This article was machine-translated from the Korean original. Read the Korean original
01Prologue: The Raw Dignity Revealed the Moment You Take Off Your Clothes
At 12:30 PM on a weekend, on the 18th-hole green of a prestigious members-only course in the Gyeonggi region, men remove their hats to pay their respects to one another, displaying the demeanor of the most noble and gentle gentlemen in the world. The sight of them adjusting the collars of their finely tailored designer golf attire and shaking hands—saying, "I really enjoyed the round today, Chairman," and "Mr. Kim, that birdie putt on the 16th hole earlier was absolutely pro-level"—showcases the quintessential beauty of a gentleman's sport. The weighty aura of these middle-aged golfers, forged by their social status, substantial assets, and years of experience, fills the fairway.
However, this play of sophisticated elegance comes to a tragic end as it shatters into pieces the moment it passes the clubhouse locker room and enters the most closed and raw space known as the 'sauna (shower room).'
In the instant that chairmen and presidents, who used to discuss upper-class etiquette while swinging limited-edition carbon drivers and wearing designer clothes worth millions of won on the fairway, are stripped naked without a single thread of clothing, the wretched and deformed true face of South Korea's senior golfers' etiquette is mercilessly stripped bare. The disgraceful behavior of these individuals—spitting nonchalantly on the shower room tiles, shouting in the hot tub, and misusing shared amenities for private purposes—is the most common and sorrowful tragedy witnessed every week in the saunas of Korea's prestigious golf courses.
Established golf media outlets, busy parroting praises like "enjoy premium healing at the high-end spa facilities of prestigious courses after a round" out of fear of offending major corporate sponsors and luxury resorts, absolutely never publish the reality of these filthy sauna rooms. This is because, to them—who must maintain their media presence by opening the wallets of VIP members—senior members are a sacred and untouchable territory that they dare not touch.
However, Club14, which dissects the hypocritical human nature and bad habits of only 5 million golfers with a sharp microscope, rejects this cartel of silence. This article is a full-scale exposé that vividly and realistically uncovers the 'worst sauna villain behavior' of South Korean senior golfers—whose social status plummets the moment they undress—and targets the etiquette of the 19th and final space where the dignity of a true master is perfected.
02Disgrace 1: Dignity crumbling with a "thud" — The Silent Villain of the Shower Floor
Upon entering the sauna room, the first area that makes golfers frown is the private shower booths and the central drainage area. Here, the most vulgar and unpleasant habits practiced by high-status senior golfers are updated in real time.
The Chairman, who was washing away sweat by drenching his entire body in warm water in his private booth, let out a rough sound as he cleared his throat, and then mercilessly spat saliva or phlegm onto the tiled floor of the shower room. With a "thud," the ugly secretions spreading around the drain were clearly witnessed by his companions or junior golfers standing barefoot in the booth right next to him.
The noble dignity of the chairman, who commanded hundreds of employees and discussed ethical management for a large corporation, evaporates without a trace in the fleeting moment he spits on the shower floor.
What is even more absurd is that no one points this out. Although everyone is inwardly displeased, they simply try to look away, saying things like, "He is an elderly member," or "It would only be tiring for me to argue with him in the bath." The sight of these individuals defecating without being able to control their own minor physiological needs in a public facility shared by others—a sanitary space where people walk barefoot—is the most definitive proof that the etiquette index of Korean senior golfers is not at all proportional to the size of their physical assets.
03Disgraceful Behavior 2: Loud shouting that monopolized the hot tub and 'no-washing' commuters
The second chronic bad habit observed in sauna rooms is the "imperial usage" of seniors who hop back and forth between the hot and cold baths. Even inside the sauna, they attempt to maintain the same power they hold on the fairway.
The most basic bath etiquette is to wash away sweat and impurities using a showerhead before entering the tub. However, some thoughtless senior golfers drag their bodies, drenched in sweat and dust throughout the 18 holes, into the sauna and dive straight into the hot tub like a slam dunk without even looking at the showerhead. These are the very culprits behind the golfers' sweat and oily sunscreen stains that secretly float on the water inside the tub.
The loud singing that fills the bath is an added bonus.
Two old-fashioned bosses of the same age sit side by side in the tub, loudly recounting their swing exploits from the front and back nine holes so that the entire sauna room echoes. "Hey, Mr. Kim, did you see my driver fly 250 meters on the 14th hole earlier, making that sound like the titanium face was tearing? Young kids these days don't know that kind of feel!"
Nearby golfers, who had intended to quietly soak in the heated pool to relieve the fatigue of their round and enjoy some quiet contemplation, are left deafened by the loud, megaphone-like voices of these individuals. Amidst this arrogant sense of entitlement, as if mistaking the sauna room for their own private living room or bedroom, consideration for others and the manners of silence are thoroughly trampled upon.
04Disgraceful Behavior 3: Powder Room Antics — Chairmen Drying Their Entire Body Hair with Hair Dryers
When you come out into the powder room area after finishing the sauna and before getting dressed, the eccentricities of senior golfers reach a truly dumbfounding peak.
The most frown-inducing sight is the overuse of hair dryers. A dryer is, quite literally, a piece of equipment provided by golf courses for communal use to dry hair. However, encountering the backs of seniors standing in this space with both a fan and a dryer on at the same time, boldly spreading their legs to dry their lower bodies and the "intimate(?)" hair all over, is a common tragedy and visual terror found in Korean golf course powder rooms.
They even unhesitatingly engage in behavior with zero hygiene awareness, such as grooming their chest or armpit hair using a shared comb meant for individual hair combing.
The attitude toward shared towels is also utterly petty.
They ruthlessly pull out five or six high-quality towels, even though one is enough to dry their entire body. They dry themselves with one, wipe the water off the floor with their feet, and leave the last one soaking wet on the powder room chair before leaving.
It is a nouveau riche mentality that assumes it does not matter how equipment is wasted simply because it is a membership-based facility that they are legitimately using with their own money. No matter how much they are addressed as "Chairman" or "Advisor" in society or how many hundreds of millions of won they possess as membership cards, the level of etiquette revealed in front of the powder room mirror, where they are completely naked, is no better than that of a homeless person on the street.
05Editor's Note: A true gentleman's dignity is perfected when he takes off his clothes.
Golf is a gentleman's sport. Just as much as adhering to the rules written in the rulebook, showing consideration for others and maintaining good manners in unseen spaces is the highest aesthetic a golfer can attain. Millions of won worth of imported luxury shafts and flashy brand logos may temporarily cover up your outward appearance, but they cannot wash away your embarrassing sauna manners.
The true dignity of a 'single-digit handicap golfer' is not the low number written on the scorecard, but is only truly completed by the self-control of not spitting on the shower floor, the respectful attitude toward caddies and staff, and the beautiful sight of leaving the sauna room spot I used tidy up for the next person.
Before you open the sauna door after finishing your next round, I recommend that you temporarily bury the insignia of your social rank inside the locker and first check your sauna etiquette as nothing more than an honest human being.
Because receiving sincere glances of respect from fellow golfers and juniors in that raw space where you have completely cast off your clothes—rather than the glamour of being dressed—and thinking, "Indeed, even the trajectory of his life is single-digit," is likely the most valuable and greatest 'gentleman's class' you can gain through golf.
