紐時賞析／南韓高球熱 愈晚愈來勁

Night Golf Is Taking Over South Korea

南韓高球熱 愈晚愈來勁

City lights shimmer in the distance.

城市燈光在遠處閃爍。

Shadows splay in every direction on glowing green grass.

陰影在閃閃發光的綠色草地上向四面八方伸展。

It’s close to midnight, the moon hangs high in the dark night sky, and South Koreans are still outside, golfing.

現時已接近午夜，月亮高懸在漆黑夜空中，南韓民眾仍在戶外打高爾夫球。

This is “white night” golf, a nocturnal sports phenomenon in South Korea that reflects the still surging popularity of the sport there, the persistent challenges many encounter in nabbing a tee time in the country’s dense cities and the lengths to which some will nevertheless go to get one.

這就是「白夜」高球，南韓一種夜間運動現象，反映高球在南韓人氣持續攀升，許多人在人口密集城市內要預約打球遇到挑戰，不過有些人還是想辦法要打到球。

South Korea is the third-largest market for golf in the world, behind only the United States and Japan.

南韓是世界第三大高球市場，僅次於美國和日本。

For golf fans worldwide, the game’s grip on the country is most easily observed in its surplus of elite professional players, particularly in the women’s game. As of last week, 32 of the top 100 players in the women’s world rankings, including four of the top 10, were from South Korea.

對世界各地球迷來說，高球對南韓的吸引力，從菁英職業球員充斥南韓人最容易看出，尤其女子高球界。截至上周，世界排名前100的女子高球選手有32人來自南韓，前10名就有4位。

But on the ground, golf is very much a participatory pastime, even if the popularity of the sport and the undersupply of courses in metropolitan areas make opportunities to actually play scarce and expensive. Seoul, a city of nearly 10 million people, has only one course, and it is open only to military personnel.

但在當地，高球主要是一種大家親自下場的消遣，即便這種運動太受歡迎加上都會區球場供應不足，使得打球機會很少又昂貴。擁有近1000萬人口的首爾只有一個球場，且只對軍人開放。

Some make do with screen golf, a virtual simulation game played indoors, which has become its own booming pastime in South Korea, with some facilities offering 24-hour service.

有些人只好改玩螢幕高爾夫，這是一種在室內玩的虛擬模擬遊戲，在南韓已成為蓬勃發展的娛樂，一些場所提供24小時服務。

But golfers understandably desire the real thing. So what do you do when the demand for tee times outstrips the sunlight in a given day?

但可以理解的是，打高球的人渴望真實的東西，因此當某天打球時間的需求量超過日照時間，你該怎麼辦？

According to Seo Chun-beom, president of the Korea Leisure Industry Institute, South Korea now boasts a whopping 117 golf courses of 18 holes or more that offer nighttime play for willing golfers, with tee times as late as 8 p.m. Seo said there are countless other 9-hole courses that also feature floodlights and do not close until midnight or later.

韓國休閒產業研究所所長徐千範說，南韓目前有117座18洞或以上的高球場，可讓想打球的人在夜間打球，打球時間到晚上8點。 徐俊範說，還有其他無數個9洞球場也設有探照燈，開到午夜或是更晚。

Many people from Seoul, for instance, make the trek to Sky 72 Golf & Resort in Incheon, close to the area’s main international airport, where 2,700 lights have been installed to illuminate 36 of the facility’s 72 holes.

例如，很多來自首爾的人，會長途跋涉到靠近當地主要國際機場的仁川Sky 72高球渡假村，該處設有2700盞探照燈，能照亮72個洞當中的36個。

The concept of golfing under lights exists outside South Korea, of course.

當然，在燈光下打高球的想法在南韓以外也存在。

A writer for the website GolfPass last year counted 65 courses in the United States that featured at least some amount of nighttime lighting — although all but one of them were short courses. And courses in the United States that offer late tee times still close far earlier than those in South Korea, which often remain open as late as 1 a.m.

去年，一位幫GolfPass寫文的作家統計，在美國，擁有一定數量夜間照明設備的球場至少65座，儘管除了一座以外都是球洞較少的球場。而且美國晚間打球的高球場，打烊時間仍比南韓球場早得多，後者通常營業到凌晨1點。

文／Andrew Keh and Chang W. Lee 譯／陳韋廷