When Under Armour set out to redefine what a modern performance golf shoe could be, one thing became immediately clear to us. Clone only truly makes sense when you get it on your feet.
The first time we experienced that moment ourselves, the reaction was immediate. You feel the stability and comfort straight away, and the way the shoe adapts to you becomes obvious very quickly.
From that point on, our entire launch strategy was built around one simple idea. Get the product on the feet of the right people and let the shoe do the talking. It has been a privilege for The Loop to help bring that experience to life.
Equipping the Right Voices with the Right Experience
From the outset, our priority was simple. Get Drive Pro Clone on the feet of the right people and recreate the exact wow moment we had felt ourselves.
We assembled an exceptional crop of golf equipment journalists from across the UK and Europe and brought them together at Palmares Resort in Portugal for an immersive, on-feet media experience.
Alongside fantastic insight from the Under Armour team, we ensured that the media had the chance to test the product and experience Clone properly for themselves. Everything was anchored in real, on-course experience rather than theory.
Each attendee was fitted into Drive Pro Clone and sent home with a pair in October, giving them months to test the shoe properly before launch. Since then, it has been genuinely rewarding to see so many of those journalists continuing to wear Clone in their everyday golf. A sign that the product has stood up not just to scrutiny, but to real-world use across a full spectrum of conditions.
Bringing Performance Fitting to Life at Stoke Park
To complement the media programme and extend that same on-feet experience to creators and brand ambassadors, we took advantage of Under Armour’s Footwear Performance Centre at Stoke Park.
Here, members of the newly formed UA SqUAd experienced Under Armour’s footwear optimisation and fitting process and, crucially, felt first-hand how Clone adapts to them the moment they put it on.
For many, it was their first time trying Drive Pro Clone, and the response was immediate. Watching golfers register the difference in stability, comfort and support within just a few swings was exactly the same reaction we had seen at the UA sales meeting and a powerful validation of the product.
It also gave us a chance to create authentic content around fit, performance and personalisation, grounding the Clone story in real reactions rather than marketing claims.
Momentum on Tour, Even Before Launch
Momentum has continued to build around Clone even before launch.
Ahead of its global release, Drive Pro Clone has already delivered two DP World Tour victories. First through Rasmus Neergaard Petersen, who claimed his maiden win wearing Clone, and most recently through Patrick Reed.
Seeing a completely new footwear platform perform under genuine tournament pressure and contribute to wins at the highest level has added a powerful layer of credibility to everything Under Armour set out to achieve with this shoe.
We have also been privileged to shoot with Rasmus Neergaard Petersen twice in recent months. The first captured his initial reaction to wearing Clone for the first time. The second came just a couple of months later, following his maiden DP World Tour win, documenting how his views on the shoe had evolved after competing and winning in it. We are excited to bring this content to life in the coming weeks.
A Flagship Innovation from Under Armour
Under Armour officially launches Drive Pro Clone globally on February 6.
The shoe has been developed to address a longstanding challenge in golf footwear. Creating a shoe that genuinely adapts to the natural shape and movement of a golfer’s foot, rather than forcing every player into a single fixed shape.
The result is a more consistent fit, greater stability and a more secure platform throughout the round.
As Jake Haley, Senior Manager of Golf Footwear and Apparel at Under Armour, who joined us at Palmares to help walk the media through the thinking behind Clone, explains:
“Traditional golf shoes create gaps, pressure points and lost power because they are built around a single, fixed shape. With the Drive Pro Clone, we set out to eliminate those compromises entirely. Every golfer deserves a shoe that adapts to them, not the other way around.”
A Launch Built on Substance
For us at The Loop, this launch has been about doing justice to a genuinely meaningful innovation.
By giving journalists and golfers the time, context and experience to understand Clone properly, and by grounding the story in real performance, real testing and real Tour validation, we have aimed to build long-term credibility that extends well beyond launch week.
Seeing the coverage now starting to land, the product already winning on Tour, and the same journalists still choosing to wear Clone months after first receiving it, feels like the ultimate proof point.
We are proud of the work that went into making this launch feel as considered and authentic as the product itself.