One country buys nearly half the world’s golf fashion: South Korea

South Korea accounts for nearly 45 percent of the entire global golf apparel market, or roughly $4 billion (€3.47b) as of 2024, meaning one country buys nearly half the world’s golf fashion. 

Fits range from clean and modern to loud color blocked looks, polished enough to jump from the 18th hole to a business dinner. Legacy names like Titleist, Golden Bear, TaylorMade, and Callaway still command respect, but the real buzz belongs to Mark & Lona and WAAC (Win At All Costs). These are the go-to labels for younger players who want their golf wardrobe to hit as hard as their swing, with bold patterns, unapologetic color, and a streetwear edge quietly rewriting golf style. 

Although course visits by the public fell 4.2 percent in 2025 in South Korea - extending a post pandemic drop that began in 2022 according to the Korea Public Golf Course Association as reported by Seoul Economic Daily - the style never followed suit. Clothing brands have instead shifted into lifestyle wear, making pieces usable anywhere and keeping the culture alive and Korea the world’s biggest golf fashion spender. 

South Korea’s golf fashion dominance hinges on two things the country does best: Its spending power, and a seriously sharp eye for style, whether on the fairway or the sidewalk.

Who runs the (golf) world? Girls! 

South Korea’s golf apparel market is powered by the sport’s popularity among women, with half of all LPGA winners over the past decade hailing from the country and pioneer Se Ri Pak having turned a bourgeois sport into a national force. 

South Koreans commit fully when they embrace something, but the popularity of golf among the country’s women along with the influence of Se Ri Pak alone do not explain why the nation keeps riding hard for golf, even as padel explodes across the globe. 

Women’s golf apparel sales in South Korea were nearly twice as high as men’s despite the sport having three times as many male golfers, according to 2018 data (the latest available). This gap reflects how South Koreans view golf: As a sport for building connections and displaying status, where high end designer apparel projects success and a chic lifestyle. Social media confirms it: This trend has not slowed. 

“I hear [that] looking cute knocks one stroke off your score per hole, at least that is the excuse I am using, so here are my cutest Korean golf apparel recommendations,” one TikToker posted while showing an all white Malbon outfit.

@beccadefoe i just found golf heaven in Seoul… 👼🏻😇 an ENTIRE floor if this mall is dedicated to JUST golf gear! #golf #golfshopping #golfer #golfgirl #shopping #golfing #golfaddict #golfislife #golfkorea #fyp #golftok ♬ FLOWER - JISOO

“Golf is still male-dominated, but female players are far more visible in Korea and female golf wear is booming here, which is probably unique,” Markus Winter, founder and co-CEO of Yuzu Kyodai, a consumer culture and strategy agency with offices in Tokyo, Shanghai, Singapore, and Seoul, explains.

A unique retail eco-system

“You cannot walk around Seoul without seeing golf everywhere, from entire department store floors to a density of standalone brand stores unmatched in APAC. South Koreans dress for specific occasions, and Nike Golf exemplifies this by operating its own independent retail concept in Korea, separate from the main brand, something that does not exist elsewhere in the region,” he adds.

According to Rachel Choi of Canvas8, South Korean brands treat golf wear as fast fashion, with relentless releases and digital fluency. A strategy also seen in their mastery of pop up stores, with over 3,000 such stores opening in Seoul in 2025; a 79 percent increase from the previous year. Research has found 43.1 percent of Koreans aged 15 to 27 visit a pop up store once every five outings, which explains why golf apparel brands move at internet speed to capture youth attention. 

“The Korean market pays such relentless attention to trends that global heritage brands now use Seoul as their global R&D department – a shift that will slowly reshape design,” explains Choi. “The young consumers who drove the pandemic golf boom spend freely and chase what feels current, whether international travel, running clubs, tennis, or pickleball, while domestic brands including Andar and Xexymix have evolved into premium performance wear that reads as high-end streetwear or even office clothes,” she added. 

A transaction worth roughly KRW497 billion ($326m/€282m) in 2026 saw Bain Capital acquire Echo Marketing, the South Korean owner of activewear brand Andar, a deal signaling rising private equity appetite for Asia’s growing activewear and wellness sectors. 

“Wellness travel has surged, and playing golf on a trip combines two status markers. A reality fitting the findings of 39 percent of South Korean adults aged 19 to 59 using social media mainly to perform for their followers back home,” she stressed. 

Golf aesthetic off the course is just as influential for Korean golf style

This intersection of performance, style, and cultural norms shapes how South Koreans approach golf fashion – a reflection of the sport’s intense retail visibility across Seoul. 

“Western golf wear pulls from business casual roots and a recent athletic turn, with Nike Golf, Callaway, and Manors leading that shift. Clean and functional, but to Korean eyes, a little plain,” Winter explains. The golf apparel collections themselves in South Korea simply differ from other markets.  

“Korean golf style comes from a local clash between wanting summery sporty looks and needing serious sun protection. The fix is layering UV sleeves, high socks, visors, and face covers over warm weather cuts. And since women run Korean golf culture, the aesthetic stays feminine, coordinated, and sun-safe all at once.” 

While the old money golf aesthetic of no brands and no logos has risen in prominence, driven by Gen Z on social media where the “OldMoney” tag has garnered over 9.9 million posts and billions of views on TikTok, dismissing that look as wrong ignores its cultural grip.

In South Korea, golf clothes are more than utility, in a culture where looking good after a full day on the course then grabbing fried chicken and beers in Gangnam makes perfect sense. Some brands have modernized Western golf concepts for younger generations, including Khalhon, a label inspired by preppy American style that collaborated with designer Sean Wotherspoon to craft a design language of clean silhouettes, relaxed tailored proportions, and muted palettes.

“The current standard for Koreans in their 30s and 40s means commuting in golf quarter zips, meeting friends at cafés in golf-branded polos, and traveling in smart casual golf trousers. Brands did not plan for this, but the more aware brands now reflect it in their lookbooks. The occasion shifted, so the clothes followed,” Professor Sang-Myung Lee, professor of strategic management at Hanyang University Business School in Seoul and researcher in Entrepreneurship and Management Strategy, said, explaining golf apparel’s integration into Korean daily life. 

Local brands capitalize on cultural fluency

A more modern style also helps brands reach younger Koreans, since young men currently prefer baseball and soccer. Localizing golf fashion introduces the sport’s lifestyle and popularity at the same time, especially as interest in simulators is still growing in South Korea. 

Lee shared that many brands have survived recent economic shifts by capturing K-drama aesthetics. Yet as an avid golf fan, he noted that despite rising prices, the biggest brands still hold their buyers, though not among younger golf fans who instead use golf as a status symbol. 

“The competitive edge of local Korean brands is not that the price separates them from Western names like Titleist and Callaway, but a Korean story told through color, silhouettes, and collaborations rooted in K-drama aesthetics, café culture, and aspirational casual. Western brands carry course credibility and equipment trust, yet lack that cultural fluency, a gap that gives Korean labels a real advantage with consumers under 50.” 

In a clear bid to capture younger fans, Karina from K-pop girl group AESPA recently became an ambassador for Mark & Lona, a move following a broader industry trend of brands increasingly turning to younger K-pop idols to promote golf apparel. Idols with huge fan bases typically drive immediate sell-through of clothing and other items.

The modern golf game plays on lifestyle

South Korea has revolutionized the experience of playing golf away from traditional courses through its world-leading screen golf industry, with 87 percent of players on the peninsula preferring indoor simulator venues, as reported by the BBC.

Screen golf in Korea generates $1.6 billion annually per Golf.com, mostly from Golfzon, the Seoul based business that claims 60 percent of the Korean market and is expanding worldwide under a new Golfzon America CEO driving  off- and on-course partnerships. But the “new” form of the game hasn’t diminished South Koreans’ passion for golf but is part of the evolution, and is still fueling the apparel industry. 

South Korea has turned golf from an exclusive pastime into a lifestyle beyond the fairway through fashion, technology, and a social approach, whether on a course, in a screen golf venue, or over fried chicken and beers, where the sport is now as much about community as the game itself.

Note: Currency conversions reflect a mid-market rate at time of drafting, June 11, 2026.