This article was machine-translated from the Korean original. Read the Korean original
01Prologue: The Perfect Alibi of 4-Player Play
On weekend mornings, Instagram feeds are plastered with photos of lush green grass, dazzling sunshine, and attractive men and women in stylish golf attire. Harmless and wholesome phrases fill the timeline, such as "Round finished for today! The weather made it perfect" and "Thanks to my playing partners, I couldn't stop smiling throughout the round."
However, anyone who has set foot on the grass of a Korean golf course knows it all. They know that the glances and conversations exchanged on those lush fairways are not always filled solely with such 'pure and wholesome sportsmanship.'
Golf is the most perfect alibi for a legal affair in South Korea. The sight of someone leaving home on a weekend morning with a large golf bag loaded into the trunk exudes the image of a "confident head of the household (or wife) heading out to enjoy a healthy hobby." With just a single phrase like, "I have to leave early because of an early dawn tee-off," or "I'll be late if I have dinner with my companions after the round," one is legally granted over 10 hours of free time.
Moreover, isn't golf a sport that absolutely requires four people to play? If you make up an excuse like, "Honey, I'm going to play with Mr. and Mrs. Kim," or "I arranged to join up with people from the club this time," any room for suspicion will vanish like snow melting.
However, behind that perfect alibi, in every nook and cranny of the deep mountains where carts roam, a 'secret game for adults' is taking place in real time, which most mainstream media turns a blind eye to and keeps quiet about. It is the world of 'Sorting,' the golf world's hottest gossip and open secret.
02Their own slang called 'sorting'
While it may be unfamiliar to the general public who do not play golf, deep within social media, golf bands, and clubs, the word "sorting" is used as a kind of magical idiom. Derived from the English word "sorting," which originally means classifying and arranging data or objects, the term has taken on a completely different meaning in the golf world. Simply put, it refers to "the act of arranging purposeful rounds to balance the male-female ratio," or, more bluntly, "instant meetings and partner matching mediated by golf."
It is reported that the operation of sorting is quite organized and secretive. Closed golf bands or KakaoTalk open chat rooms with thousands of members are identified as the breeding grounds. Rumors circulating in related communities are that if a room administrator or matchmaker posts a message saying, "Joining a sorting group of well-mannered men and women in their 30s and 40s at a prestigious golf course in the Gyeonggi region this weekend," conditions are attached.
The requirements for men are clear: 'Can fully cover green and cart fees,' 'Owner of an imported car,' and 'Good manners are a must.' On the other hand, the requirements for women are quite different: 'Mid-30s or younger,' 'Stylish,' and 'Players over 100 are welcome (skill level irrelevant).'
It is the common testimony of those who have witnessed this culture that the moment this abnormal conditional encounter takes place, the field transforms from a sports arena into a massive outdoor social venue and a stage for exploratory maneuvering. Men purchase a secret round with young and attractive women in exchange for paying the full cost, while women enjoy playing golf at glamorous, prestigious courses, treated well, without the burden of high green fees. And during this 18-hole round, a tense, invisible war of hormones begins inside the golf cart.
03Fatal flirting exchanged on the fairway
It is not uncommon to hear stories both inside and outside the golf course that when observing sorting rounds or couples having an affair from a distance, several signature behavioral patterns distinctly different from those of typical playing partners can be observed.
First is physical contact (skinship) under the pretext of excessive teaching. In a typical golf gathering, rashly giving a tip on a playing partner's swing is a taboo among taboos. This is because the atmosphere is likely to become awkward with comments like, "Did you pay to come here for a lesson?"
However, on the green, the story changes for those with different goals. When the woman pushes back her driver shot in a panic, the man steps in from behind as if he had been waiting for this moment. "Your shoulder turn isn't quite right. Let me catch it for you." As he wraps his arms around her waist and shoulders in a position akin to a back hug, his touch reveals a desire other than a lesson. The woman, seemingly not displeased, responds with a gentle reaction, saying, "Oh my, the ball is going straight now that you're catching it."
Second is the seating arrangement inside the cart. In a typical round, the person with the worst score or the one assisting with the pace sits next to the caddy, while the rest of the playing partners sit comfortably mixed together in the back.
However, the back seats of the carts belonging to those who have hit it off are like magnets that cannot be separated. If the cart even rattles while moving along a steep cart path, their bodies naturally press against each other. It is a well-known fact in the industry that scenes of a man's hand slipping onto a woman's knee, or a woman leaning on a man's shoulder and bursting into laughter, are the "regular highlights" most frequently witnessed by caddies in the snack bar at the back of the cart or the waiting area at the teeing ground. There is even a joke that the more veteran a caddy is, the more they can sense how much tip the couple will receive today, or whether they are actually a married couple, within three holes just by observing this atmosphere.
04Why golf of all things? Money, time, and the ostentation of class
Then why do so many adult men and women get so intensely entangled in the genre of 'golf' of all things, leaving other hobbies behind? The reason is simple. It is because the 'barrier to entry' that golf possesses most perfectly satisfies the pretension and needs of both men and women.
In the world of extramarital affairs and nightlife, the most critical factor is verifying the other person's identity. People are extremely reluctant to meet just anyone and risk being scammed or having their fun ruined because their social standing doesn't match. Golf automatically handles this filtering process. Playing a round on the weekend costs at least 400,000 to 500,000 won in cash, covering green fees, cart fees, caddie fees, and meals. When factoring in equipment and apparel, the very act of playing golf serves as a valid identification card proving a certain level of financial capability.
To this, 'spare time' is added. A man who can leave the city center during weekday daytime hours to appear at a relaxed golf course on the outskirts is highly likely to be a professional free from workplace pressure, a private business owner, or a person of considerable wealth.
Women, too, can maximize and showcase their charm on the golf course. Tight golf wear and short skirts that reveal the body's lines are far more daring and provocative than everyday urban wear. Men flaunt their economic power and social status, while women use their youth and beauty as weapons, effectively exchanging cards on the runway that is the fairway.
05The 19th hole, the start of the real game
The moment you step out of the shower at the clubhouse, the official 18 holes of golf are over. However, it is said that for couples on dates and those having affairs, the real game is just beginning. This is the after-party known as the so-called '19th hole.'
If you move to a secluded and quiet Korean beef specialty restaurant or grilled eel place near the golf course, the atmosphere rapidly heats up as the adrenaline built up from hitting long drives during the day mixes with cold beer and strong whiskey. Before you know it, the quarter-hour conversation shared during the day escalates into discussions about personal loneliness, subtle complaints about one's spouse, and direct expressions of affection for one another.
Those who have experienced this culture say that the host who arranged the pairing discreetly glances around and steps aside, or that a timing naturally arrives for the two couples to split up. The sight of cars loaded with golf bags standing out in the parking lots of accommodations—which are densely packed and brightly lit around golf course interchanges (ICs) on weekend evenings—adds credence to these stories.
06Editor's Note: To golfers lost on the illusory green
Of course, not all golfers are like this. The vast majority of golfers still love golf as a sport where they stay up late to lower their scores, take care of the turf every weekend, and sweat honestly.
However, as long as Korea’s uniquely deformed golf culture—a bizarre combination of money, vanity, and sexual desire—exists, the secret world behind the cart will continue to grow. To those who indulge in each other's hands while wearing the mask of sports, the trajectory of the golf ball is irrelevant. Their only interest is the clandestine distance the ball travels to reach one another.
Tonight, too, an alarm will undoubtedly ring on some golf band. "Weekend men's and women's sorting join, looking for a boss with good manners and a thick wallet." If your husband or wife is grinning as they pack their golf bag every weekend, citing the weather as an excuse, you might want to suspect that the temperature in the back seat of the cart is hotter than the 14 clubs inside that bag.
Club14’s spicy radar continues in the next issue, revealing the raw, unvarnished truth of the Korean golf course that conventional golf magazines, which are obsessed with advertising and sponsorships, can never capture. In the next installment, we will return with the editor’s timid and pathetic rebellion against the wicked profiteering culture of Korean golf course clubhouses, titled "[Off the Field] 20,000 Won for a Cup of Cappuccino? The Reason I Hide a Whiskey Vial in My Bag."
