This study aims to examine the behavioral and psychological factors associated with continued park golf participation among older adults and to clarify the structural relationships among these factors. As park golf continues to gain popularity as a re...
This study aims to examine the behavioral and psychological factors associated with continued park golf participation among older adults and to clarify the structural relationships among these factors. As park golf continues to gain popularity as a recreational activity, this study seeks to identify the psychological characteristics that may encourage older adults to sustain their participation and to provide empirical evidence useful for broadening the park golf participant base.
The study sample consisted of 570 park golf club members aged 65 years or older who regularly participated in park golf at nine park golf courses located in the Gyeongnam and Gyeongbuk regions in 2026, including four courses in Gyeongnam and five in Gyeongbuk. The collected data were analyzed using SPSS 23.0 and AMOS 23.0. The analyses included frequency analysis, descriptive statistics, reliability analysis, confirmatory factor analysis, correlation analysis, structural equation modeling, and bootstrapping. The findings were as follows.
The results showed that older adults who reported higher satisfaction with the spatial layout, course maintenance, and location and accessibility of park golf courses demonstrated greater exercise passion. Satisfaction with spatial layout, location and accessibility, and social perception was also associated with higher exercise commitment. In addition, exercise passion was positively associated with exercise commitment and exercise adherence intention, while exercise commitment was positively associated with exercise adherence intention. The mediating effects analysis further indicated that spatial layout, course maintenance, and location and accessibility contributed to exercise commitment through exercise passion. Finally, exercise passion was found to lead to exercise adherence intention through exercise commitment.
These findings suggest that park golf courses should pursue mid- to long-term improvements in the environmental factors perceived by older adult participants, including course conditions, facilities, environmental quality, service delivery, and perceived value. Such efforts may help strengthen the positive image of park golf courses.
More broadly, promoting continued park golf participation among older adults requires more than improvements to the physical environment alone. An integrated strategy is needed to ensure that the environmental stimuli provided by park golf courses foster exercise passion and exercise commitment.