Senior Open Day 3

We spent a lot of time with Sam, and had a lot of interest on the putting green, however the Tour van was busy at all times with requests from players. Over 60 players came on to the Tour Van this week, and we got as many of them as possible to try the latest John Letters equipment as well as any repairs that the guys needed. 


South African legend David Frost took a real shine to the new Master Model Tour Black Driver. We built him a 9 degree head, with an Aldila NV75X shaft, at 44 ¾ Inch long and a ribbed tour velvet grip set a fraction closed to how he liked it. Frost loved the simple looks, and explosive power of the plasma welded Titanium face. Former US Open winner Steve Jones also fell in love with the Tour Black driver and took a 10 degree with Aldila RIP on the course to try.

American veteran Dick Mast came on and Tour Technician David Cox built him a T9+ 3 and 5 wood with Aldila Voodoo SVS7 shafts, and 52, 56, and 60 degree Tour Black wedges with KBS shafts.

Paraguayan Angel Franco took a shine to the T9+ Hybrids, and took with a 16 degree 2 hybrid and a 19 degree three hybrid built with Aldila R.I.P 85 Stiff Hybrid shafts and Black Widow Widow Maker grips in red.

Eventual winner, left handed American Russ Cochran came onto the truck and had hybrids and fairway woods built. The American had three clubs built for him at the beginning of the week. We built a 3 wood with UST Mamiya V2 shaft, and 3 and 4 hybrids with Aldila Rip 85 X Flex shafts. Although he didn’t use them in his win, he told us they would go into play when he returned to the US.

We've added a wall of signatures to the tour truck, and got everyone who came on board to sign it, however it wasn't only the world’s best golfers over the age of 50 that came onboard. Star of Ghostbusters, Lost in Translation, and most importantly Caddy Shack, Bill Murray came onboard looking for shelter from the inclement weather

Seniors Open Day 2

After concentrating on Sam for the majority of Monday we got to work with the rest of the field. Unlike the European Tour, a lot fewer players at the Seniors level have equipment contracts. This means players use equipment that performs and not just what they’re paid to use so it’s the perfect platform for us to get our equipment into play.

As well as launching the Master Model Tour Black driver and Master Model Tour Black Irons this week, it was also the debut on the Seniors tour of the all new Golden Goose and Silver Swan putters. Although both were iconic in their own right, it was the Golden Goose that John Letters became known for and the new putters received a fantastic reception. CNC Milled from soft 303 stainless steel, the putters feature our proprietary Roll-It technology grooved face. The grooves not only improve top spin, but because there is less material on the face, they also   help give the putter an even softer feel.

Japanese golfing legend Isao Aoki was very keen on the Golden Goose. But then that should come as no surprise. Aoki, who was widely regarded as the best putters of the 70’s and 80’s, won most of his tournaments using an original Golden Goose Putter. So Tour Representative James Graham was surprised when he took the all new GG3 model to use in the tournament. “Aoki holed everything. He has his hands low, and the toe sticks up in the air, but every putt seemed to drop on the practice green” said Graham. And the Black Golden Goose head cover really stood out in his “Ghost” white golf bag with his white head covers. The heel shafted mallet is an en vogue shape again at the moment, and with its thicker topline, the GG3 is one of the best looking on the market.

Another player who fell in love with a Golden Goose this week was Francois Illouiz. As he succinctly put himself in his French accent, “I’m Illouiz and I’m using the Golden Goose “. The Frenchman fell hard for the Original Golden Goose and it’s simplicity, and stated he was going to use it in his next event.

Juan Quiros was another who fell for a John Letters Putter this week. Spaniard Quiros went for one of the new Silver Swan putters. CNC Milled from 304 Stainless steel, the Silver Swans feature a deep mill pattern on the face that gives a perfectly flat face and solid crisp strike at impact. Again there are three models, including an Anser style, a mid Mallet, and a MOI design. Quiros went for the SS8, our new mid mallet design with a plumber’s neck and put it straight into the bag for the tournament.

Day 1 at the Seniors Open Championship

It’s been a busy couple of weeks for the John Letters Tour Truck. While the open was a fantastic event for us, we were busier looking after the media than we were players. It’s a major championship week, so players tend to be ready with their equipment already.

The Seniors Open at Walton Heath however has been truly manic. With the best golfers in the worlds over the age of 50 descending on Walton Heath golf club it was always going to be our busiest week of the year. The senior’s golfers grew up using John Letters equipment and trust that we can make clubs that will perform for them under the pressures of Tournament golf. If the Master Model was good enough for Gary Player and Lee Trevino, it’s good enough for them.

As the Seniors Open was our first event on the Senior Tour this season, it was the perfect place to catch up with John Letters Staff professional Sam Torrance. Torrance has been using the Master Model irons since the beginning of the season, and the Tour Black wedges since last year, but we had some new toys to try with him, and we were going to see what we could get in play this week.

We showed Sam the limited edition Master Model Tour Black irons and it was love at first sight. “Gorgeous” was his first comment. After testing with a variety of steel shafts including his current Project X 6.5 shafts, Sam settled with the new Nippon Modus 3 shaft. “Perfection” was his second comment. The new black head was getting a great reception from everyone that saw them. It’s an identical head to the standard Master Model, but with its dark finish, everyone mentioned how much smaller it looked at address. Expect to see these in the bags of a few players in the coming weeks at Seniors events, with a dozen sets made up for players including Barry Lane.

It was also the first time we had shown the Sam the final version of the Master Model Tour Black Driver. Integral in every stage of development, Sam had hit the first unmarked prototypes as far back as September last year. The traditionally shaped 460cc head features a sleek black PVD finish, plasma welded Beta-Ti face, and a one degree open, but optically square face angle that better players are looking for. The standard driver features an Aldila RIP Beta shaft as standard, but as you can imagine of someone of his ability Sam’s specs were far from standard.

Knowing what Shafts Sam has played and got on with we built a variety of specs to try, including the Fujikura Motore Speeder VC7.1, Aldila Voodoo XVS7, the Aldila Voodoo XNV7,  Project X 6A4 and Aldila RIP 70 x. While Sam loved the look of the head, and felt that the 11 degrees of loft was correct for him, he couldn’t settle into a shaft. He wanted a little more launch and a touch more spin. He currently uses a Matrix Ozik TP7 X flex so that’s what we are going to try next. He was a bit tired after all this testing so we let the poor guy sit down.

Chris Hanson bags the first set of Master Model Irons

John Letters Staff Player Chris Hanson yesterday picked up his new Master Model irons ready for 2011 season. The Master Model is returning to the John Letters line up after a 30 year absence, ready to retake it's place at the pinnacle of the game.

The 8620 carbon steel head is forged for an ultra soft feel at impact and features a tour inspired head shape and thin topline. The brushed satin finish reduces glare at address. Unique to the Master Model is the option for paint fill personalisation, so Chris came in and got hands on, choosing a blue colour scheme.

Most tour players strengthen their lofts on their iron sets to get the ball flight they want, so we have built these stronger lofts into the set straight out of the box, and Hanson noticed this straight away. "I loved the strong penetrating flight they gave me, the short irons had a really strong piercing trajectory."

Despite the cold weather, Chris is practicing hard in preparation for the first Challenge Tour Event of the season in India, and all going well the Master Models will join the T9+ Fairways, Hybrids and TP Forged wedges in his bag for the start of the season.

Expect to see the John Letters Master Model in store this spring.

TOUR TRUCK STOPS OFF AT SOLIHULL

The John Letters Tour Truck visited Direct Golf Solihull this weekend. The dreary weather didn't dampen the enthusiasm of the hundreds of keen golfers, who couldn't keep themselves away from the lure of a working European Tour Truck.


Product development manager and Tour Technician James Graham was kept busy by inquisitive golfers eager to learn about the ins and outs of life on tour and keen to get their clubs worked on. James focused on custom fitting wedges on the day, offering a variety of tour only finishes and grinds not usually available on general sale.

The most popular option on the day was a torched finish. By taking the chrome off of the wedges, it opens up a variety of finish options. By taking a blow torch and heating the wedge you can change the colour of the wedge from a light gold all the way to a deep purple depending on how hot and how long you keep the blow torch on the wedge. Another popular tour option for the John Letters TP series wedge is brushed chrome. By putting the wedge on a buffing wheel it dulls the finish to a satin chrome as preferred by many better players for its glare reduction qualities.

This Saturday the van is visiting the Direct Golf UK Wirral store, there all day from 9AM.

Torrance Bags JL Tour Black Wedges

Sam Torrance had his highest finish since March this weekend, coming third at the OKI Castellón Senior Tour Championship, including a course record nine under 63 in the second round. And it was a good week for us as here at John Letters HQ,  the first week that Sam has bagged the 2011 JL Tour Black wedge in a tournament.

Developed with the tournament professional in mind, the JL Tour Black wedge features a subtle sole grind that offers relief on the heel and toe of the wedge. While using a classic teardrop head shape. When Sam first saw the wedges he told us “These are beautiful, do you have any for me to use in play next week? These will go straight in my bag." And good to his word Sam put them in as soon as he received them in his spec.

Playing a three wedge set up with a 52, 56, and a 60, Sam has his wedges shafted with KBS Tour X Flex shafts, soft-stepped for a slightly softer feel and a touch higher launch than a typical Dynamic Gold S300 shaft. This set up will help produce a little more spin, important considering the change in the groove rules this season for professionals.

Sam has also requested a 54 degree wedge to use on certain courses. This show's the attention to detail tour pro's go to, taking extra equipment options to each tournament. In this case the 54 degree sand wedge replaces both the 52 and 56 degree wedges for weeks where he feels the course requires an extra long iron, hybrid or fairway wood. As 54 degrees isn’t one of our stock loft options, co-designer of the Tour Black wedge James Graham has bent and stamped a 56 degree sand wedge to his specs.

The JL Tour Black wedge will be available in store from March next season.

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.

Charley Hull Tests the 2011 range

Teen golfing sensation Charley Hull came and visited the John Letters Test Facility in Huddersfield this week to get her equipment prepared for 2011. Charley, only 14, already carries a plus 3 handicap and has was agonisingly close to qualifying for the Ricoh Women’s British Open missing out by a shot in a four women playoff.

Charley has been taught in her own words, to “hit the ball like a man” and she was overpowering certain X Flex shafts in her testing session.  After significant shaft testing we put Charley into a X Flex UST Mamiya Proforce V2 shaft in her driver, for a more penetrating low spin trajectory, and a UST Mamiya  Attas shaft  in a 15 degree T9+ fairway wood for a little longer carry. Charley also extensively tested the Master Model Prototype irons, and can’t wait to get her set in the New Year when the stock comes in. Charley has also requested a set of the highly anticipated JL Tour Black wedges, having fallen in love with them at first sight. This forged 8620 carbon steel wedge was designed with the better player in mind, with its clean lines and subtle sole grind, not to forget the stunning black finish. 

With 2011 fast approaching, everyone on the John Letters Tour Truck is looking forward to helping Charley achieve her goals.

Johnnie Walker Championship @ Gleneagles

It was a successful week for the John Letters Tour Truck at the Johnny Walker Championship at Gleneagles. Although not the busiest week we’ve had all season, with the heavy rain the players didn’t spend as much time on the range as usual, there were real quantifiable results to be had from our hard work.

John Letters Staff player Phillip Archer came into the van at the beginning of the week to get his clubs re-gripped. Going with Golf Pride Tour Velvets with a ribbed reminder, Tour Technician Kevin Ludkin thickened the grips with two layers of tape. Four rounds and four under par later, Phil had his best finish of the season with a tied 10^th finish.

With the amount these guys play, they are looking at new grips every 2- 3 months. Obviously most golfers won’t need to change their grips anywhere near as often; however it’s worth changing your grips at least once a season for optimal results. With so many options on offer and seemingly every colour in the rainbow available there’ll always be a new option that will take your eye.

On site at The Farmfoods British Par 3 Championship 2010

The Farmfoods British Par 3 Championship enjoyed another great year at Nailcote Hall, Warwickshire, as a number of the biggest names in golf and the celebrity world attended the prestigious championship. On location the John Letters Tour Truck was busy over the four days with a mixture of celebrities, Professionals and members of the public taking full use of the facilities. Custom Fit Technicians adjusted lofts and lies, assembled new wedges and ground down soles to give competitors the perfect clubs to maximise the short course. With the average hole on the par 3 course being 114 yards it was the perfect venue to promote the new TP Wedge Series. Former Manchester United footballer Lee Sharpe was in high praise of the workshop and had a 52, 56 & 60 degree TP Series Wedge custom fitted to his personal specifications.

The ‘Please Mind the Gap’ campaign was in full flow as golfers flocked to purchase the 52 degree TP Series Gap Wedge to fill the distance void between their Pitching (normally 48 degree) and Sand Wedge (normally 56 degree). Sky TV cameras visited the workshop to film John Letters Technician Kevin Ludkin custom build a brand new T9+ series Driver from  start to finish. Former European Tour Player Shaun Webster commented “it’s great to have the John Letters workshop on site, I don’t think I’ve passed it when there weren’t people in their having clubs adjusted”.

Away in the ‘tented village’ area the Sam Torrance Chipping Challenge saw over 500 contestants take part. Daily winners won custom fitted TP Series wedges whilst any golfer achieving 200 or more points won a John Letters Pitchfork and Ball Marker.

Midlands based professional Richard O’Hanlon won the Championship in style finishing on an impressive six-under par, pipping Nailcote Hall’s resident professional Mark Mouland to the title of Farmfoods British Par 3 Championship winner. O’Hanlon was crowned champion and his consistent and superb form going into the tournament, after winning the PGA order of merit event at the Forest of Dean in the Forest Classic, meant that he was always set to be a contender at Nailcote Hall.

After shooting a first round 51 O’Hanlon remained in contention for day two at Nailcote Hall trailing overnight leader Mouland by two shots. His victory at the Forest of Dean was his first-ever PGA order of merit win after 22 years of trying and he has now secured another strong PGA tour event under his belt. European Tour professional Oliver Fisher produced a solid three under par finish alongside former British Amateur Championship winner Gary Wolstenholme to tie for third place.

On the two Celebrity golf days taking place either side of the Pro Am, Brian Close won both competitions. The Former England and Yorkshire cricketer played some fantastic golf beating other celebrities including ‘Strictly Come Dancing’s’ Len Goodman, Sir Bobby Charlton, Peter Shilton OBE, Jasper Carrott OBE, William Roache MBE and snooker legend Willie Thorne.

The event was a real success raising a substantial amount for Rainbows Hospice for Children and Young People and The Seve Ballesteros Foundation as there were two fantastic Gala Balls both featuring charity auctions with some amazing money can’t buy prizes including a unique one on one putting session with European Number One Lee Westwood

Tony Jacklin CBE once again hosted the event and deemed it another success, The former US Open Champion, celebrating the 40th anniversary of his victory at Hazeltine said; “Once again the event has been incredible, I would like to thank Farmfoods in supporting the event and ensuring that it succeeded and surpassed last year’s success. I am very much looking forward to next year’s event already and the chance to build on this year’s amazing success”

Former England and Manchester United footballer Sir Bobby Charlton was delighted to have been involved in this year’s competition, he said; “This is a great event, a superb location and I have really enjoyed myself, I will certainly try and come back next year and improve on my performance this year”. He continued; “Everyone has made me feel welcome and the event has attracted a large number of spectators which is very pleasing”

British Par 3 Championship

British Par 3 Championship, Nailcote Hall, Warwickshire 10th - 13th August 2010


The British Par 3 Championship proved to be a very good event for us even though at times the rain was relentless. With a decent turn out of both the public/celebrities and pro golfers this was a good stage to continue our brand awareness and show off our new T9+ and T8 product lines. Our location down the side of the first fairway was great for exposure although we were slightly worried about any hooked shots hitting the truck!! Luckily only one wayward shot came our way which rebounded off our Sam Torrance graphic on the side of the truck, fortunately no damage was done to Sam!

Our location on the 1st

Most of the work involved was checking the loft/lie angles of clubs. With this being a par 3 course the majority of loft/lie checks were on the 8,9,PW and wedges of players. Former European Tour player Malcolm MacKenzie had all his iron and wedge lies checked and after a couple of tweaks he was on his way to the first tee.

European Senior Tour Player Kevin Spurgeon requested a T9+ hybrid making up for testing on his next few events. We assembled a no 4 head and fitted a tour issue UST Mamiya 7X hybrid shaft (the 7 meaning the uncut weight of the shaft and the X denoting the extra stiff flex). We will see how Kevin got on when we go to the next seniors event at Woburn.

T9+ Hybrid club assembled for Kevin Spurgeon

On the Friday after the golf had finished we had a visit from ex Manchester United legend Lee Sharpe. Lee was very interested in trying out our new forged TP wedges after using one on our 'Sam Torrance chipping challenge' inflatable. After conversation with one of our tour staff Lee did some wedge testing in a small bunker area and was very impressed with the feel of the clubs. So impressed was Lee that he purchased a 52, 56 and 60 wedge and had them customised on the tour truck. We took 3 degrees loft off his 52 which made it a 49 giving him some added distance. With the 60 we took some bounce off by grinding the sole and also sharpened the leading edge.

Lee Sharpe is presented with his TP wedges

Also on the Friday we had a visit from Sky TV who were wanting to record some footage of what goes on in a tour van such as ours.  Amongst other things we demonstrated how to grind the sole of a wedge, how to check the loft/lie of clubs and a step by step guide on how to build a basic golf club.

John Letters Tour Team

Sky TV pay a visit

Len Goodman carried a Letters pencil bag

The 'Sam Torrance Chipping Challenge'

Welcome to the John Letters Tour Truck Workshop Blog.

This is a new feature on the John Letters website that has the purpose of sharing tour information, details of the technical needs of Professional Golfers and photos from the various tours throughout Europe.

Throughout the coming months we aim to provide information on upcoming John Letter’s products and prototypes that will initially be tested on the tours.

We hope that you enjoy the blog, happy golfing!

BRITISH SENIOR OPEN AT CARNOUSTIE GOLF LINKS

Friday 23^rd July- This proved to be a very busy day in the truck with a demand for both repair work and adjustments. With the famous wind at Carnoustie getting up in the morning many players were looking to check/adjust the lofts on their lower irons with the purpose of hitting a lower ball flight into the wind. The closing holes of 16, 17 and 18 in particular were causing difficulty with a strong headwind.

Ian Woosnam paid a visit to check on the loft of his #9 + #PW irons. Ian thought his #9 was 1 degree too strong for what he wanted. After a quick check in the loft/lie machine it was confirmed that Ian was correct. It`s amazing that these guys can tell if there clubs are 1 degree out just through practice on the range!

Wayne Grady sampled the new TP wedge and was very complimentary on the look of the club as were several other pros that tested both the TP wedges and the brand new T9+ range that was launched one week earlier at the Fairmont, St Andrews.

Eamonn Darcy came into the truck with his 8 iron head loose just one hour before his tee off time. After a quick re-glue he was able to put the club into play later in his round.

Saturday 24^th July- This proved to be another busy day with many requests for new grips to be fitted and more loft/lie checks. 

Four times PGA Tour winner Tim Simpson requested a full loft and lie check on all his irons and wedges stipulating that there should be ½ degree difference in lie angle between each club. It turned out that his #6 was the same lie as his #5. To correct this we flattened the #4 + #5 irons ½ degree so that the #6 fitted into the incremental pattern of ½ degree between each iron. After this Tim requested the whole set be flattened 1 degree as he felt the irons were too `toe` in the air.

Open qualifier Steve Cipa used a John Letters Tour staff bag for the last two rounds of the championship. It was great for us as a brand as he was paired with John Letters Staff Player Sam Torrance. Both players can be seen practicing on the range in the photo:

Sunday 25th July- A quieter day today mainly as it was Championship day and not many of the pros wanted to tinker on money day! Ian Woosnam requested his #2 iron to be moved from 24 to 23 degree, we had a rare chance to see our work in action later on when Ian hit the #2 iron off the 17th tee.

The British Senior Open proved to be a very successful event for us. We distributed 10,000 packs of John Letter’s tees and ball markers free to the public and a good number of caddies took a John Letters towel to put onto their pros bag. The new T9+ range was warmly received with many of the players requesting the club with their preferred shaft and set up. We had a lot of interest from the American pros regarding the history of the brand and our plans for the future; they showed genuine interest in the Scottish roots of the game. I know that a few of the Americans coupled the event with some sightseeing, Glamis castle and Edinburgh seemed to be the favoured destinations.

Once the final pairing of Bernard Langer and Corey Pavin had finished practising on the range we packed up and made arrangements for the six hour drive back to head office and a deserved sleep!

John Letters Tour Team