Women's golf star Ji-ae Shin's social media and Instagram profile contain this sentence.
"Happy Golfer. Enjoying life, making life and filling life."
I heard the story of Ji-ae Shin, who introduces himself as a'happy golfer'.


“I say that I'm a happy golfer because I'm really happy. In fact, I think golf as a job is a highly restrictive exercise to feel happy. It's always stressful about your grades. I want to do better, and I'm moving towards bigger goals. It felt like going to be a burden someday.. For me, it felt like golf turned into a “tool”? It was really painful and difficult at that time, but there are many people who continue to support me even while I think about it. I realized that the presence alone gives me strength, and from that thought, I started to see a lot of happiness, big and small, all around me. As I searched for such happiness day by day, I became a happy golfer. I look back on the happiness around me rather than on my success."


Just like the nickname'Jizone', the footsteps of Shin Ji-ae (32 years old) in the history of Korean women's golf are spectacular. In 2007, when he was 19 years old, he scored the most wins (9 wins) in a single season, ranking the Korean Women's Professional Golf (KLPGA) tour, and in 2010, it was the first Asian player to be ranked first in the women's golf world rankings. With a total of 54 wins on the Korea-US-Japan tour, the record is continuing to be the most successful Korean player.


<Shin Ji-ae player 54 wins on the Korea-US-Japan Tour>
@ 21 wins on the KLPGA Tour
@ 11 wins on the
LPGA Tour @ 22 wins on the JLPGA Tour (excluding 2 wins overlapping with the LPGA Tour among 24 wins in

total ) If you include up to 1 win, you will win 57 in total in professional competitions. That's a huge record. As Ji-ae Shin still maintains his top-notch skills, the wins will increase further, and it seems difficult for the time being that this record will be broken by other Korean players.

“The more I played, the more I was obsessed with the result without knowing it. Then, I felt like I lost the process in it. Now, it is more important to play golf that I am more satisfied with than any title. I think it is important to repay people who support me with good play."


Talking with Ji-ae Shin gives you insights and deep thoughts about life beyond golf. Along with the various experiences I gained through tours in Korea, the United States, and Japan, many books I read every time seem to be nourishing even though I was busy practicing and participating in competitions since my teens. Shin Ji-ae reads a lot of books these days, and he gives a lot of gifts around him.


“My father likes to read books. He likes not only books, but also the text itself, and he is close to him. So, I think I grew up naturally affected. I am interested in the humanities, and I am always responsible for human values, thoughts, and actions. In addition, since life is not living alone, I also try to get to know and expand my thoughts on “relationships.” Books are written by people and contain the author's thoughts and hearts, so I like them. People say they make choices every moment, and reading books seems to help me make the smartest choices possible. Now and always.”

Shin Jiae has a new hobby these days. This is'drawing' I learned from last year. (What is drawing? "The technique of drawing a certain image mainly by lines. It focuses on expressing the shape of an object through linear means rather than color." *The National Dictionary of Korean Standards)


"When I was young, I liked watercolor. But the world today is full of so many different colors. I started with the idea that I am missing the essence because of the color. At first, I started with the goal of realistic expression, but to the essence that comes to me. I think about it, and drawing works that have changed little by little to the temperature I want to see and contain is getting more fun."


Shin Ji-ae is a member of the'V157' group, where players born in 1988 are the main players. ('157' is the combined number of the members' career multipliers at the time of formation, but now it has increased even more.) Seven members of'V157' include Jiae Shin, Inbi Park, Bomi Lee, Nayeon Choi, Haneul Kim, Jeongeun Lee (5 Jeongeun Lee), and Soyeon Yoo. However, Yoo So-yeon, born in 1990, is said to be the youngest member of the meeting and is playing a secretary role. Among the members, Inbi Park got married in 2014, and Bomi Lee got married in December of last year, and ahead of Bomi Lee's marriage, the members went on a trip together and made special memories. In-bi Park and Bo-mi Lee, who are of the same age, have a family, but Ji-ae Shin wants to focus on golf first. "I don't want to disperse my energy about my life after retirement or marriage yet, because I'm still a golfer who will move forward and develop."


Here are my thoughts on the'retirement' that is not right now, but one day. "Retirement is still one of the most difficult questions for me. It's not after retirement, it's about retirement itself, how you end up as an active player. It's important to have a finish so there's a new beginning. “Perfect” is a very burdensome word, but I want to use it as much as when talking about retirement. “There is no perfect but I want to have a near-perfect finish.”


Shin Ji-ae, who did not participate in the competition due to wrist surgery and rehabilitation during the hiatus caused by Corona 19, participated in the Champions Trophy Park In-Bee Invitational earlier this month as an overseas allied team captain. I also participated. We will return to the main stage of the tour in Japan soon, but we have not yet set a specific schedule due to the Corona 19 problem. Shin Ji-ae has already won the KLPGA Tour and LPGA Tour prizes, and if he wins the Japanese Tour Prize, he will be the first player to be the first to win the Korea-US-Japan Tour Prize.

"(The Korea-US-Japan Tour Prize King) is a goal promised to many people, and it is a goal that we want to achieve by ourselves. I will definitely endeavor to achieve that goal." 'Happy Golfer' Shin Ji-ae's delightful challenge continues.