GOLF REFUGEES

Submitted by Admin on Wed, 04/18/2007 - 09:31.

Golf Refugee 2

Golf Refugees – Back in Black

In a sport where image is big business and the status quo is rarely challenged, we rarely see the introduction of a product which so fundamentally different to the time honoured traditions of the game.

In 2005 when Nike showcased their black golf ball as a promotional stunt, four PGA Tour golfers, all under contract to Nike, agreed to play the black golf ball on the par-3, 162-yard 16th hole at the TPC of Scottsdale. None of the four, Stewart Cink, Justin Leonard, K.J. Choi or Rory Sabbatini, came close to a hole-in-one that day, but they got the effect Nike wanted with the promotion. The whole golfing world was talking about it. The Black Ball had arrived.

With the amount of money spent on research and development increasing year on year, it is no wonder that big manufacturers will invent new products that simply wow us. However in this particular case it isn’t Nike who should be receiving the plaudits.

Enter Golf Refugees, a small but perfectly formed golfing apparel company from Milton Keynes. Heavily associated with Urban Golf, and the good people at the Shoreditch Golf Club, Golf Refugees produce a fantastic range of what we would describe as casual golf street wear with attitude, but it isn’t the clothing range that they are infamous for.

In 2002 the Golf Refugee Black Golf Ball was launched as a marketing tool to bring attention to the clothing range. They, not Nike, thought of the concept of a black golf ball and followed the idea through to a manufactured product. The packaging for this product states; GOLF REFUGEES, mega-distance ball, black heat-retentive cover, two piece construction, more visible in the air.

Original Golf Refugee Peter says, “Our black golf ball has been sold through Selfridges and other style, fashion conscious retailers, appeared in many magazines and newspapers including GQ USA. Nike has never done a radical golf product before. Their ' black ball ' is our idea."

We have been using the Golf Refugee black balls for a couple of weeks now, and we absolutely love them. To us they symbolise everything that Northern Golfer is about. It is one of life’s annoyances that one of the biggest companies in the world, can come along and take credit for a truly fantastic idea, but at least we, and now you, know the truth.

We will be giving away 20 Golf Refugee Black Balls, plus an unbelievably stylish t-shirt to a randomly selected Northern Golfer member, so if you haven’t registered yet, click here!