Leading shoe and waterproofs brand gives golfers added shoulder comfort…

Stuburt - the world’s fastest-growing golf shoe and apparel brand – is developing a new range of super-comfortable waterproofs which features special LiquiCell® shoulder technology.

The flagship of the 2008 Stuburt waterproof collection will be the all new LiquiCell Soft Stretch rain suit – which boasts a thin liquid-filled pad on each shoulder to improve comfort and reduce muscle fatigue.

The Liquicell® technology, used extensively to increase comfort in automotive seating, sports footwear and medical devices, significantly reduces pressure and friction on soft tissue, leading to improved bloodflow and greater body performance.  

The jacket, in a new Soft Stretch material, will also deliver outstanding levels of waterproofing, while allowing maximum freedom of movement.

Duncan Patmore, Stuburt Global Sales & Marketing Director, said: “We are extremely confident that golfers will love the high levels of performance and comfort delivered by the Suburt LiquiCell® Soft Stretch suit.

“Stuburt is a brand that is dedicated to giving golfers access to the very latest in golf shoe and clothing technology, and by introducing LiquiCell® to our rainwear collection we believe we have created the ultimate performance waterproof in golf.”

Stuburt has also made improvements to its existing waterproof collection for 2008, adding new features and colours across the range.  The new Liquicell jackets are available in the following colours: Electric Blue/Black, Charcoal/Black and all Black.  RRP - £150

For more information on the Stuburt 2008 Waterproof collection call 01895 813613.

Sunday 22 July 2007 

“Me and this tournament don’t go together”, admitted David Howell on Thursday night after his rollercoaster first round 73 in the 2007 Open Champipnship.

In fact, Team Stuburt star David Howell has not needed his golf clubs on Open weekend since the last time it was played at Carnoustie, in 1999.

But eight years later, at Carnoustie 2007, the Englishman is finally part of the battle for finishing places in this year’s Open Championship.

With rounds of 73-74 Howell, wearing his Stuburt Helium Pro shoes, made the cut for the first time in an Open Champipnship since ‘Carnasty’ in 1999, notorious for tight fairways, waist-high rough, a French calamity on the 72nd and the last - to date - European winner in Paul Lawrie.

His goal for the final day is to climb up the leaderboard having started near the back of the field at +6, following a two over par 73 on Saturday.

Howell’s best finish in an Open Championship is 42nd place in 1998, so anything close to the top 30 would represent a good performance from the Stuburt star, who has suffered major injury problems for most of the last 12 months.

After one long injury lay-off already this season Howell had been worried about whether he would be fit enough to compete again when he felt back pains on Wednesday night, the eve of the event. “I was stressed and didn’t sleep well because I was fretting about how I would feel, but when I woke up I felt good.”

The Swindon born golfer, 32, wears Stuburt golf shoes and rain suits on Tour.

19 July 2007

Team Stuburt golfer David Howell produced an extraordinary one over par 72 in The Open first round that contained only six par figures.

And his Stuburt stable mate Darren Clarke posted the same score after a similar fight back from a poor start.

32 year old Englishman Howell made a dreadful start when he followed two opening bogey fives with a double-bogey six at the third.

But Howell, who wears the Stuburt Helium Pro golf shoes and Stuburt rain suits on Tour, then suddenly burst into life with a string of four birdies in five holes to the eighth.

“It certainly wasn’t the best of starts,” Howell said. “I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry when I reached the fourth hole.

“But after making the birdie on four there was some light at the end of the tunnel and I was able to laugh about the start.”

Howell has missed a large chunk of the season because of a recurrence of his old back injury and it flared up again on the eve of The Open.

“It wasn’t great yesterday,” he said. “It has been a bit up and down for a few weeks.

“I had a little pain in the lower back yesterday and it was as bad as it’s been in that period. I was fretting about how I would feel this morning but I warmed up well and my body felt good today.”

Howell sprinkled his back nine with two birdies and two bogeys and declared himself satisfied at the end of the round.

“If you had asked me on the fourth tee if I’d be happy with one over, I’d have snapped your hand off,” he said.

At +l Howell is well in touch with the pack chasing early leader Sergio Garcia, who fired a first round 65 (-6).

Darren Clarke, who this week launched his Stuburt Darren Clarke Collection Classics range of golf shoes, was four over par after his first six holes. But that was the end to the day’s bogeys for the 39 year old Ulsterman, and birdies at holes 7, 11 and 14 enabled him to post the same score as Howell.

Both Stuburt stars played with one of the day’s high-fliers: Howell’s playing partner KJ Choi was an early leader and finished on -2, and in Clarke’s group Michael Campbell shot 68 (-3) to claim joint third.

On Day Two, Howell tees off at 12:47, with Clarke two groups behind at 13:09.

(This article is adapted from a Reuters news report)

Team Stuburt’s leading Tour professionals - Darren Clarke and David Howell - have been paired with some of golf’s most recognisable names in the first round of the Open, which starts at Carnoustie on Thursday.

Darren, fresh from a last-round 66 at the Scottish Open on Sunday - and sporting his new Stuburt DCC Classics shoes - will play alongside three-times Major runner-up Chris DiMarco (USA) and world top 10 golfer, Chad Campbell (USA) at 07:58am. DiMarco has shown a liking for links golf - finishing second to Tiger Woods at Hoylake last time out.

David, who showed glimpses of form last week, will tee it up with recent Memorial winner KJ Choi (Korea) and South Africa’s Richard Sterne, recent winner of the Welsh Open at Celtic Manor and another strong performer at Loch Lomond. Howell hopes his Helium Pros, which are being revamped for 2008 with a new gel-filled sockliner, will propel him to glory at 07:36am.

Darren unveiled his new top-of-the-range DCC Classics last week and they helped him to a five-under par final round, which catapulted him up the leaderboard. And caddie Bill Foster reckons the big Ulsterman has turned a corner, and has his appetite back for competitive golf at the highest level.

“I’ve seen a big difference in him in the last few days. He’s definitely more at peace with himself and his competitive juices are flowing again in time for Carnoustie,” said Billy.

Anyone fancying a cheeky punt can back Darren at around 80-1 to win The Open, with David around 100-1.

In The 2007 Barclays Scottish Open, South African star Louis Oosthuizen blazed through the field at the weekend on his Stuburt Oxygen 02 shoes.

But the battling 24 year old Tour prodigy missed out agonisingly on his goal for the week: a slot in next week’s Open Championship. This was claimed by eventual winner, Gregory Havret, who defeated Phil Mickelson in a play-off.

Closing rounds of 64 and 68 at The 2007 Barclays Scottish Open, at Loch Lomond, gave Team Stuburt ambassador Oosthuizen the weekend’s joint-best score, matched only by fellow South African Richard Sterne, and six shots better over the weekend than eventual winner Gregory Havret.

Oosthuizen and Sterne finished tied 4th at -11, alongside England’s Luke Donald and Swede Pelle Edberg.

The Team Stuburt star started the final day with a bogey on the 2nd hole, but recovered well with a birdie at the next. After eight consecutive pars, Oosthuizen’s afternoon finally caught fire with three birdies in four holes from the 12th, to finish with a closing 68 (-3).

Oosthuizen’s spectacular weekend charge left him just one place short of the only available qualifying spot for next week’s Open Championship at Carnoustie. The spot is given to the leading finisher at The Barclays Scottish Open who has not already qualified for the year’s third Major. The Open slot was claimed by the event’s winner, Frenchman Gregory Havret, who beat Phil Mickleson in a playoff on the 18th after finishing at -14. All other players between Oosthuizen and Havret had already qualified. Ernie Els finished 3rd at -13.

For more on the Oxygen 02 golf shoes, see www.stuburt.com.

15 July 2007

Darren Clarke’s Tour comeback continued at The 2007 Barclays Scottish Open with a fine last-round 66, which left the Ulsterman leader in the clubhouse early in the day.

At a final score of -6, which is likely to be several shots off the finishing pace, Clarke was rueing a third day 74 which saw him fall back down the field.

However with four birdies on the back nine and only a single shot dropped all day - at Loch Lomond’s par four 15th - Clarke’s final round of the week, wearing his new Stuburt DCC Classics golf shoes, represented a successful return to form after a season of rebuilding following the emotional events of 2006.

For more details of the new Stuburt DCC (Darren Clarke Collection) Classics, see this website shortly or write to info@stuburt.com.

Stuburt are set to make a massive impact on the golf shoe market this year, after revealing that Ryder Cup hero and BBC Sports Personality of the Year runner-up, Darren Clarke, has designed a bespoke range of high-performance shoes to spearhead the British company’s 2008 collection.

Clarke unveiled his new DCC Classics (Darren Clarke Collection Classics) in the first round of the Barclays Scottish Open at Loch Lomond on Thursday.

He has been collaborating closely with Stuburt on the design and manufacture of a superbly-specified and priced Goodyear welted shoe, to rival the FootJoy Classics.

Included in the range is a white and pink model, in memory of his wife Heather who died from cancer last year – the pink styling reflecting breast cancer charity colours.

Each pair of wing-tipped brogues has its own special DCC branded box and comes individually wrapped in its own deluxe bag. Stuburt are also producing special DCC branded point-of-sale material to create maximum in-store impact and presence.

The DCC Classics boast a massive array of features including a Goodyear Welted leather outsole with rubber traction elements, full leather lining, full grain leather uppers, LiquiCell Plus sock liner technology, and a Dri-back Plus waterproof breathable membrane system.
 
As Darren has become one of golf’s leading style icons in the last two years, the DCC Classics range has four different colours to complement his wardrobe - Patent Black/Black, White/Pink/Patent Black, White/White Crocodile/Lime, White/Bomber Crocodile/Brownstar.

The Clarke factor will accelerate Stuburt’s evelavtion to golf shoe superbrand status, as the Uxbridge-based business unveils a bigger, better collection – one that the golf world is already responding to with enormous excitement and enthusiasm.

The Stuburt DCC Classics are expected to retail for around £149.99 a pair from Pro shops and leading retailers.

The launch signals the latest development in the resurgence of Stuburt, which was the UK’s leading football boot and golf shoe manufacturer in the 1960s and 1970s – before the emergence of adidas, Puma and Nike.

Following major re-investment by new owners UK Golf Services, Stuburt has become the world’s fastest-growing golf shoe and waterproofs company, supplying equipment to Tour players including Clarke, David Howell, Peter Lawrie and young South African, Louis Oosthuizen.

In a market dominated by overseas competitors, the Stuburt story shows British golf shoe manufacturers have the design skills and energy to fight back.

Team Stuburt start Louis Oosthuizen gained seven strokes on the field yesterday, with a scorching 64 in the third round of The 2007 Varclays Scottish Open.

From being bang on the cut mark at -1 the day before, the young South African posted an eagle and six birdies on his way to the best score of the day, which left him tied at -8 for fourth with England’s Philip Archer at the start of today’s final round.

Oosthuizen is four shots behind tournament leader Phil Mickelson, with Gregory Havret at -11 and Steve Webster at -9.

Louis Oosthuizen wears Stuburt Oxygen 02 golf shoes on the European Tour.

Team Stuburt star Darren Clarke is hoping that a change of club shafts will help him rediscover his form on the eve of the Open.

Darren made his first cut in eight events at the Buick Open two weeks ago and is currently -1 in the second round of the Scottish Open, which started at Loch Lomond yesterday.

The 38-year-old Ulsterman wears Stuburt shoes on Tour and is currently designing his own Stuburt collection for 2008. And he has just discovered he has been using the wrong shafts for three years!

“I’ve been putting the wrong shafts in my irons for three years,” Darren told BBC golf correspondent Iain Carter.

“I came home and changed them and straight away my iron play turned around. Hopefully that’s going to stand me in good stead,”

Just a couple of strokes with the new irons were enough to convince Darren he had made the right move.

“I had two shots when they had been reshafted and the difference was massive,” said the Northern Irishman.

“My irons had been going right and left and too high. You would think I would be smart enough to figure it out myself after about three years but I wasn’t quite clever enough.”

Darren, without a tournament victory since the 2005 Taiheiyo Masters in Japan, said he was now feeling much happier on and off the course following the tragic death of his wife Heather, from cancer, last year.

He said it had taken him a long time, but that he had rediscovered his desire for golf.

“My game has been struggling, my boys have been struggling, but things have been turning around a little bit,” said Clarke, who has played on five Ryder Cup teams.

“It seems like things are starting to finally get back to normal again and consequently I feel happier about what I am doing.

“I am almost like a rookie again, I am so keen to play. For quite some time with my other issues that has not really been at the forefront of my mind but now I am mad keen to get playing.”

Phil Mickleson is joint leader of the Scottish Open at 6 under par.

Team Stuburt ambassador Peter Lawrie launched a blistering assault on the Barclays Scottish Open at Loch Lomond today with a three-under par round of 68, which put him just three shots off the lead held by Graeme Storm, Phil Mickleson and Soren Hansen.

The Irishman and his Stuburt Helium Pros recorded three birdies on the front nine and one on the back, a bogey five on the first his only blemish in an othwerwise excellent round.

The round placed Lawrie in a chasing pack including Paul McGinley and Paul Lawrie, the Open Champion in 199 at Carnoustie - a venue he’ll visit in the Open again next week.

Stuburt’s young South African star, Louis Oosthuizen, is five shots off the lead after a steady -1 under par 71. He is wearing the Stuburt Oxygen 02 shoe on Tour.