Woburn Senior Masters

Despite dramatically changing weather patterns at Woburn during the past two Pro-Am days, John Letters putting & short game specialist, Andy Gorman was again kept busy exhibiting wedges & putters from the world famous brand. He had his busiest tournament too, providing putting stroke analysis and coaching to many of the leading European Senior Tour Players.

Feedback from Juan Quiros, Angel Franco, Bobby Lincoln, commended the quality of finish and feel to the MasterModel prototype putters and were keen to see the production models in order to put them into tournament play. Tour winners Mark Mouland, Dennis Sullivan, Phil Golding and several others including leading amateur Charley Hull trialled Andy's prototype and soon to be launched T-Stroke putting trainer and discussed his putting principles and thoughts on improving their own strokes. "Its been a great week of player interaction and assistance! I grew up watching many of these players and I often need to remind myself I'm not the 16 year old kid that worked at the Belfry from 1985-89 witnessing two Ryder Cups and several Tour events where so many of these great players showcased their talents. I knew then how privileged I was watching great players like Seve, Pinero, Lyle, Faldo, Torrance & co and hoped to play alongside them at some point. But today 25+ years later I'm helping them to continue competing in their Senior years on Tour!

Working with John Letters allows me to fulfil some of my childhood ambitions and I'm extremely grateful for this opportunity now."

Welsh Seniors Open

This week on the Seniors tour there is a welcome return to picturesque Conwy Golf Club. Although heavy rain was predicted thankfully so far there has been sun and a fair wind.

The John Letters Tour vechicles have a fantastic location on the practice ground right next to the first tee. This enables the rarity of watching our product in action direct from the tour truck!

Our position next to the 1st tee

 

Most of the work this week has been tweaking loft/lies, regripping and advice on shafts. A very pleasing aspect is that this week there are no fewer than 8 sets of irons in play, 40 wedges and numerous woods and hybrids. We are seeing a great knock on effect of our staff players showing off their Master Model irons to fellow pros who in turn come to us to test the clubs and request custom builds to test. Australian Pro Graham Banister had a set built to his specs and played them in the first round to an excellent two under score.

 

 

 

Although the public can not access the truck at this event we have been innundated with interest from caddies, marshalls and officials showing interest in our product. There is a real buzz around John Letters product this week and the amount of bags, caps and towels around the course is a real pleasure to see.

 

JL players have started strongly after the first round and we look forward to seeing how they progress over the weekend and helping the guys with tweks and technical advise. Good luck to all playing John Letters!



Johnnie Walker Championship at Gleneagles

Despite changeable weather, the practice range and putting green were consistently busy during practice days at this year’s Johnnie Walker Championship @Gleneagles; starting today 23^rd Aug. Players were very focused, getting back into tournament mode after a three week lay-off and with the final Ryder Cup places being decided over the next few days, on the venue for 2014, players are keen to create the right impression to El Captain Jose Maria Olazabal. Andy Gorman was on hand with John Letters products including: Golden Goose Putters, MasterModel Putters & wedges and Tour Black & TPS wedges. Many players pass by during the practice days to see what’s new and this was the first time Andy had introduced the TPS wedges on the European Tour. Players & coaches alike liked the shape and playability of the wedges, suggesting the bounce made the club very easy to use for all golfers and the milled face would assist in spinning the ball for better control on partial shots. Andy has been personally using these wedges in recent weeks and confirms the spin and flight of these wedges is first class with the bounce and feel of the club comparing to clubs twice the price......

Custom Paint Infill

At John Letters we are passionate about fitting clubs to the individual golfer. We are firm believers that your clubs should be altered to suit your swing, never alter your swing to fit your clubs. Aswell as offering numerous shaft and grip combinations on iron models we can even offer custom paint infill.

Custom paint infill is available in our Master Model Satin and Black iron heads. This addition makes your set unique to you and quite possibly the only set in the world! We have requests for specs such as football team colours and national flag colours. There are four parts of the clubhead that can be painted with anything from bright yellow to British Racing Green. Some examples that our Master Craftsmen have produced for customers can be seen below:







British Par 3 Championship

Day two and three of the British Par 3 Championship are tournament days. Aswell as celebrities there are the likes of some serious players like Graeme Storm, Gary Wolstenholme and Ian Woosnam.

As we have excellent relations with the Senior Tour players this tournament is a chance to catch up on any adjustment or tweaks that are needed. John Letters player Paul Wesselingh visited the truck for a new T9+ #2 hybrid. Paul is looking for a lower flight club with more distance to fill a yardage gap problem that he currently has. We will catch up with Paul next week at the Scottish Seniors tournament for feedback.

Andrew Sherbourne starts his round

With the competition coming to a close the John Letters tour truck has been busy with regripping, loft/lie checks and also sharing our technical knowledge. Members of the public are invited onto the truck for a look around and to field any questions they have about Pros, clubfitting and life on tour. At a usual tour event the public can not gain acces to the tour vechicles and so this is a rare oppurtunity to come onboard and watch our technicians at work.

Sky Sports presenter Alan McInally is a regular visitor to the tour vechicle. Alan came on board whilst we built him a Master Model Tour Black driver to compliment his bag of Master Model irons and Black Tour wedges. These clubs came to good effect recently when he won the Footballers Classic event held at La Manga in Spain, our congratulations to Alan.

Strictly Come Dancing star Len Goodman was so impressed with our Master Model wedges that he bought one and put it straight into the bag for tournament play.

With the sun blazing down on the final day of competition at the Cromwell Course our attentions now turn to the Scottish Seniors event at the Fairmont course in St Andrews next week. This is the first of three Seniors events on the bounce with visits to Conwy in Wales and then onto Woburn. With a short turnaround period between events our technicians are busy today assesing what component clubheads, shafts grips etc are required aswell as glue, grip tape and all other consumables.

The entrance to the British Par 3 Championship

British Par 3 Championship 2012

A welcome return to this event held at the superb Nailcote Hall near Coventry. This is John Letters 3rd year supporting this event and it offers us a different challenge to our usual tour events. Whilst there are European Tour, Senior Tour and golfing legends present we are also able to spend time directly with the public showcasing our product, give tours of our support vehicles and also sharing our technical knowledge (when asked!).

The first day of the tournament included celebrities playing with a mixture of Pros and amatuers. Famous faces to pop into the truck were Alan McAnally of Sky Sports and legendary West Indies cricketer Gordon Greenidge who had a full set regrip.

The defending champion Andrew Sherbourne spent time on the truck as we built a back up Master Model Black driver ready for a tough six week straight schedule on the European Senior Tour. Andrew took the oppurtunity to take a brand new Torrance stand bag, one of the first in the country!

The Sam Torrance Chipping Challenge

Aswell as the tour side of operations we also like to add a bit of fun where possible. The Sam Torrance chipping challenge provides competitors with a chance to win a JL Tour Black Wedge for the highest points scorer of the day. All winners have there wedge adjusted correctly for them by a European Tour Technician on the tour truck. Congratulations to the winners!

The Seniors Open at Turnberry

John Letters Tour Ambassador Andy Gorman, fresh from working on the practice putting green at the Open Championship at Royal Lytham, spent two practice days at Turnberry host for this year’s British Senior’s Open. Conversations were had with many of golf’s legends including Gary Player, a former Letters Staff Player, discussing the Open Championship & the putting stroke. Andy even managed to glean Gary’s valuable insight into the putting stroke of the great Bobby Locke. Andy took full advantage to discuss the Golden Goose putters & the putting stroke with former Ryder Cup player & multiple European Tour winner Gordon Brand Jnr, as well as discussing the virtues of the extended two thumb grip used by Eamonn Darcy.

John Letters prescence on the putting green

Players were complimentary of the line of John Letters Tour Black & the new MM Grind wedges. After discussions & some recommendations from Andy the Tour Support staff custom made wedges for several players including: Constantino Rocca, 60* Tour Black, Jeff Sluman 56* Tour Black, Mitch Adcock 52* & 56* MM adjusted to 53 & 57*, Graham Bannister Tour Black 52 adjusted to 49*, 52 adjusted to 53 & 56 & 60*both adjusted to 58.5* offering differing bounce angles.

The Open at Lytham

Swapping the European Tour for the Royal & Ancients 141st staging of the British Open, John Letters Ambassador Andy Gorman spent 3 practice days inside the putting green ropes at Royal Lytham & St Anne’s this week showcasing the latest MasterModel & Golden Goose putters & MasterModel & Tour Black wedges to the world’s leading players. Former Masters Champion Angel Cabrera expressed his approval of the wedge designs trialling the MasterModel 60 degree wedge whilst Adilison Da Silva put a Golden Goose putter in his bag after experiencing the role of the ball from the GG3 putter.



Open 2012 - Thursday Update

After torrential showers last night the range and most of the tented village is flooded, but again low winds and soft conditions will make this another low scoring day setting a subpar cut.

This morning we had Kim Braily the designer and founder of KBS shafts on the van. He had seen the tour grind wedge and was a massive fan of the aggressive true tour grind shape. He showed us some of his new prototype white steel shafts that we will get into the wedges as soon as we can.

James Graham - Product Development Executive

Open 2012 that was close

A perfect day for golf calm winds, warm weather, soft fairways and greens conditions that play straight into the hands of the players. However there was some definate nerves on the range as the players prepared for the day ahead. The nerves became clear as not one but two balls were hooked on to the roof of our tour vehicle which is postitioned 40 yards left of the 150 yard marker. No such nerves for Tiger he was on the range practicing a high risk fade shot where he aimed over the line of tour vehicles and the range boundary fading the ball back to the 250 yard marker, any slight error of judgement would have meant a damaged tour vehicle or an injured spectator. 

John letters are also aiding the development of Junior golf at the Open by teaching the next generation the Seve way, on the beach. Seve learned how to strike the ball perfectly and get the most out of a golf club, as a youngster he only had a 3 iron however practicing everyday he was soon able to hit flop shots with it.

James Graham
Product Development Manager

Lytham 2012 final practice day

The weather is bearing its teeth in lytham, heavy rain harsh winds make this tough course a fabtastic challenge for the worlds elite. Our new tour van is positioned on the left hand side of the tight range and some of the nervier golfers have pulled the ball almost through our door, one of the culprits was John Daly as he practiced late last night however his efforts could have been intentional. We are also useing this week also as a focus group for 2013 product, emalgamating the feedback of the world press. So far feedback is very positive. James graham Product development manager

Slaley Hall June 2012

Welcome to our blog for this seasons first event, the PGA Seniors Championship at Slaley Hall in Northumberland.

This was the first time that we had been present at this event and as we were the only tour support truck on site the anticipation for a busy week was high. Arriving Monday lunch time we met the first wave of what would be some very indifferent weather, hailstones and then sunshine greeted us at the practice ground!
The course itself looked magnificent and was sure to pose a real challenge to the players over the course of the week. Having set up the truck and arranged all of our tour only demo stock we were soon receiving our first players for club adjustments. The field this week consisted of a real mixed bag of qualifiers, tour rookies and the experienced well known faces. All are welcome onto the vehicle and we always try to extend the same level of service to all.

The Pro-Am day was on the Tuesday and among the celebs taking part were Dwight Yorke, Freddie Flintoff and Harry Redknapp. Mid way through Harrys round the head on his SW flew off, que a flustered Marshall arriving at the truck club in hand! A quick 10 minute reglue and the loan of a John Letters Tour Black 56 wedge solved the problem.

                                                                         

Our position on the practice ground was next to a raised two level practice green. As such we had a lot of interest in our new JL Master Model Grind wedges with various pros trying out different shaft and head combinations. Eamonn D'arcy ordered a custom built 56 MM Grind with C-Taper shaft. Eamonn took the opportunity to use our grinder to shape the sole a little more around the heel specifically to get the club through the rough at turnberry in a few weeks time.

The kind of work undertaken at these events varies greatly. Some players come on for a quick loft/lie check or a new putter grip fitting. Bigger jobs include full reshafts as we did this week for Gordan Brand Jnr and Miguel Angel Martin. Aside from this work we are constantly building product for the guys to test on the range and hopefully put in the bag or undertake further testing away from the tournament. Shafts play a huge part in the modern golf club, what works for one person may not work for another and this is where our technical expertise comes in use. Many of the guys know the flight that they want and it is up to us to find the correct shaft to get that flight whilst maintaining consistency.

Another Pro who is a familiar face on the tour vehicle is Steve Cipa. Over the last three years we have had great feedback on our products from Steve who is this season using the new JL Tour Black driver and finished an excellent 5th place this week. Feedback from the Pros is vital to us and the information gathered at these events is invaluable for our product development team. Every product that we launch into the retail market will have had hours of testing on tour previously.

Aswell as providing support at events we also like to inform players of our testing centres around the country where they can have a personal fitting service and be fitted on launch monitiors for every club in the bag. The after service also extends to taking custom specialist orders at events that we can assemble at head office.

One Pro to take advantage was Robert Thompson who commented 

"Many thanks for your help regarding my irons. I received them on my return and I am delighted with  them(Played Sunday). My brother is very pleased with the work done on his putters and we really appreciate the time and effort you gave us during such a busy time  for you at SLAYLEY."

One of the last visitors to the truck was Andrew Sherbourne who has been playing John Letters clubs since we fitted him with a set of irons and wedges at the Seniors Championship last year. Andrew won the British Par 3 Championship last August using JL Black Tour wedges and Master Model Black irons. He was keen to collect his new MM Grind wedges built to his specification in a 52 and 56 degree. We look forward to meeting up with Andrew later in the year for his feedback.

A final word must go to the weather again! There was a constant deluge of rain from Weds through until Saturday morning resulting in the tournament being cut to just 3 rounds. On the Saturday morning we had to move the tour truck from its original position as a mini lake had appeared overnight!

Enjoy your golf, Kevin Ludkin - Tour Technician

2012 John Letters Tour Blog

Hello and welcome to the John Letters Tour Truck Blog for the 2012 season.

The aim of this blog is to provide a behind the ropes look at the workings of a tour truck and to also share the journey, stories and photos as we attend tournaments across the country. In this first blog we would like to introduce and explain how the tour truck goes about its business.

This year we have a bigger and better vehicle. Over the last two months we have been working hard at our base to re-graphic the whole van with John Letters branding. Last years truck and trailer were decked out in the JL staff colours of blue and white whereas the graphics this year are a sleek black to match our new Tour Black range of clubs. The design is a real eye catcher and we think it looks the business on the motorway! The work done was not limited to the outside of the vehicle though. New graphics, an updated roof and other additions have been made internally.

Each event that we attend requires a different amount of stock and as such we have to plan weeks in advance to make sure that we have good levels of components across our brand lines. For

example if we are attending a links course where the wind can soon whip up then we will store plenty of hybrid heads with low flight, tip stiff shafts.

Typically for an event we will carry the following: 40x sets of iron heads, 140x driver/fairway heads, 60x hybrid heads, 200x wedge heads, 300x graphite wood shafts, 1400x steel iron shafts and 1600x grips. On top of the hardware components we also have to make room for the soft goods that players require such as towels, umbrellas, caps and clothing.

Away from the technical area of the truck there is a seating area where players can sit and relax whilst they wait for repairs etc or they can just shelter from the rain. In this room there is a tv/dvd, mini fridge and a laptop with internet access. In the cabin of the truck there is a 2 bed bunk which occasionally gets used dependant on the event location. Staffing at events varies dependant on the need for our services. At most tournaments we will have two Tour Technicians and one other member of staff from our management/business side to look after the players and to deal with official brand business.

This will be our third year on tour and we are pleased to say that we will be joined by Neil Cooke this season who is a bit of a technical genius within the industry. You can not stop learning in this job so Neils input will be valuable and push us onto the next level.

The first event of the year for us is the PGA Seniors Championship at Slaley Hall in June.

Please feel free to comment or send us suggestions regarding this blog.

All the best, Kevin Ludkin - Tour Technician