The hardcore few at your golf club will no doubt have turned up at the weekend for that last pre-Christmas round, and – mulled wine in hand – will have been faced with the ironically snow covered sign reading ‘Course Closed due to Adverse Weather Conditions’. They will have no doubt, clad in their plus-fours despite the conditions, had to go closer to the sign to actually see what it said, and upon realising the cruel fate of wintry precipitation will have turned round and driven home.
Not is all lost though, putting practise did occur in large proportions in my lounge in front of some ridicolously cheesy Christmas movies on the growingly convienient ‘Sky Christmas’ channel. But what can us nine iron bearers do in these conditions? Well I’ve listed some alternatives to real golf:

1. Tiger Woods PGA Tour – I am one of the many not impressed by Tiger’s recent antics, I love him. Some substitute for you and him not gracing the fairways is teeing it up on your games console and pulling off ridiculous shot from ridiculous areas and if your old school, you can have Dave Feherty’s voice warm your mood.

2. Urban Golf – Anyone who has been to one of their centres will know that it is simply, awesome. Enjoy a drink from the bar while you play, don’t worry about covering up your UKKO threads with ridiculous overcoats, and rest your legs as the screen does the walking for you. My favorite venue is Smithfields but the other venues are quality as well.

3. ESPN Classic – The greatest invention this decade, no exceptions. As well as golf highlights, re-live the tears of Italia ’90, acquaint yourself with Muhammed Ali’s awesome career and re-acquaint yourself with your teams glory days.

4. Read the UKKO blog pages – I’ve estimated that if your read word-for-beautiful-word all the blog entries, you have too much time on your hands and should be working. However, this will keep you occupied, insighted and laughing for many an hour.

Putts ain’t falling all around us, but snow is, so have a staunch Christmas and a great New Year, see you in 2010.

Tom Ayling

Tom has recently become an UKKO Ambassador, so we thought we’d find out what makes him tick…

Your home club - Harewood Downs Golf Club
Handicap - 11.3
Age - 16

What’s in your bag (we like details!)
Driver - Cobra X-Speed Pro, Shallow Face, Speeder S Shaft
Woods - Taylormade R9 Ti 3, Re.ax Shaft R
Irons - Mizuno Mx-25 3-PW, Dynamic Gold Sl Sahfts
Putter - Odyessy White Hot XG #7
Balls - Titleist Pro V1

1. Your ultimate fourball with anyone past & present?
I’d have just the one golfer, Seve. The true enigma and passion of the game is typified of the flair of the exceptional Spaniard. Next I’d have Bobby Moore, as a Hammers fan its a no brainer. Legend. Lastly, probably James Corden, the man that is the definition of lad, it’d be a laugh.

2. Where would you take them on?
We’d tee it up at Loch Lomond, quality track in a picturesque setting.

3. Which club is first in the bag?
Probably the big dog – there’s no better feeling than destroying the ball down the fairway!

4. A crafty beer before the game or in the zone on the putting green with energy drink on stand-by?
Probably be a cheeky pint balanced by the energy drink halfway through the round.

5. Obviously you’re wearing UKKO on the 1st – which is your favourite garment?
It’s got to be the Burgundy Sleeveless Cardigan, I love the retro style going on there!

6. Any dirty tactics or squeaky clean all the way?
Despite being notorious in my other sports for playing dirty, when clad in the plus-fours it’s all clean.

7. You have a 4ft putt to win the game. It circles the cup and drops in – how do you celebrate round the green!?
Sink to my knees and cry – only joking – probably the solitary fist pump and take the pain of buying the first round back inside.

8. 1st & last drink on the 19th?
Kick off with a pint, and finish with half a Jack.

9. To celebrate your win, you fill up the private jet – where do you go?
En-route to the final destination of L.A stop off in Grenada, a truly surreal place.

10. Assuming you don’t have a private jet, have a nightmare and lose by the 12th – would you head straight for the driving range or drown your sorrows at the nearest local?
I’m a grafter, I’d be out on the range.

11. Why did you want to become an Ambassador for UKKO?
The threads are quality, and I really wanted to pen my experiences on golf.

12. If you didn’t play golf, which other sport would you be obsessed with?
I’m a rugby and football man, but footy would probably take preference if there wasn’t a course on the Earth.

13. What would you like to see in the next UKKO range?
I’d love to see some strides in there.

14. Apart from becoming an UKKO Ambassador, what’s your biggest achievement to date?
Golfing or something else? Well golfing would be my Autumn Cup performance the season just gone. Non-Golfing, well i just try and make people have a laugh every day really.

15. What do you want to be doing in 5 years?
I’ll probably be in my last year at Uni en-route to Sports Journalism.

When we arrived at the KP Club, we immediately knew it was the type of Pro Shop we want to stock UKKO. It’s a class act. Making our way up the drive to the top of the hill, we could see the newly re-designed course was in great condition and one look at the clubhouse and you know they mean business.

A contemporary set-up including a bar that reminded us of the Long Bar at the Sanderson Hotel in London, the Pro Shop (run by Aaron & Ashley of Desired Golf) was similarly well styled. It had all of the golf fashion brands you’d expect and we’re pleased to say the guys liked our gear so much they took it there & then. That was a few weeks ago and as you can see from the snaps, they’ve given us a prime spot.

We’ll definitely be back up there in the New Year for 18 and even though we haven’t played there yet, we can highly recommend the set-up.. the chalets looked ideal for an overnight stay and rumours are there’s a Spa on the horizon. Perfect for those hangovers after a night in the Long bar….

Go to the UKKO London website now

More about Desired Golf

More details about the KP Club Golf & Country Estate

The 66 Pro Tour only launched in 2009 but is already getting rave reviews. That’s why UKKO have teamed up with this premier tour and become it’s main clothing sponsor.

Daniel Brooks [Milll Hill] fired a sensational seven under par 65 to win the final event of 2009 along with the £3000 cheque at the famous Princes links. He was also awarded an UKKO voucher (pic below) as part of his prize to spend in the UKKO online store. Lucky chap.

Francis McGuirk, the local favourite , shot a superb 66 and there were excellent performances from Richard Edginton [Effingham ] and former European Tour winner Raymond Russell on 67.

A high quality field made the most of the unusually benign conditions ,which saw over twenty five players break par . The 66 Pro Tour is now an established arena for aspiring and experienced players, which offers high quality events with good prize money, staged at some of Englands’ finest venues.

2010 will see the tour expand into more areas with its exciting one day format and we’re excited to be part of what is quickly becoming the tour all Pro’s want to play on.

Go golf clothing shopping on our website now..

More about the 66ProTour

We wanted to provide a range of socks that are pure quality and a little bit different. So, being that we try to produce as much of our stuff in the UK as we can, we started searching for a factory that could produce some socks for us in the UK. Not easy!

But, after months of searching and quality control, we ended up at 1 of only 4 remaining sock factories in the UK near Leicester, and when we got there, we knew it was exactly what we were looking for. With so many ordinary socks on the market, we wanted colour, quality and comfort all rolled into one and Robert’s factory produces exactly that.

The machinery he has there is quite simply amazing – think Charlie & the Chocolate factory for socks. (See below for pics). Different coloured yarns everywhere, spinning and knitting machines going at it hammer and tong, 24/7. We were transfixed.

Robert has obviously seen this reaction many times - grown men standing there as the wheels and cogs turn around you, taking in yarn at one end and spitting out a finished sock at the other. It’s old news to him, but you could still see his enthusiasm for what he did. He has some old-fashioned machines and some state-of-the-art… which is exactly how we like it. Traditional methods to produce modern garments.

Not only that, but after his machines have done their bit, he sends them all to another local factory to get the toes hand-linked. So the time and effort that goes into each and every one of these is exactly why you can’t get better in the UK. And you can trust us when we say they’re comfy.. man they’re comfy.

So, when we dragged ourselves away, we chose 3 excellent lines of socks to complement our range.

Multi stripe socks - For the guy who like to show off. (Usually us)

Contrast socks – For more conservative guys with an edge

Check sock – Iconic style for the more traditional golfer.

All machine washable, and all 90% Pure New wool for comfort and a hint of Nylon to make them last longer.

The colours are out there we know, but that sometimes how we roll. And as they’re usually under your trousers, we thought it’s an extravagance anyone can get away with. Not only that, but it makes for a bit of banter half way round the course too which is never a bad thing.

So take a look at our range of premium quality woollen socks which are perfect for Xmas presents and don’t forget we’re doing a mix & match offer so you for only £24.95 you can have all 3 pairs – each one to suit a different mood.

if you have any colour suggestion then please get in contact as we’d like to hear from you.. they can literally produce anything. And we have plenty more in the pipeline…

Some pics we took when we were there….

UKKO has just been shortlisted in the “Best Apparel Brand” category at the 2009 Today’s Golfer Awards.

After only trading since the summer, we’re made up to be thought of as one of the best clothing brands on the market by the largest Golf Magazine in the UK.

Being up against the likes of Addidas, Puma, Pringle & JLindeberg firmly places us as a rank outsider considering we’re only a few months old, but it’s a great testament to how far we’ve come since launching in July. And if we can see off at least one of them it would make our year.

So, if you can spare a second to vote, please vote UKKO using the below link now.

If David Haye can do it then you never know…

VOTE HERE FOR THE BEST APPAREL BRAND 2009

And please spread the word to all fashion conscious friends.

Cheers,
UKKO

The guys at Golfshake.com have done a couple of great features on the UKKO Autumn/Winter collection. One of which focuses on our new range of woollen socks.

Golfshake is the best free online golf handicap and score tracking service but it also provides a whole host of other features, equipment reviews & news article.. we suggest you take a look.

1. Golfshake UKKO Feature – Brand Overview

2. Golfshake UKKO Feature – Press Release

Welcome to Chris Berry who’s the latest player to join the UKKO Ambassador programme.

Chris plays out of Knott End GC off 9.8

In the Bag: Taylormade Tour Burner TP Driver Ping g15 3 Wood MD Golf 3 Hybrid Ping i15 irons Vokey Wedges Rossa Spider Putter Callaway Tour Bag White Powakaddy.

Today’s golfer have just done a glowing review on their website for us, thanks guys.

UKKO sponsored Pro Neil Chaudhuri recently finished a superb tied 8th in the Castelvolturno International Open at Volturno GC.

The Alps Tour tournament was played between 1st – 3rd October and is another top 10 finish by Neil who’s showing his great potential more & more regularly… testament to this is his climb to No.36 in the Alps Tour order of merit.