This article was machine-translated from the Korean original. Read the Korean original
01Prologue: A Bowl of Makgeolli, the Price Is Paid by the Companion
Makgeolli at Korean golf course shade houses has, before we knew it, established itself as a culture and a symbol of romance. There is certainly an exotic atmosphere in that moment when you finish the front nine and down a bowl of makgeolli with a plate of buchimgae. Club14 has no intention of denying that romance itself. Up to this point, it is an exquisitely beautiful Korean golf culture.
The problem lies with those who don't stop at just 'one cup.' One glass turns into two, two into three, and the moment you eagerly accept and drink the glass offered by the gentleman at the next table, your fate for the back nine is practically sealed. And the ones who must endure that fate together are not the one who drank, but your companions who must ride in the same cart and walk the same fairway.
While there are many golf media outlets that cover the romance of the clubhouse, few honestly address how that romance ruins the entire back nine. Today, Club14 unsparingly exposes the raw reality of that intoxicated back nine.
0210th Hole Tee Box: Signs of a Disaster That Has Already Begun
The signs of trouble begin the moment I step onto the 10th tee box on the first hole of the back nine. My stance widens slightly compared to usual, my backswing becomes larger, and my voice rises an octave. With a face beaming with baseless confidence that "I'm in really good shape today," I pick up my driver.
And as soon as the swing begins, that problematic motion occurs: head-up. When the impatience to check if the ball was hit meets alcohol, reaction speed becomes uncontrollable. The head turns before impact, and the club face traces a straightforward slice line, sending the ball into the right rough or even further away.
Uh, what's wrong? It was working fine just a moment ago.Anonymous regular at the shade house
I try to find the cause of this slice in the swing path or the grip, but the cause is actually clear. The essence of head-up is the mindset of impatiently checking the result of the ball while the body is floating under the influence of alcohol.
03Playing Partner's Test of Patience: 3 Consecutive Bunker Escapes, Out of Bounds Re-tee Shot
A tipsy golfer's back nine generally follows a similar pattern. Tee shots end up out of bounds or in deep rough, second shots result in fat shots or tops due to lifting the head, and near the green, two or three swings are used to escape bunkers. The time taken for a single hole nearly doubles compared to usual.
What is even more troublesome is that he does not take this situation seriously. He laughs it off, saying, "Oh well, I just came to have fun today," but the fact that he is making the team following him wait for their tee shot and distracting his playing partners does not register on his radar.
There is one point that needs to be addressed here. Drinking at the clubhouse is not merely a matter of ruining your score. Driving a golf cart and swinging a club are actions that require physical balance and split-second judgment, and it is a fact that is clear from common sense that alcohol dulls such judgment. Especially in a self-guided round where you are driving the cart yourself, driving while intoxicated is a matter directly related to the safety of your playing partners, so this is not something to be laughed off as mere "romance." While you may enjoy the luxury of a drink or two with your meal, if you feel you have gone a bit too far, handing over the driving of the cart to your companions is the least you can do out of consideration.
04The truth about the KakaoTalk chat room that evening
When leaving the clubhouse after the round, the intoxicated person returns home lighthearted, retaining only the memory of the good form of the first nine holes. However, that evening, a completely different conversation takes place in the group chat with their playing partners. Belated self-reflection follows, with comments such as, "The back nine was really tough today," and "Should I have tried to keep him in check at the halfway house?"
Next time, I think I should tell them in advance that we'll just have one drink at the shade house before going out.Anonymous companion
If this kind of conversation repeats, that person will eventually quietly be removed from the joining list. Not knowing why requests for rounds have been scarce lately, he fills his glass of makgeolli at another clubhouse the following weekend.
05Editor's Note
Makgeolli at the shade house is a heartwarming scene in Korean golf, and Club14 is not arguing that the culture itself should be eliminated. However, during that brief 30-minute break between the front and back nine, a minimum level of self-control is required to gauge one's own drinking capacity. The difference between someone who finishes the round pleasantly with just one glass and completes the back nine with focus, and someone who drinks over three glasses, exhausting their playing partners by repeatedly lifting their head and hitting fat shots throughout the back nine, is ultimately a matter of 'consideration'.
If you are really craving a drink, I recommend enjoying it leisurely at the clubhouse restaurant after the round is over, instead of at the halfway house. That way, you can preserve both your score and your relationship with your playing partners. In the next issue of [Golf Room Essay], Club14 returns with a proxy battle of high-end watches heating up the clubhouse breakfast table.
