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
