It's difficult to launch a new golf apparel brand in the current market. With so many big and small brands out there making some of the best golf clothing for all sizes and styles, how can you possibly stand out? High quality, sustainable and unique garments is certainly one way to do that, and that's the goal of new apparel brand Koi Golf, which has come to market with a handful of impressive pieces including this 14/ zip.
Of the brands I've tried most recently, Reflo and Adidas are the ones that excel in this space. Using recycled polyester, garments from these two brands in particular excel in quality, style and sustainable credentials. Koi Golf is another brand entering this space, launching with a goal to shift people away from fast fashion by buying higher quality, less often.
The first thing I noticed was how unique the design was. Often, the best golf mid layers are either crewnecks or higher collars like on a traditional quarter zip but this has a much more conventional collar like you'd see on the best golf polos. I like this design a lot. It's something a bit new and fresh while also giving the 1/4 zip a unique look that is as smart as it is athletic. Like most of the best modern golf clothing, it looks as comfortable on the golf course as it does off it, and the subtle Koi branding on the left chest means it certainly doesn't scream golf when you take it off the course.
So, what makes this a more sustainable product? Aside from the quality, which will mean it lasts for longer and you don't have to buy as often, Koi Golf has sourced 100% organic cotton to make this garment. Organic cotton is a much more sustainable cotton produced without the use of synthetic pesticides, artificial fertiliser and other toxic chemicals. Koi Golf sources and manufacturers these products from a factory in Portugal, also meaning less shipping time and energy to those in the UK.
The quality is evident as soon as you take it out of the 100% recyclable packaging. We've all felt a good quality garment in our hands before and this 1/4 zip had all the hallmarks of high quality. A heavy fabric that's soft to the touch, I can tell this 1/4 zip will last the test of time and look as fresh as it did on my first wear as it will on my 100th.
Sustainable clothing can have an unhelpful stereotype that it is of a poorer quality than garments made using virgin polyester. This 1/4 zip from Koi does a lot to quash those stereotypes and is proof that sustainable clothing can often be of an even higher quality. It's warm too. Certainly not a lightweight midlayer you'd wear when the weather is only slightly chillier, this is a chunkier mid layer you'd want to use when the temperature really dips. It also has a larger fit that some other mid layers I've tested, but it in no way inhibited the swing.
This 1/4 zip is one of a few of Koi Golf's first launch of products, which also features a polo short, t-shirt and other accessories like socks. For a first drop, I must say I was thoroughly impressed with this 1/4 zip. The quality out of the packaging is immediate and, at £70, sits somewhere in the mid price point for these type of garments, despite feeling and looking a lot more premium that that. But, as the brand has committed to, this will be a purchase of serious quality, re-wearability and versatility that I think a lot of golfers will really appreciate. I've been told there's a lot more to come from Koi Golf over the next few years, and this is definitely one of golf's newest apparel brands people need to be looking out for.
