The founding editor of lads' mag Loaded is set to cause a stir in the clubhouse with his latest publication, Golf Punk.

Tim Southwell, owner of Brighton-based KYN Publishing, hopes the magazine will attract golf fans who are not "obsessed with their handicaps".

After leaving Loaded, editor Tim, 39, who is passionate about the sport, spotted a gap in the market for a title which celebrated golf in a less po-faced way, with a greater emphasis on lifestyle.

For a long time the sport was derided for its promotion of dodgy clothes, chauvinism and the worst kind of snobbery.

But a renaissance in the game led by Tiger Woods, and latched on to by a crop of designers from Prada to Hilfiger, has given its fans more street cred.

Bi-monthly Golf Punk will have a strong celebrity focus and feature self-confessed golf junkies, including Will Smith, Justin Timberlake, Cameron Diaz and David Beckham.

Manic Street Preachers bass player Nicky Wire features in the first edition, which was given a print run of 80,000 and a shelf price of £3.50.

Figures show half those who play the sport are between 17 and 35 and these "hipper" players are the people Tim hopes will buy the magazine.

He said: "There are some designers now making really good clothes for golfers, unlike the polo shirts and boring trousers you used to have to wear.

"I always thought it was weird that to play this game you were passionate about you had to wear clothes you wouldn't be seen dead in anywhere else."

With a limited budget for advertising, the title of the magazine was all-important.

Tim said: "It had to be a promotional tool in itself. There were a few other ideas floating around but Golf Punk was clearly the best - it just leaps off the shelf.

"We know who the magazine is aimed at but we really do not know how many of those people exist - we will have to wait and see."

KYN is based at the Sussex Innovation Centre (SinC) in Falmer, which backed the company by providing low-cost office space.

The venture has been funded by media entrepreneur Chris Ingram, who set up the Ingram partnership last year, James Arbib and Hotbed, the private equity network.

Footballers Phil Babb, Jason McAteer, Tommy Sorensen, Stephen Wright and Michael Gray were persuaded to provide start-up funding.

Tim, who lives in Haywards Heath, said: "SInC has removed a lot of the stress in launching this publication.

"The Sussex University-based centre is a melting pot of new ideas and they have given us the aura of being a much bigger company while we got off the ground."

Mike Herd, executive director of SInC, said: "Innovation isn't just about technology - it's also about new ideas.

"Sussex has not only established itself as hub for new media but is also fast becoming a hotbed for journalists and publishing houses."

KYN takes its initials from the phrase "Keep yourself nice". Tim adopted it as his catchphrase after it was used by Paul Weller at a Loaded awards ceremony in 1999.

Friday April 02, 2004