Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/80982
It is always eye catching as it looks more like you are saddling up to a bar versus placing orders for golf shoes, but that is just the way Canadian Golf company Kikkor Golf owner James Lepp wants his company to always be. Different, fresh and youthful. Lepp was born in Abbotsford, British Columbia and was a stellar amateur golfer winning the BC Amateur for 4 consecutive years from 2002-2005, was two-time Canadian Junior Champion and Canada's top Amateur male golfer in 2003 – 2005. He started his collegiate career at the University of Illinois and then moved on to the University of Washington. In 2005 while playing for Washington he was the first Canadian to win the coveted Division 1 Individual NCAA Championship. There is no question he is a player. He turned professional in 2006 and played on the Canadian Tour racking up 2 wins. It was during this time that Lepp was wildly disillusioned with the footwear that was available for golfers. Golf shoes in his estimation looked more like his father's shoes and were not in any way shape or form hip or comfortable. He says, "If somebody told you that you dress just like your dad would you take that as a compliment?" His vision was to create a golf shoe that was youthful in style and would be a shoe that younger players and young at heart would be proud to sport. Putting his business degree to work Lepp started to put the pieces together to form a new company called Kikkor Golf in 2008. The company came to fruition in April 2010 and offered the golf market the first true version of a street shoe that functioned as a high performance golf shoe. The product grew in the following year to include skate and retro styles. Many golf footwear companies soon jumped on the bandwagon but it is safe to say Kikkor was a true pioneer in the street shoe style. Everything Kikkor stands for is unique and different. Their tag line for their company is "Be yourself. Be Awesome" and Kikkor lives that philosophy in spades. Their website www.kikkor.com not only features their new and fresh products but also gives you a sense of the Kikkor Golf team's fun loving attitude. 32 ALL IMAGES COURTESY KIKKOR EXCEPT WHERE N