How did Ho Sung Choi learn to play golf?

More about Choi Ho-sung

He learned to play golf from reading magazines and turned pro less than two years after taking up golf. Choi Ho-sung was born on 23 September 1973.

At age 25, Choi found a job working part-time at Anyang Country Club, which had recently undergone a renovation by architect Robert Trent Jones Jr. to toughen up a layout that was nearly three decades old. Choi had little interest in playing golf on a regular basis … until a management change in 1997. “The general manager of the course encouraged every employee to ‘experience’ golf,” Choi recalls.

So Choi became more serious about the sport, teaching himself golf in a very unique way.

“I had no coaches back then as it’s expensive,” he says, “but there were many golf magazines that I learned from. I would try to copy the golf swings of Tiger Woods, Ernie Els, Annika Sorenstam. All of their swings were in those magazines. Of course, they were all snapshots of the swing, not a video, but I was able to apply by looking at them.”

Tired of drifting from one job to another, and finding more and more enjoyment in playing golf – which, much like fishing, is mostly a solitary experience – Choi took the next step and decided to see if he could make a living as a pro golfer. He started out as a semi-pro, and then turned into a full-time commitment in 2001, seeking playing opportunities in both Korea and Japan. He was 29 years old. “I lived year after year in a struggle,” he told Golf magazine. “But I had the desperate and urgent mindset that golf was all I had. I think that is what made me.”

Source: https://www.pgatour.com/