Professional golfers Choi Na-yeon (36) and Kim Ha-neul (35) are close friends. Choi Na-yeon was born in 1987 and is one year older than Kim Ha-neul, who was born in 1988, but because she entered elementary school a year late, she has been like her same-age friend since school. On the 17th ahead of the opening of the Korea Men’s Professional Golf (KPGA) Tour SK Telecom Open, she competed in a charity skins game held at Pinx Golf Course in Seogwipo, Jeju, where she met Choi Na-yeon and Kim Ha-neul.

The two players, who have been together for a long time on and off the field, are now in a similar situation. Kim Ha-neul, who won 8 and 6 wins on the Korea Women’s Professional Golf (KLPGA) Tour and Japan Women’s Professional Golf (JLPGA) Tour, respectively, organized her career by the end of 2021, and won 6 wins on the KLPGA Tour and the American Women’s Professional Golf (LPGA) Tour. Choi Na-yeon, who won 9 games, also left the club after announcing her retirement last year. Although the modifier of ‘active’ professional golfer has disappeared, both of them do not let go of the string of ‘challenge’.

Choi Na-yeon said, “(Kim) has lost weight recently because of Haneul. I asked to re-shoot her body profile, which I had already taken two years ago, so I had no choice but to lose weight,” she grumbled. Then, Kim Ha-neul said, “I retired, but I wanted to try something new. Then, what came to my mind was the body profile. I feel a little sorry for my friend who just retired.”스포츠토토

After retiring, Choi Na-yeon and Kim Ha-neul are trying to their heart’s content what they couldn’t do during their active career. Kim Ha-neul said, “I enjoy skiing and tennis, which I didn’t do when I was active because I was afraid of getting hurt.” Choi Na-yeon then said of her “her retirement, which she talked about at the press conference, is working hard on her autobiography. She writes, sometimes engrossed for two hours, but other times there are days when it is difficult to write even a single letter,” she said.

Even after retirement, the two are spending days as busy as they were during their active career. Both Choi Na-yeon and Kim Ha-neul run personal YouTube channels and are actively appearing in broadcast programs.

Choi Na-yeon said, “After I gave up golf, my skills quickly declined. Last time, the score was 80 strokes. OBs often came out too. It was a shock,” she said with a shy smile. Kim Ha-neul, who was listening from the side, teased his friend, saying, “I also shortened the distance, but I didn’t go all the way to 80.”

Kim Ha-neul and Choi Na-yeon said they were planning to enjoy their ‘second life’ for the time being. Kim Ha-neul said, “A lot of people around me say that my face has improved. I guess my current life isn’t bad,” he said with a laugh. Choi Na-yeon said, “I don’t have any big plans for the time being. However, I have a lot of worries about which way to go in the future,” she said.