Turkish Airlines World Golf Cup Brings Hafiz Mustafa and Les Ferdinand Together in London

Hafız Mustafa 1864 was proud to be a sponsor of the Turkish Airlines World Golf Cup, held at The Grove Hotel Golf Club near London.

The tournament brought golfers, guests, business leaders, and familiar names together for a day centered on sport, travel, friendship, and international connections. For Hafız Mustafa, the event also created a valuable opportunity to share Istanbul’s confectionery heritage with guests in the United Kingdom.

Turkish baklava and Turkish delight welcomed visitors throughout the day at the Hafız Mustafa area.

Those flavors have accompanied our story since 1864.

Sharing them beside one of Europe’s most respected golf communities felt deeply meaningful to us.

Hafız Mustafa Joins an International Golf Tradition

The Turkish Airlines World Golf Cup has traveled to cities across many countries since 2013 and has become an important fixture on the international amateur golf calendar.

London remains especially important within that program.

The United Kingdom has one of Europe’s largest and most established golf communities, and Turkish Airlines London General Manager Mehmet Gürülkan also underlined the country’s importance for the sport during the event.

For Hafız Mustafa, sponsorship of the tournament came with a simple purpose.

We wanted guests to encounter another part of Türkiye while spending the day on the course.

Golf connected the guests.

Turkish hospitality completed the table.

Turkish Baklava and Lokum Welcome Guests

Hafız Mustafa’s area quickly became a warm stop between the day’s golf activity and conversations around the venue.

Guests tasted Turkish baklava and Turkish delight, two products closely linked with Ottoman-Turkish confectionery traditions and Hafız Mustafa’s history.

Baklava has remained one of our best-known specialties for generations. Turkish delight carries an equally important place in our heritage, with recipes and preparation methods passed from one generation to another since the nineteenth century.

Seeing guests in England enjoy those flavors gave the day another meaning for us.

A plate of baklava can start a conversation surprisingly fast.

Lokum can do the same.

People ask where the recipes come from. They ask about pistachios, phyllo, Turkish coffee, Istanbul, and the first Hafız Mustafa shop. One bite can suddenly open a discussion about a city thousands of miles away.

We love those conversations.

Les Ferdinand Visits the Hafız Mustafa Area

One of the day’s warmest surprises came when former England footballer Les Ferdinand visited the Hafız Mustafa area.

Ferdinand tasted Turkish delight and baklava and spent time chatting with our team.

His connection with Türkiye gave the conversation an especially personal direction.

The former QPR, Newcastle United, Tottenham Hotspur, and Beşiktaş striker still remembers Istanbul with great affection. Ferdinand played for Beşiktaş during the 1988–89 season and told us Turkish flavors brought back memories of those years.

His reaction made us genuinely happy.

Food has a habit of doing that.

A familiar taste can suddenly bring back a street, a neighborhood, a stadium, a table, or a period of life that still feels close decades later.

Ferdinand spoke warmly about Istanbul and said he had missed Turkish flavors.

For us, hearing that beside a plate of Hafız Mustafa lokum in England felt special.

A Conversation That Began with Turkish Delight

Ferdinand’s visit soon became a longer conversation.

He remembered arriving in Istanbul as a 21-year-old footballer and spoke about how important his season in Türkiye became for his career and personal life.

His memories included Beşiktaş, İnönü Stadium, Ortaköy, Dolmabahçe, and the Bosphorus.

Still, the part we enjoyed most was seeing how naturally the conversation began.

Turkish delight opened the door.

Then came Istanbul.

Then came memories.

Moments like this explain why we have always believed food carries far more than flavor.

Recipes can keep personal memories alive for decades.

Sam Burke Finishes First

Competition on the course continued throughout the day.

Sam Burke finished first with 40 points, while Louis Jean placed second, and Tom Cox completed the top three.

The tournament gave guests plenty to enjoy on the course, while the social program created room for conversation beyond golf.

Hafız Mustafa was happy to contribute to that side of the event through Turkish confectionery and hospitality.

Sport can connect people quickly.

Food often keeps them talking afterward.

London Holds a Special Place in the Hafız Mustafa Story

The United Kingdom has become increasingly important for Hafız Mustafa in recent years.

London now forms part of a much wider story that began in Istanbul more than 160 years ago.

Sharing Turkish desserts in England carries a special emotional value for us because we are sharing the culinary habits we grew up with.

Baklava after dinner.

Lokum beside Turkish coffee.

A box was taken home for the family.

A sweet is placed on the table when guests arrive.

Those gestures feel ordinary when you grow up around them.

Seen from another country, they become a beautiful introduction to Turkish life.

From Istanbul to London

More than 160 years have passed since Hafız Mustafa first opened its doors in Istanbul.

The original idea still feels surprisingly simple.

Prepare Turkish desserts with respect for the recipes.

Welcome people warmly.

Share what belongs to our culinary history.

The Turkish Airlines World Golf Cup gave us another place to do exactly that.

Guests tasted baklava. They tried lokum.

Les Ferdinand stopped for a conversation and remembered Istanbul.

Golf continued around us. For one day near London, a little piece of Hafız Mustafa’s Istanbul story found a place beside the fairway.

We were very happy to be there.