Park Joong-Soon raised his putter triumphantly after sinking a five-metre birdie on the final hole and pocketed his winnings from friends -- all without leaving the comfort of his local cafe in Seoul. "I will spend this money tonight on drinking with my friends," Park said contentedly after an 18-hole round at Bawoo Screen Golf in southern Seoul.

朴重順最後一洞推進一記五公尺博蒂後，得意洋洋地舉桿慶祝，並將贏朋友的賭金落袋，這一切全在首爾一家咖啡屋內進行。在位於首爾南區的Bawoo虛擬高爾夫球場打完18洞後，朴重順心滿意足地說：「今晚我要拿這些錢跟朋友痛痛快快喝幾杯。」

Virtual reality golf cafes have boomed in recent years in hi-tech and densely populated South Korea, where real courses are often expensive and overbooked. Gallup Korea predicts the number of golf cafes will rise to 5,000 at the end of this year from 3,000 a year earlier. The domestic screen-golf market is now estimated to be worth 600 billion won (472 million dollars) a year.

近年來，在高科技掛帥和人口稠密的南韓，虛擬高球場大行其道，因為真正的高球場通常費用昂貴，而且人滿為患。南韓蓋洛普公司預測，虛擬高球咖啡屋將從去年底的3000家，擴增為今年底的5000家，國內虛擬高球場市場年產值可望上看6000億韓元（4億7200萬美元）。

"I never imagined such a boom," said Kim Young-Chan, head of top simulator producer Golfzon which pioneered the market by combining golf with IT technology. His company estimates there are about 82,000 daily visits to the golf cafes -- some of them repeat visits by avid fans -- compared to about 65,000 who visit real courses daily.

結合高爾夫球和資訊科技而稱霸市場的頭號模擬器生產業者Golfzon老闆金永璨說：「我從沒想過會這麼盛行。」他的公司估計，每天約有82,000人次上高球咖啡屋去虛擬揮桿，有些狂熱的球迷還不只去一次。相形之下，每天到真正果嶺揮桿的約有65,000人次。

The cafes charge 20,000-30,000 won (16-23 dollars) per person for an 18-hole game, compared to an average 200,000 won on an actual course.

虛擬高球咖啡屋每人每輪18洞索價2萬至3萬韓元（16 至23美元），遠低於真正球場平均收費20萬韓元。

And for Park and others, the experience is not so far from reality. "I almost feel like I'm actually playing on the fairway thanks to the vivid colours and good image quality," the 57-year-old told AFP, donning his necktie again after finishing his round.

對朴重順和其他球迷，虛擬經驗和真正揮桿的樂趣相去不遠。「拜鮮明的色彩和不錯的畫面品質之賜，我幾乎覺得好像真的在果嶺上揮桿，」57歲的朴重順告訴法新社，打完一輪18洞後，他正在打領帶。

"You can come here anytime. The cafe owner provides everything -- balls, clubs, shoes and even soft drinks," said Park, who visits golf cafes once a week after dinner with friends. "This is a cheap alternative for people like me who can't visit real courses often because of busy work schedules."

「你隨時隨地可以來這裡，咖啡屋老闆提供一切，包括球、球桿、球鞋，甚至飲料，」朴重順說，他通常每星期吃完晚飯後和朋友一起到高球咖啡屋一次。「像我這種經常因工作繁忙不能到真正高球場揮桿的人，這是一種便宜的選擇。」

A golf craze began in the late 1990s with the international success of Korean stars such as Pak Se Ri, who won two US LPGA majors in her debut season.

1990年代末，由於南韓高爾夫球星朴世莉等人揚名國際，掀起一股高球熱，朴世莉在職業生涯第一個球季，就贏得美國女子職業高爾夫巡迴賽中兩場大賽。

Computer golf made its debut here in 2004, in time to take advantage of the enthusiasm. Golfzon's Kim estimates that one million Koreans play it regularly. The company controls more than 60 percent of the simulator market, with sales tripling from 31 billion won in 2007 to 100.9 billion won last year including exports worth 3.6 million dollars. "Screen golf is exciting and addictive," Kim enthused.

韓國高爾夫電玩2004年首度問世，及時趕上這股熱潮。Golfzon社長金永璨估計，約100萬韓國人平常有打高爾夫電腦遊戲的習慣。Golfzon掌控逾六成高球模擬器市場，銷售額從2007年的310億韓元翻漲三倍，去年達1009億韓元，其中出口部分約占360萬美元。金永璨說：「虛擬高球很刺激，也很容易上癮。」

Golfzon uses aerial photos of famous courses at home and abroad to simulate lifelike bunkers, trees and water hazards on the screen. Players hit an actual ball into the flexible screen, with infrared sensors analysing the club's speed and the ball's trajectory and spin. The rubber tee can be adjusted, depending which driver a player uses.

Golfzon使用國內外知名高球場的空照圖，來模擬螢幕上栩栩如生的沙坑、林木和水障礙區等。打者把真正的球打到可折疊式螢幕上，紅外線感應器就會分析揮桿的速度和球的軌跡和旋轉。橡皮球座可以視打者使用的球桿調整。

"Screen golf has its own merits, although it has yet to satisfy low-handicap players," said Park's friend Lee Myong-Yong, who visits real courses at least twice a month as well as golf cafes. It attracts office workers, young housewives and college students who can't afford the expensive real sport, he said.

「虛擬高爾夫有其優點，雖然它還無法滿足低差點（高桿）打者的需要，」朴重順的朋友李明永說。他每個月至少去真正的球場兩次，但也會上高爾夫咖啡屋。他還說，虛擬球場吸引上班族、年輕的家庭主婦和大學生，因為他們負擔不起真正高球的昂貴費用。

Cafe owners say golf cafes also cater to Koreans' fondness for getting together away from their homes.

咖啡屋老闆表示，虛擬高球場正好投合南韓人喜愛外出聚會的癖好。

"Screen golf has created a unique market in our country, where people prefer rooms for chatting and socialising," said Han Woo-Seong, who invested 170 million won to open a golf cafe near downtown Seoul in December 2007. But the market will soon become saturated without further improvement in technology and content to attract serious players, he said. Han, 43, earned up to 400,000 won a day last year but revenue nose-dived this year after two more golf cafes opened in his neighbourhood.

「虛擬高球場在我們國家創造一個獨特的市場，因為南韓人喜歡有個空間可以聊天社交，」韓宇成說，他2007年12月在首爾市中心區附近開了一家高爾夫咖啡屋，但他表示，如果不進一步提升科技和內容以吸引比較正港的高球選手，市場很快就會飽和。43歲的韓宇成去年每天可以賺40萬韓元，但今年附近又開了兩家高爾夫咖啡屋後，他的收入直直落。

Golfzon sees a promising market in some other Asian countries. "In view of growing demand for simulators abroad, I believe screen golf will become a global trend," Kim said, vowing to nurture the industry as a major hard currency earner for Korea, like cars and microchips. He dreams of hosting an international online championship involving world stars.

Golfzon則看好亞洲某些其他國家的市場。「基於海外市場對模擬器需求日增，相信虛擬高爾夫會成為全球一大趨勢，」金永璨說，他並誓言要扶植這個產業成為南韓賺取強勢貨幣的一大產業，一如汽車和微控制器。他也夢想要主辦一場由世界高球巨星參加的國際線上比賽。

A picture taken on July 9, 2009 shows a South Korean woman set to drive a golf ball towards a plastic screen showing the fairway during a virtual reality golf game in a simulation booth in Seoul.

這張攝於今年7月9日的照片（法新社）顯示，在首爾一個虛擬球場所舉辦的高球賽中，一名南韓女性正準備朝可折疊式螢幕上的果嶺揮桿。