SHIN SIL BANG

The Facts

Birthday: September 25, 2004
Rookie Year on KLPGA: 2023
Birthplace: South Korea
Best LPGA Finish: None Known
Best LPGA Major Finish: None Known
Height: 5' 8"
2024 LPGA Status: On KLPGA
Nicknames: None Known
Sponsors: KB Financial
How's her English?: Unknown
Hobbies: Unknown
Road to the LPGA: Still on KLPGA tour.

Shin Sil Bang was a prominent member of the Korean national team when an amateur. She enrolled in KLPGA Q-School at the end of 2022 but only earned a conditional card. In 2023, she would only get into occasional fields due to that status.

In the off-season, Bang went to Thailand for winter training. She worked hard on her swing speed and amazingly gained a ton of driving distance, so much that when she started playing KLPGA events, she quickly became the longest hitting player on tour. Her length quickly made her a big star, but she still had conditional status.

Bang finished tied for 4th at the year's first Major, the KLPGA Championship, and two events later contended again, finishing third. Finally in late May, she won her first event at the E1 Charity Open, the tenth player in KLPGA history to win her first event in wire-to-wire fashion. Enormous crowds followed her, and she quickly became a huge star in the making. She also earned full status for the rest of the season.

Bang ended up in one of the great rookie battles in KLPGA history with Youmin Hwang and Min Byeol Kim. But Bang struggled a bit the next few months before returning to form in September. She had several more top tens, then found herself in a battle with Hwang at the year's sole Stableford scoring event, the Korea Land Trust Championship. Hwang led most of the week, but Bang came on strong in the final round and got her second win.

In the end, Bang finished the season with two wins, a third, and nine total top tens. She made 694 million won, 9th on the money list, but finished third in the rookie race behind Hwang and Kim. The sky looks like the limit for the long hitting young star.