[MINHO] 220321 GQ Korea - GOLF Interview Translation
2022. 03. 21
GQ KOREA <GQ GOLF>
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Minho “Golf is a ball that will never return once it leaves”
Even if practice makes perfect is a cliché expression, it becomes a true saying when it’s with Minho.
GQ It’s obvious that the back of your right hand is slightly more sunburnt.
MH Is that so? (Showing backs of both hands) Even so, both are matching up slightly better right now. The right side would probably be more tanned again this summer, right?
GQ Is it because you are a golfer, you know exactly what I am talking about.
MH Of course. That’s because the golf glove is being worn on the left hand. Maybe it’s because I didn’t do my rounds for more than 4 months during the winter that my skin tone is now catching up with each other again on its own.
GQ You rested for about 4 months? This is coming from a person that goes out to the field 5 times a week?
MH I did do that last summer but I couldn’t do so during the winter. I finally did my first round last week.
GQ I can’t just not ask you about your first score of the year right?
MH Even though I am not satisfied with it, I had 87.
GQ Oh, isn’t that a score near to your ‘Labe (Lifetime Best Score)’?
MH For my ‘Labe,’ I have actually had once when I played really well so… That’s because I played single for once…
GQ If it’s single isn’t it below 81. I am aware that your ‘Labe’ is 84 though, did you do single since then?
MH Yes, 79. I hit twice, last year. It was kept kind of silent externally though, hahahaha. That’s because you have to be humble when it’s with golf. I stayed quiet this year as well in order to be humble.
GQ I should have started by congratulating you. However, didn’t you achieve that in a short period of time?
MH Thank you. I have worked so hard for it so it should be that way.
GQ You said you like the word ‘First’ in your past interview with <GQ>. How was your first meeting with golf?
MH To be honest, it wasn’t really interesting to me at all at first. It gave me a strong sense of thinking that it doesn’t suit me as it’s a calm sport. That’s because I really like sports that make me run and sweat like soccer and basketball.
GQ Then how did you fall into it?
MH With that, I started doing rounds again last year and I first came in contact with golf before I enlisted. Even though I wasn’t that good at it too at that time, still, I would score 100 or in the 90 range. However, that is impossible when I am holding the golf club after 2 years, none of it works. I was so mad. That’s because I was able to do it previously and now, I can’t. That’s why I practiced and I could feel my skills improving so I got to do it more.
GQ That small ball is really not in our favor, isn’t it.
MH Exactly. It’s really not in my favor.
GQ How much did you practice? Yang Sehyung and Jang Minho always tell you to stop practicing when you guys were on <Golf King 2>, didn’t they? Just exactly how much do you practice?
MH I really held onto the golf club and practice for at least 30 minutes every day without sleeping at that time. If my schedule is empty, I would practice for 5-6 hours. It was to the extent that the blisters on my hand burst.
GQ I have been holding myself back to ask this. ‘Just why did you do it till that extend…?’
MH Hahahahaha. It’s because I really want to play it well, really. It must be because I feel that I can do it but it’s not going well. I would go ‘It should work though, why is it not working?’ and be like ‘Exactly why?’
GQ Should we call that being headstrong.
MH That’s right. I am stimulating my winning desire.
GQ You do sound like a person who likes golf “Because golf is a sport that can’t have any mistake”.
MH Indeed. Of course, it’s the same for the soccer and basketball that I like but I am able to use something else to cover in those areas even if it’s just by a little. For example, I kicked the ball so well and the ball hits the goalpost that it bounced back. Then I will still have the 1% chance to run towards the ball to kick it again. However, that’s not the same for golf. Golf is a ball that will never return when it leaves.
GQ Golf is improving one stroke by one stroke until the 18-hole.
MH Of course. It’s irreversible. Golf is really a difficult and fun sport.
GQ In that case, what are the pro and cons of golf that you found out recently?
MH It’s the pro as well as a con that if you are in the mood, you will play very well. That’s why if you fall, you just keep falling. You are supposed to forget about the mistake you made to carry on with the next play but you will keep on asking ‘Why did that happen?’ that makes you unable to focus on the next shot. It’s like “The simplest thoughts play the best golf” though? However, it’s such a pity that I can’t do that because I can’t think of it simply. I could think of even simpler though.
GQ You showed that side of you on <Golf King 2> as well. The glowing look in your eyes and the sunken shoulders if you make mistakes.
MH That’s right. I shouldn’t be like that when it comes to golf. I am trying my best to let loose more.
GQ There was a scene that made me couldn’t believe my eyes. When you were preparing yourself in the first episode of <Golf King 2>, you wriggle your body while holding onto the golf club?
MH Euhahahahaha, yes.
GQ However, that side of you disappears after the 2nd and 3rd episodes. I am curious if it’s the strength of editing that shows you hitting the ball cleanly, or did you realize it and corrected yourself.
MH Firstly, it’s true that I corrected myself. Coach Kim Minyoung-nim asked me not to do it. Initially, I held it in an interlocking way though? Tiger Woods does it that way. However, male athletes usually hold it in an overlapping way. The coach told me that it would be good for me to hold it overlapped so I changed it and I changed my posture too, everything from 1 to 10 has changed. I really listened to all that the coach told me.
GQ Exactly, it’s not easy to change a habit.
MH I put a spell on myself. That’s why I do think a lot more before hitting the play, thinking that ‘I cannot do this,’ ‘Don’t do this' but at the words “Even though you won’t be able to play that well instantly after changing but you will be able to even better in the future,” I threw away all that I learned till now. I am not good at it whether it’s wriggling before hitting or just hitting so I was able to boldly change everything. I let go of everything to be good.
GQ What’s your goal? What does it mean to be good at it?
MH I don’t have a goal. Ah, I do. The best thing about golf is that I think it's a sport which a person who is in their 70s to 80s, who is lacking in terms of stamina can win against an active youngster in their 20s. The one and only. It's my goal to be able to healthily and happily play golf even when I age. Being good at is actually, I learned that manners and attitude are important in golf and that, I am good at it. It's the same as enjoying it and not getting stressed over it.
GQ When I see professionals, it reminds me of Go players. They are able to make their moves sharply and calmly. How is it with golf to Minho?
MH It's a sport that is the opposite of what I am. The parts that I don't have, the parts where I was lacking, it's a sport that allows me to see my real self. That's why it's a sport that's very helpful to me. That's because there weren't really any sports that I am bad at, I am always good at following through them and I have never felt a huge sense of despair, failure, or defeat before but golf does that to me. I got to know a side of me that I didn't know through golf. I have only known how to run but I got to know how to take a step backward and learned so many things. I think that's why golf is charming to me. Because it's different from who I am.
GQ That's interesting. You are saying that it's a side of you that you didn't know yourself?
MH Even though I do know that I am very passionate myself but I didn't know that I would blame myself so much when I fail and when things don't go well. Of course, my inner self and my outer self are all me, I waver way more than I expected when the parts that I am lacking get exposed. I have never had parts of me I am lacking being exposed that much before but just a miss in golf would completely reveal it out. Everything gets exposed. When that happens, it makes me think, I do waver a lot, I have been living till now without being exposed... I had no idea. I have to be exposed to know myself. With that, I get to have areas where I can grow.
GQ Out of a sudden, golf reminds me of a mirror. Minho would want to wipe the mirror cleanly with your huge amount of practice at the same time when you put it down.
MH To be honest, I am not able to put everything down. I will get mad and get upset while thinking if I should sell away my golf club or burn my golf bag to not be able to see it again but then, I would wake up the next morning and think that 'Still, I should do it again.' Hahahahaha. Even so, I have really calmed down a lot as compared to before.
GQ What are you focusing on practicing nowadays? What do you want to overcome?
MH Since it has been a while since I hold a club, the feel has definitely dropped a lot... I mean it's funny to talk about the feeling when I am not even a golf player. Anyways, I am trying to find back the feel of it right now and I am thinking a lot about how I shouldn't do any unbelievable mistakes this year. I am not going to be absurd mistakes such as hitting the ground and sending the ball flying for 20m only when I should have hit one that goes 150m. I am filming for <The Fabulous> this week and I will be going to the fields to be my rounds. I am fluttered. I will definitely need to practice.