Archer Prepares for 2011

John Letters Staff Player Phillip Archer came to our  test centre at the Stadium Driving Range in Huddersfield yesterday to help us with product development for next season, while being fitted for some new gear himself. 

Testing was focused on two area’s.  Firstly we’ve got a tour driver in development for next season, that sit’s square to slightly open at address, looks a little smaller, and that hit’s it with a flatter ballflight and lower spin. Chris had already done some testing on the head, but it was it was the first time Phil had hit the proto. And we almost didn’t get it back. Compared to his current driver Phillip hit the ball on average 3 yards further, but more importantly his dispersion was improved from 6.2 yards to 2.7 with the JL Proto head. So he was quite literally hitting it longer AND straighter than his current driver, known for being the number one driver on tour. 

We had to make sure we had our eyes on it the whole time, as otherwise Phillip would have nabbed it, but as it’s currently the only one in existence we couldn’t let him have it just yet.  On Phillips request, we’re also going to develop a deep faced version of the driver for players who like a smaller looking driver at address. 

Secondly we also fitted Archer for a three wood. In a lot of ways these are the hardest clubs to get in the bag of a touring professional. Their three woods need to be used as a mini driver off the tee, hitting into par 5’s from distance, while also being used to shape the ball. It’s not necessarily all about having optimal spin rates and launch angles, but what feels right. Phillip tested a variety of shaft options, but settled on an Aldila VS Proto 60 x shaft. Lighter than what he’s used to using he was hitting a John Letters T9+ 15 degree three wood as far, and with better dispersion than his current 13 degree head. Archer wants to do some on course testing first, but all signs point towards it going into his bag for the start of next season.