In the Media - Editorial in Sport Magazine

Yesterday we were included in the "Spring is in the air" feature in the ultra stylish Sport magazine.. which is without doubt the best sport weekly out there. Thanks guys.

Read more here...

Brand New Retro

The Countryside, Irreverence, David Beckham, James Bond, UKKO and Stoke Park Club - a list of things that are quintessentially British. The latter two a soon to be joined at O2 GolfLive, were also experienced by myself this Friday. As I drove (or more to the point was driven) up the grand and somewhat commanding drive and pulled round in front of the astonishing clubhouse I was reminded of the tradition this place was steeped in. They’ve had scenes from two Bond films there, seeing Connery’s Bond beat Auric Goldfinger on the last (Goldfinger 1964), then again scenes were shot here for Tomorrow Never Dies in ’97. Clad in my UKKO garms which shone in the sunlight that hinted a premature beginning to the Great British summer, (what I like to call ‘Cider Advert Weather’) I bounded up the steps on which Daniel Craig lay dying in the end of gangster film ‘Layer Cake’. All these factors made one thing pretty clear, this was the club that typified what UKKO is about – British perfection, to every last detail. From the manicured greens of Stoke Park, to the finely sewn Merino Wool on the knitwear they add up.

I actually had the chance to play the new course at SPC. Those of you that have played there will know that there are three half-track courses, with the Colt and the Alison (named after their prospective designers) making up the Old Course, then the new nine named the ‘Lane Jackson’. It was a beautiful expedition of modern golf as it should be, with challenging hazards, and narrow fairways to make up for the occasional lack of length. The 2nd and 4th (20th and 22nd in context) were personal favourites the first a short Par 4 but not worth using the Big Dog due to the water-guarded left side, and the latter running along the other side of the river, a reachable par five, yet made a test with well placed bunkers, and a punitively narrow fairway. Modern design, but keeping tradition to a fashionable extent – remind you of anyone?

The second nine was preceded with a Bacon Egg Bap, which was so good English words cannot describe so I’ll resort to French and call it an ‘Arc de Triomphe’. So fuelled with that interlude onwards to the old school nine, and a beautiful one it was. Playing away from the clubhouse, this nine meets golfers with greater numbers on the tee-markers and with it, a sterner test. Personally preferring the Alison and Lane Jackson to the Colt, these nine holes designed by Harry Colt cannot afford to be overlooked. The 5th is a pristine dog-leg left with the most obscurely engaging sand trap complex you’ll ever be likely to see, then there’s the historic 7th, on which the 12th at Augusta National is based.

On that note with the Brits challenging well at Augusta it’s worth to mention again that from the 14th to the 16th of May this year, UKKO will be appearing at the inaugural O2 GolfLive event (http://www.golfliveevent.com/) at Stoke Park Club, with Masters hopeful Ian Poulter appearing alongside Reteif Goosen, Paul Casey and Ryder Cup Captain Monty. Try your best to be their for the union of two brilliantly British golfing establishments.

Tom Ayling

New UKKO Ambassadors - Laurence Knott, Ian Martin & Colin Shellard

We just wanted to welcome 3 new guys to our Ambassador Programme....

Laurence Knott, who plays off 9 at Muswell Hill GC in London.
Ian Martin, who plays off 2.9 at Kings Norton GC in Worcestershire.
Colin Shellard, who plays off 5 at Newmachar GC in Aberdeen.

More details from them very soon...