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The 1st hole (par 5) of Blackstone GC (par 72) in Icheon, Gyeonggi-do at 11am on the 15th. Not a time when tunnels are usually crowded, but this day was different. The cloud gallery was crowded. It was a crowd to see Jeon In-ji (28, photo), the “major queen” who participated in the KB Financial Star Championship in the opening match of the Korean Women’s Professional Golf (KLPGA) Korean Tour.
The “Flying Dumbo” members, who used the nickname Jeon In-ji as their fan club name, came up with various items that expressed the “Dumbo” baby elephant. Fans waited for Jeon In-ji’s tee shot with eyes full of anticipation. When Jeon In-ji fires a powerful tee shot, he yells at her “Good shot!” they filled the first hole.
According to the organizers of the competition, 1821 galleries visited the venue as of 4:00 pm on the same day. Considering it was held on a weekday, Thursday, this is an unusually large number. Jeon In-ji was the first contributor to the gallery’s collection. He is considered to be one of the best female golfers in Korea. When he was active on the national tour, she dragged crowds of clouds into every competition he entered. He is also famous as a player who leads local fans on the KLPGA tour in the United States. Before Corona 19, when overseas travel was free, “Flying Dumbo” members went to support away, so the relationship with fans was close.
It is the first time in three years that fans have seen Jeon In-ji’s match on the pitch. This is because Jeon In-ji has participated in the KB Financial Star Championship for the past two years, but has been held with no spectators due to the corona virus. In the US competition, entry to the gallery was allowed since last year, but group support has also been suspended due to restrictions on travel abroad. A member of “Flying Dumbo” said: “It has been 3 years since I have seen the Jeon In-ji match in person” and expressed his emotion with emotion.
Organizational support also attracted attention. From tee shot to second shot and Jeon In-ji putt, they held their breath and cheered for Jeon In-ji. Later, when one of the fans sang “Jeon-in!” while he was in the hole, the others responded by shouting “Fighting!”.
Jeon In-ji, who has long faced domestic fans, showed her unique, bright smile and enjoyed meeting fans. Whenever she hid, she bowed to fans and made eye contact one by one. She finished the first round with a 1 over par and tied for 12th place (at 5pm). I am 4 shots behind the command. In the first half, she continued a tie with a birdie and a bugbear, but the third shot on the 18th hole (par 5) went deep and the game ended in another loss.
In the first round of the day, Minji Park (24) and Jungmin Hong (20), two KLPGA Tour powers, who have scored three wins this season, jointly took the lead with 2 under par.
Reporter Jo Soo-young [email protected]
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