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Abstract
ABSTRACT In recent years, there have been several prominent developments in the golf industry in Korea, including the establishment and expansion of the Korea Golf Association (KGA), the Korean Ladies Professional Golf Association (KLPGA), and the successes of Korean female golfers in the U.S. Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA). Korean female golfers have won more than one hundred golf tournaments in the LPGA, and two Korean women golfers have been inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame: Se Ri Pak and In Bee Park. Korean golfers successes played an important role in the development of Korean womens golf, especially the Korean Ladies Professional Golf Association (KLPGA). However, there has been a lack of studies done on the leadership theories that have contributed to the growth of KLPGA. Previous research studies focused on the factors that contributed to the success of Korean women golfers in the U.S. Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) or Ladies Professional Golf Association of Japan Tour (LPGA of Japan Tour). The purpose of this study was to examine how different leadership styles have contributed to the development of KLPGA and to understand some of the barriers that have hindered its further development. A snowball sampling method was used to recruit the interview participants, and a total of eight participants were ultimately recruited for the personal interviews. Semi-structured interviews were conducted to collect data. A document analysis method was used to analyze the data and identify emerging themes from the interview transcripts and documents. The findings of this study indicated that the following leadership theories contributed to the development of KLPGA: participant leadership, team leadership, transformational leadership, servant leadership, and authentic leadership styles. The findings of this study can help future sport management researchers and practitioners to promote a new sport in an international setting.