18-year-old rookie golfer dies after collapsing while preparing for KLPGA qualifier

YONGIN, Gyeonggi — Jessica Bang, a Korean Australian professional golfer, died on Thursday at the age of 18 after she suffered an acute brain hemorrhage earlier this month while training in Bangkok.

Her funeral took place at Yongin Severance Hospital in Gyeonggi on Sunday. 

“She was supposed to return to Korea on a flight on Saturday,” her mother said. “I never imagined her father would be boarding that flight while carrying her urn.”

On Aug. 1, Bang arrived at the Phoenix Gold Golf & Country Club in Bangkok to prepare for the Korea Ladies Professional Golf Association Tour’s (KLPGA) International Qualifying Tournament (IQT). At around 1 p.m. that day, while checking her shots with her father, she suddenly lost her balance and staggered before collapsing. She had suffered an acute brain hemorrhage.

An ambulance took her to a nearby hospital, but no specialist there was available to perform brain hemorrhage surgery. She was transferred to a larger hospital, where she underwent surgery for more than three hours because of extensive bleeding and increased pressure on her brain.

“We wanted to transfer her to Korea, but even that wasn’t easy because my daughter was an Australian citizen,” her father said. 

After the surgery, Bang was hospitalized for 10 days before being declared dead. 

Born in Korea in 2007, Bang attended elementary, middle and high school in the country, though she acquired Australian citizenship through her mother.

She first took up golf in fifth grade.

“My wife and I both worked, so it was difficult for us to look after our daughter, and we asked a golf coach whom we knew to take care of her,” her father said. “It was really more about having someone watch her until we got off work than teaching her golf, but she showed a talent for the sport and eventually pursued it competitively.”

“She was an only child, but she grew up without even going through a rebellious phase,” he continued. “She played golf the same way she lived — calmly and steadily. After becoming an adult this year, she occasionally competed on the Jump Tour, the third tier of the KLPGA Tour, to test herself. We believed that if she could just make it through the IQT, she could go on to compete [in the KLPGA] successfully.”

The late golfer had been gaining momentum after winning a regional qualifier for the Women’s New South Wales Open in Australia by five strokes in February.

She was on the verge of breaking into the KLPGA Tour before her death. 

Floral wreaths sent by members of the golf community lined one side of the funeral hall.

Golfer Lim Hee-jeong, who visited the funeral hall, said that she had previously trained with Bang at an overseas training camp. Seong Eun-jeong, who had never met the late golfer, also paid tribute.

“I didn’t know her at all, but I couldn’t simply overlook the pain of a fellow golfer who passed away after devoting herself to such a stressful sport,” Seong said.

Kim Shi-hyun, who was playing the final round of the Mediheal-Hankookilbo Championship on Sunday, also paid tribute to Bang by wearing a black ribbon on her chest. The two had trained together at the same academy. Kim kept the ribbon on through the final hole, honoring her late junior even as she competed for position.

“Many people have offered us their condolences,” Bang’s father said, his eyes filling with tears. “I just hope that she can now be happy somewhere without pain.”

Actor Ha Yoon-kyoung also came to the funeral hall to pay her respects. 

The late golfer had been a fan of Ha, whose character in the television series “Extraordinary Attorney Woo” (2022) was portrayed as the protagonist’s smart, funny and considerate friend. Bang once traveled as far as Busan to attend Ha’s fan signing event.

BY KO BONG-JUN [kim.jiye@joongang.co.kr]