Passion on the green: Caddy banned for affairs with three golfers

The Japan Ladies Professional Golf Association has banned 30-year-old male caddy Ryo Kurinaga from the tour for nine years. The ban follows Bunshun reports published in March that the married Kurinaga had affairs with three separate pro players (24-year-old Miyu Abe, 22-year-old Haruka Kawasaki, and 21-year-old Yumeka Kobayashi).

It is unclear if Kurinaga carried out his philandering with the women at the same time and how long each affair continued. His ban extends to attending any JLPGA event too.

You might think that this was a private matter and unrelated to the sport. Nonetheless, the association took the tabloid reports very seriously and treated the situation like it was a stain on the sport, also issuing formal warnings to the female players involved and ordered them to attend seminars.

It’s possible that the major fallout from the Mei Nagano adultery scandal has made organizers more circumspect about appearing too lenient and keen to appease sponsors as well as fans.

The JLPGA said:

The above sanctions were decided based on a comprehensive consideration of the following factors: the JLPGA Tour is a year-round competition between players who have certain qualifications, such as seed rights, and disputes between players who have the qualifications to play have a greater impact on the order of our association than in other organizations; this case was caused by Ryo Kurinaga, who is the spouse of a member of our association, actively targeting several other young members of our association; and there were no particular extenuating circumstances.

Kurinaga’s wife is 26-year-old pro golfer Saki Asai, who has only recently returned to the tour after giving birth to a son in June 2023. It seems that Kurinaga is not just a caddy but a cad too.

Kawasaki already made a tearful apology in front of the media in April. She has lost a sponsor and has absented herself from all tournaments so far this year.

Kurinaga’s punishment does not extend to the male tour, though he is unlikely to find employment opportunities given the intensity of media coverage of the scandal.

Golf is an old, traditional game that takes time and patience to master. It’s not exactly known for being sexy. Sure, players are fit and strong, but they dress in a fairly reserved manner and spend much of a game squinting at a small ball at their feet before taking a swing.

Female golfers in Japan are, inevitably, held to a different standard and the media quickly obsesses over any golfer who is moderately attractive and doing well. Current lady of the moment is Hinako Shibuno.

Some less-famous female golfers go all in with a second career in gravure, posing for semi-nude shoots and happily exploiting their sex appeal. Recent examples include Sumire Noda, Makoto Takemura, and Minami Ozawa.