Too popular…A round-table discussion on the love lives of professional female golfers

The popularity of women professional golfers knows no bounds. They spend their days competing on tours throughout Japan every week, and at the same time, they are treated like celebrities and idols. What kind of love lives do they have in the midst of such a busy schedule?

Hinako Shibuno♡Haruhi Nozawa (TV TOKYO Announcer)
February 12, 2009 issue

Female golfer A: “ Our love life?　I guess it’s not with girls of my generation. Talking about love is one of the main themes when players talk to each other. They talk about their boyfriends, who they like, and so on, even during the game.

A member of the golf media said, “ The world of women’s golf is very small. People who become professionals often have known each other since childhood or have some kind of connection with each other. Many of them have known each other for a long time, so it is likely that they talk about things quite frankly, isn’t it?”

A “ I don’t know about the rest of the world, but it’s not like they hide much.”

Golf association member C: “ A while ago, I was having a drink with some people in the industry, and one of them said, ‘I had sex for the first time the other day,’ which surprised me. It was better than I thought it would be. She told me a lot of details, but I can’t say much more than that (laughs).”

Pro Caddie D: “ I hear that kind of story a lot (laughs). When a pro who had sex the night before scores well in a match, he or she will tell a “carnal” episode and the crowd gets excited (laughs). But there are some who hide it. In those cases, it’s usually a member of their own family.

Why are there so many relationships in the industry?

B: “ ‘Friday’ reported on the love affair between Rikako Morita, the 13th year Grand Prize winner, and her trainer Kazutaka Yasufuku, and showed Morita visiting his house frequently. Also, Sakura Yokomine is married to her personal mental trainer, and Ai Miyazato’s husband is her own manager. I get the impression there’s a lot of romance in the industry.”

C “ That can’t be helped. The women’s golf tour is a caravan. Every week, the same group of players gather at various locations around the country to play matches. Trainers, coaches, caddies, managers, and JLPGA (Japan Ladies Professional Golfers’ Association) staff…. …. The venues for the matches are not in the city and the mornings are early, so it is not possible to go out at night. During the season, I rarely have a chance to meet men outside the industry.

D “ For a four-day tournament, professionals usually arrive at the tournament site on Tuesday. After practicing that day, there is a pre-tournament party. On Wednesday, sponsors and others are invited to a pro-am tournament. Thursday through Sunday are the tournaments. Monday is off but spent taking care of their bodies and practicing. They are quite busy. During the season, female pros rarely drink alcohol. If they do drink, it’s one or two drinks. Even if they do go out to dinner, they don’t stay until late because they say, ‘It will affect my game.

A. “ Golf is a mental sport. A. “Golf is a mental sport, and I want someone I can talk to frequently and who understands my job as a golfer. People in the golf industry are always nearby, they understand me, and I think it makes it easier for me to fall in love with them.

D “ Yes, the golf industry person who was dating the e-pro said that he received lines every day from the e-pro saying, ‘Tell me you like me,’ or ‘Come see me right now’ even though he was in the countryside, and that it was hard for him to take care of his mental health. He said it was hard to take care of his mental health.”

B “ If you go out with your people, how do you date?”

A “ I almost can’t go on dates (laughs). We just meet in the room where we are staying at the match venue. We meet in the room where we are staying at the venue of the match (laughs). Then, after the match on Sunday or on Monday when we are off duty, sometimes.

D “ When we are dating within our own family, we are somewhat embarrassed and try to hide it, but to be frank, it’s obvious (laughs). (laughs). It inevitably comes out in my attitude. (Laughs) Since most of the venues for the games are in the countryside, there are limited places to stay. There are often several people involved in the tournament staying at the same hotel, so it is easy for witnesses to say, ‘Zero came out of XX’s room,’ and it is easy for them to find out.

Little interaction with male pros

B: “ I don’t hear much about romance with male pros on tour. Aoi Onishi, who recently made headlines for abandoning her caddie job, is married to pro Yuji Ito.

A “ There is very little interaction with male pros on tour. A: “I have very little interaction with the men’s pros on the tour. We only meet at off-season events.”

C “ If it is a male pro who runs a golf school or works as a coach, I can make contact with him, but Mr. F, a male pro, has been involved in various affairs with female pros… D “Mr. F is a female pro…”

D “ Mr. F is the one who was caught coming out of a female professional’s room (laughs). Also, from what I’ve heard, there are some male pros who are like ″garcy″. A tanimachi who attends to the women. I wonder if those male pros would date a strong-minded female pro without any contact.”

C “ Like baseball players, there are “Tanimachi” in each region. Like baseball players, there is a “Tanimachi” in each region, like Gyasi in Kyushu and Gyasi in Hokkaido.

B “ This may be a bit of a misguided observation, but in Japan today, women’s games are overwhelmingly more popular than men’s games, and the level of competition has been rising. There are more matches. Women’s income is also higher than men’s. I think male professionals have a bit of a competitive edge over female professionals.

I drink with a lot of baseball players.

B “ Next, let’s talk about her love affairs with men outside the golf industry. In “Friday,” Hinako Shibuno and TV TOKYO’s Haruhi Nozawa are reported to have a “one-night-a-week love affair” (first and second photos), Miho Koga is dating Go Nishioka, a professional baseball player who played for Lotte and other teams (third photo), and Rikako Morita is in love with martial artist Koji (fourth photo). ) are reported. Shibuno and Koga began their relationship after they co-starred in a TV show, though.”

A “ I think they got to know each other during the off-season from December to January.　It is usually during those two months that people outside the industry get to know each other.

B “ It is true that both Shibuno and Koga got to know each other through their off-season TV programs.

A “ As I thought, December is a period of rest, and many people use January for self-training. Since they have more time to spare during these two months, they sometimes appear in the media and go to blind dates. It’s the season for meeting people (laughs).”

C “ It seems that you also have opportunities to get to know other athletes during your voluntary training. Overseas, the Leo Palace Resort in Guam, Thailand, and Palm Springs in California are popular, but there are also many professionals who train in Japan. In some cases, they participate in voluntary training sessions held by their coaches and trainers. January is the time of year when many professional baseball players train. You may meet some new people.

A. “ I have been to blind dates with baseball players myself. We are very motivated (laughs), but I wonder what baseball players …… are like. I feel like a lot of baseball players play golf, so they are like, ‘I want to get along with us and get better at golf. I don’t think they see us as romantic objects.”

D “ Pro G, who is a regular in the ranking of popular female pros, is dating a player from a certain prestigious baseball team. Also, when it comes to blind dates, veteran pro H used to say that ‘any guy looks better when he drinks,’ and he would make people around him go home when he started to get too drunk so that he wouldn’t drink too much.”

A tanimachi who doesn’t seduce

B “ Women’s golf is becoming so popular now, but are the players still popular?”

C “ Compared to before, they must be extremely popular. Even the trainees who have not passed the professional test have fans.

A “ When we do autograph sessions, there are fans who touch our hands and other parts of our bodies. We are not idols. I don’t want to shake hands with them.

B “ You mentioned tanimachi earlier, are there girls who are also tanimachi?”

A “ There are people who support us. I sometimes play a round of golf with a company president who wants to improve his golf game.

B “ Aren’t such people rich?　Don’t they ever ask you out?”

A “Sometimes we have dinner and talk about golf.

B “Do they ever hit on you, like ‘be my mistress’?”

A “ I don’t, and I’ve never heard of anyone around me. I definitely don’t want to be a mistress. If I wanted to be a mistress, I would make one myself!

D “ Yes, yes. This is what it is like to be a female professional. I guess you could call it “independent love. VIPs know this, so they don’t make advances.

C. “ I don’t think they would have a love affair with someone who is just going along with the flow, and there is no need for them to become a mistress in the first place. There is no other profession where a person in his or her twenties can make so much money on his or her own. Entertainers have not only their ability, but also the power of an office and the luck of casting. However, golfers are people who earn prize money based on their own abilities. Because it is an individual game, it is not affected by the team’s situation. They are financially, mentally, and romantically independent.

D “ These women also pay the salaries of our caddies, coaches, trainers, and other staff members. In many cases, the paperwork is handled by their parents or managers, but in a sense, they are like the president of the company. They are not just cute girls who are good at golf. I believe that female golfers are almost always “carnivorous.

Economic disparity as perceived by men

B “ There are also relationships between ordinary people and female professionals. Momoko Ueda married a company employee of the same age who was photographed by “Friday,” and Chie Arimura also announced her marriage to a civilian.

A “ That would be a story if you have a chance to meet them and they are attractive.

C “ But you know, it is very difficult to date a female golfer. An acquaintance of mine who has a much higher income than the average used to date a female pro, but he broke up with her because he said, ‘It’s financially impossible. Even if he went out for dinner, it would be at an expensive restaurant, and since they often met in the countryside, he had to pay for transportation. Incidentally, this acquaintance works in the sports industry, and he says that the female pros he met at a drinking party hit on him like crazy (laughs).

B: “ So you are saying that the love life of a female pro golfer is an ″offensive move″.

Attendees of the round-table discussion
A: Mid-level female golfer
B: Freelancer who plans everything from web articles to books
C: Veteran of more than 10 years in the industry
D: Veteran caddie known for her hell-ears

Miho Koga ♡ Tsuyoshi Nishioka (Baseball player)
April 25, ’08 issue

Koga gets into Nishioka’s car. She was dressed in a miniskirt, colored tights, and pumps.

Rikako Morita♡Koji Koji (Martial artist)
May 24, ’19 issue

Popular K-1 fighter Koji and Morita spent time together both in their hometown of Kansai and in Tokyo, where Koji is based.

Rikako Morita♡Trainer
October 17, ’14 issue

Her trainer, Yasufuku, also has a past in Kyokushin Karate. Is Morita’s favorite type of man “muscular” and handsome?

Momoko Ueda ♡ company employee
April 12, ’19 issue

A little over two years after their happy hand-holding date, they have happily made their goal.

FRIDAY” October 14, 2022 issue