice,” adding, “I wish to encounter gemstones among the players and turn them into shining jewels.”

The legendary golf player then said, “The city of Yongin has the positioning advantage to execute my ever-lasting dream. I have met and discussed with Mayor Lee several times and did receive some awesome feedback. It actually did not take long for me to choose Yongin as the destination for the future Golf Park.”

Park Se-ri reportedly invited Mayor Lee to the luncheon on the last day of her international golf tournament, “Park Se-ri Invitational,” held at Incheon’s Cheongna CC last September. The mayor then invited the iconic golf player to his city for another luncheon last November.

During her visit to the city on Mar. 3, CEO Park expressed her intention to invest in the city as her next step to establishing her own Golf R&D Center and Seri Park.


(This article is translated from Korean to English by Ha eun Lee)

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