We have now had the great honor of asking a few questions to Emilie Lidén, who runs SOFO Golf, which manufactures incredibly stylish headcovers. My own bag contains two headcovers from SOFO that I am so happy with.
- Who are you? Tell us a little about yourself.
Hi, my name is Emilie Lidén and I am a golf nerd. Yes, that's probably a short, good description of me, haha. I live in Södermalm in Stockholm with my partner Philip and our hairy son Otto (who is a Welsh Springer Spaniel, so no one thinks I have a real son I call hairy).
Before golf, I spent countless hours on the sea as an elite sailor, where my biggest achievement is that I was once in the Danish magazine "Se og Hør" when I held onto Prince Frederik of Denmark and gave him a kiss at an awards ceremony. The fact that we won bronze at the World Championships was less relevant.
That said, I have never played any ball sports before golf, so you can't exactly say that I am a natural talent, and I have to work my ass off to hit that little white ball.
- What is SOFO Golf?
SOFO Golf is mine and my partner Philip's little "COVID baby" that we started in October 2020. We had grown a bit tired of the selection of golf accessories, mainly in Europe, and felt that there was a need for more companies on the market that do something showing personal style. In our case, we fell for headcovers. Actually, it was probably Philip who wanted to update the contents of his bag, and I realized I could sew (I worked for almost 6 years as a sailmaker back in the day, including in New Zealand), so I started sewing. Then, I can't do anything just simply, so all of a sudden we had designed a logo, fixed an online shop, and yeah... now we've been going for 1.5 years and have soon sewn over 700 covers for golfers around the world. We design and sew everything in our small studio in Södermalm.
- Do you play a lot of golf yourself?
DO I! I wish I could play even more, but it ends up being like between 60-70 rounds per year. I would need to practice more, but it is just so wonderful to walk around on a course, swearing and feeling frustrated, so I don't put that much time into practicing... No, but joking aside, I think many can agree that the season in Sweden is so short, so you preferably spend the most time on the course when you can, and then you try to practice a little during the winter.
- What do you think about dress codes on golf courses?
Oh my god, DON'T GET ME STARTED, haha. Honestly, courses with a dress code should, in my opinion, review their operations and think about what decade we are in. Therefore, if floral pink skirts and ugly polo shirts are what is approved in a dress code, then the entire golf world should take a course in fashion studies and learn what looks good.
That said, I love that "golf fashion" is still slowly but surely starting to be inspired more and more by street fashion and that one allows a more personal style to take its place on the golf courses.
I believe that COVID has meant that golf (besides padel, that is) has become the sport that has really exploded the most in the last two years in Sweden. Exactly why, I don't know, but I think a lot depends on prices having become more humane, and many have abolished high share prices and playing rights, so golf is more accessible to everyone—a people's sport.
