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Period: July - December 2010

10/12/2010 - John Letters New Golf Showroom & Workshop Opening in St Andrews

John Letters ShopScotland's finest clubmaker, John Letters is proud to announce its return to the home of golf with the opening of their brand new Golf Showroom and Workshop in St Andrews.

Last season the custom fit tour truck attended numerous events across the UK including the Scottish Open at Loch Lomond, The Open at St Andrews, The British Seniors Open Championship at Carnoustie and the Dunhill Links. Demand for John Letter's customised product during these events had been so great that the opening of a new permanent store in St Andrews was a natural progression.

The custom workshop will be integral to the John Letters St Andrews experience, with a Master Clubmaker working full-time, building the finest custom fit premium golf equipment on site.

The Golf Showroom and Workshop opens Spring 2011, sign up here for the latest John Letters news.

23/11/2010 - John Letters Academy Teaching Professionals Become Mind Factor Coaches

Dan OwenAcademy Director, Tom Denby, Academy owner, John Andrew and Head Teaching Professional, Simon Lucas all attended the widely accredited Mind Factor Course. Karl Morris, the developer and Founder of the Mind Factor, was thrilled by the level of support shown by the John Letters Academy and we are all very keen to get people to develop as a golfer both technically and mentally.

All three members of the Academy are now fully Qualified Mind Factor coaches and are ready to start developing the mental skills of all their individual lessons:
TENSE MUSCLES ARE WEAK MUSCLES - Relaxation is the key!

"Most golfers do not realise how tense they get when they go for distance. Add to this a competitive situation on the golf course, and a few phrases like 'GRIP it and rip it' or 'coil your body TIGHTLY' and you have a fantastic recipe for massive tension and muscle tightness.

Tense muscles are weak muscles. You can prove this to yourself by going out to the range, tensing your muscles as hard as you can and seeing how far you can drive the ball. If it goes even half as far as normal, I'd be surprised.

If the only mental skill you learn is the ability to relax your muscles, you will have at your disposal the potential to TRANSFORM your drives and hit the ball much further. Sometimes that's easier said than done. But we can show you some mental techniques to use before and during the game to help keep those forearms and shoulders loose and powerful."

(TOM DENBY – ACADEMY DIRECTOR AND QUALIFIED MIND FACTOR COACH)

10/10/2010 - John Letters get their hands on the Dunhill Links Trophy!

John Letters Managing Director John Andrew and new Tour and Brand Executive Daniel Owen lift the Alfred Dunhill CupThe John Letters Tour Truck spent the week in St Andrews for the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship, and while our staff players didn’t win the event, John Letters Managing Director John Andrew and new Tour and Brand Executive Daniel Owen did manage to lift the winner’s trophy.

Once again it was a resoundingly successful week for Scotland’s premier golf brand, based at the Fairmont St Andrews resort from Thursday to Sunday. The Tour truck fitted Scotland’s golfers into the new T9+ club range. One member of the public made a 150 mile trip to sample the new T9+ fairway woods, and after a custom fitting session on the driving range, happily drove off with matching 3 and 5 woods. The John Letter museum swelled its collection too, with a customer swapping his classic Bernard Gallagher Master Model irons for some of the new T9+ product.

In the tournament itself, John Letters Staff player Phillip Archer finished tied for 53rd. Archer played some solid golf, hitting a fantastic wedge approach into 18 to set up a birdie on the final day with his Archer Series Proto wedge. But unfortunately he had a tricky week reading the greens, which stopped him from going further up the leader board.

Down in the town the John Letters Tour Truck continued to turn heads wherever it went, with some people amazed by the size and power of the Dodge Ram truck, but most just were more interested in the thousands of FREE John Letter’s tees and £10 gift vouchers being distributed around the town by our team of Letters Lovely’s.

With the season winding down this was our last tour stop for the season, but come back soon for our full schedule of events for 2011.
Phil Archer

04/10/2010 - Team Europe brings the Ryder Cup Home as the John Letters Tour Team watch on...

John Letters Ryder Cup Team 1959

The John Letters Tour team made their way to Celtic Manor to experience golf’s greatest spectacle on earth. Following an extended weekend due to the adverse weather conditions they came back exhilarated by the experience and determined to get John Letters equipment back in play at the Ryder Cup. An event John Letters has an incredible passion and history. In 1949 eight of the ten strong GB team as it was then, played John Letters golf equipment, a feat that has never been close to being achieved by any manufacturer since.


John Letters Managing Director John Andrew and John Letters Tour Technician James Graham followed the decisive final match on the final day, watching Graeme McDowell’s victory from the 11th. And when the match was finally won, the guys got right in the throng of the euphoric victory celebrations, and if you were eagle eyed you may even have spotted the John Letters cap on the Sky TV coverage. So with arguably sport’s greatest spectator event over for another two years, we can’t wait until the defence at Chicago’s Medinah Country Club in 2012.

23/09/2010 - Sam Torrance Tests The New Prototype 2011 JL Black Series Wedges

Sam tested the new John Letters Black Series wedge during the official opening of the Direct Golf UK Driving Range at Beckett's Farm on the 22nd September and commented: "These are beautiful, do you have any for me to use in play next week? these will go straight in my bag!"

The new John Letters Black Series wedge will be available in the Spring of 2011 and is manufactured from the finest 8620 forged steel, giving amazing performance and feel from the club face. The distinctive black finish gives the club a real clean, class look for the golfer who does not like much fuss and logos - just great clubs.

The club will come with a custom fitting option of shaft with the new KBS BLACK shaft proving to be very popular with those who have tested them so far. The black head, shaft and grip gives an amazing look and reduces any glare from the sun to ensure you can focus fully on hitting the shot without any distractions.

James Graham (co-designer) explained "the JL Black does not need bright colours or over the top futuristic design to be noticed. The subtle black on black design is sufficient, the performance and quality of the JL Black speak for themselves."

Managing Director and co-designer John Andrew explained "we feel there is no better way to ensure you manufacture clubs that golfers can use than to get Professionals and Amateurs to test the equipment and give feedback. We insist on a minimum 6 month testing before any clubs are put into full production. The JL Black Wedge has been in test on the Tour since the Scottish Open at Loch Lomond and we feel we are getting this club just right. It will be aimed at the better player who demands the feedback and feel provided from using a forged 8620 steel with a high carbon content."

Other clubs tested on the day included the new 2011 Tour Driver, Prototype Hybrids & JL Master Model Prototype Irons. 2011 is looking to be one of the most exciting product line ups John Letters has produced since it's early dominance in the 50's, 60's and 70's when most Professional Golfers played the famous John Letters Clubs. You can read more on the history of John Letters here.

22/09/2010 - Ryder Cup Legend Sam Torrance Officially Opens Direct Golf UK Driving Range At Beckett's Farm

A week before the Ryder Cup, former European Ryder Cup Captain, Sam Torrance OBE, officially opened the Direct Golf UK driving range at Beckett’s Farm, Solihull.

The John Letters staff player and Ryder Cup legend, hosted clinics with the public and spent time with media to support the UK’s leading multi-channel golf retailer, Direct Golf UK, and their ever-expanding portfolio of golf premises in the UK.

Taking place on Wednesday 22nd September, the day was made possible by John Letters of Scotland, who leant their support to Direct Golf UK in their bid to make Beckett’s Farm the best driving range in the area since taking over the lease a few months ago.

Golf fans enjoyed getting up-close and personal with the 44-time Tour winner whilst listening to anecdotes from his time in the game, as John Letters’ Managing Director John Andrew (Class AA PGA Professional) and Sam hosted free golf clinics throughout the day.

With free golf balls available, a nearest the pin challenge and free video assessments, hundreds of golfers descended on Beckett’s Farm to make the most of the facilities and expert advice on offer.

Situated in the heart of the Midlands the Driving Range is a PGA Approved Training establishment. It has ease of access from the M42 motorway and boasts: a full custom fitting & work shop facility; 2-tier 32 bay floodlit Driving Range; John Letters Academy, 10 outdoor grass tees; 3 hole junior course; short game specialist chipping green; bunker practice area and a fully stocked 3000 sq ft Direct Golf UK Store.

A delighted Darren Price, Store Manager at the Solihull facility, commented: “The event was a resounding success. Having Sam here the week before the Ryder Cup was just fantastic and the perfect opportunity for us to introduce hundreds of new customers to the facilities at Beckett’s Farm as well as welcome some familiar faces back.”

15/09/2010 - Ryder Cup Interview with Sam Torrance

What are you looking forward to most about the Ryder Cup at Celtic Manor? Getting the cup back.

What did you think on Monty’s picks? Well he obviously had a very, very difficult decision to make to have to leave out Casey and Rose, it was very difficult for him and only time will tell if he’s made the right decision.

You were in his position when you choose your team for the 2002 Ryder Cup. I had to leave out Olazabal which was very difficult given his Ryder Cup record, and instead favoured Garcia who was the number four ranked player in the world at the time

Looking back, what was your best decision as captain? Putting Sergio Garcia and Westwood together as that came totally out of the blue as they hadn’t even practised together up until the Thursday and they weren’t even in the same fourball, but it worked out wonderfully.

Whilst there are no Scottish players in the 2010 team, Monty will be flying the flag for Scotland. Have you offered any advance to Colin over recent weeks? I played with him at Gleneagles in the first round and we had a few chats about a few minor things, nothing strategic.

What made Monty such a special Ryder Cup player? He played under me in 2002 and we played on three teams together and he was always the same, he has a desire and an absolute love for the Ryder Cup and you can see it in him. He absolutely thrives on it.

And your thoughts on Corey Pavin’s picks for the US? Brave, very brave. I agree with Wood, I think and Johnson. I thought Charley Hoffman had a great chance, winning the last Tour event [Deutsche Bank Championship – FedEx Cup] and I also thought that Lucas Glover had a great chance. I don’t know if I’d have picked a 21 year old rookie, I think it’s a very brave decision and again time will tell if it’s the right one.

So where would you say the advantage lies? I think it’s very even. I think the advantage is with us overall;, because of home support, weather and the course. I think the two teams are very evenly matched, but I think they have an awful lot of length, the Americans.

Do you think that length favours them, on that 2010 course at Celtic Manor? Oh absolutely, absolutely. If you’re playing in October, it’s going to be wet and balls will go nowhere. But with the length of the Americans it’s up to Colin to make the fairways single file at about 290, as I did at The Belfry where the rough got very thick at 290. It’s the prerogative of the home captain to set up the course as you like. So you do this to best suit your team, it is absolutely fair and there’s nothing you hide.

Who are you most looking forward to watching? I’m looking forward to watching McIlroy and Kaymer; a couple of the rookies to see how they perform. I think it’ll be very exciting to watch them. I mean we have a very strong team; we’ve got the current US Open Champion in Graham McDowell and the US PGA Champion Martin Kaymer.

Which pairings would you most like to see? Obviously the Molinari brothers make a natural and strong pairing, in both foursomes and fourballs, as they make a lot of birdies. I think you can play Westwood, Donald and Harrington with anybody, as they all have so much experience. I think they will be a great asset to the rookies in the team.

If you were to play one more Ryder Cup match, who would your partner be? Seve, whatever the format. He was the greatest Ryder Cupper of all time. He just brought everything – charisma, warmth, desire, he would help you with anything about any aspect of your game. That was one of the great things about the Ryder Cup – you could ask your peers and they would show you how to do it.

So you think we’ve got a good chance of taking the cup back? Oh absolutely yeah, I think we’re favourites.

Any other thoughts Sam that would be topical around venue or the team, I don’t know how much of an advantage the weather will be to us? The weather will be a huge advantage; the worse it is the better it is, you know, for us. And it’ll be great to see how the Welsh support the team on their home soil.

06/09/2010 - John Letters on site at Woburn

The John Letters Tour truck was on site at the Travis Perkins plc Senior Tour event - Woburn Golf Club, providing support for staff player Sam Torrance as well as offering advice for members of the public.

The John Letters ‘Please Mind the Gap’ campaign was a huge success, with many golf fans adding a 52 degree TP Series Gap wedge to their bag to fill the void between their pitching wedge and sand wedge. Normally 48 degree and 56 degree loft. Visitors to the John Letters Tour Truck had the opportunity to win fantastic prizes, with the ‘Sam Torrance Chipping Challenge’, by trying to sink the balls into the highest scoring targets. With over 100 people taking part, competition was tough and it was a high score that was needed to win.

Staff player, Sam Torrance, picked up two awards at the event. Receiving the John Jacobs trophy as Seniors Tour Order of Merit winner 2009, from John Jacobs himself, Sam was understandably delighted. Sam was also awarded the Rolex Player of the Year award, voted for by the players, and was equally thrilled.

Throughout the tournament, over 5000 golf fans visited the Tour Truck to pick up the latest John Letters brochure and collecting some 20,000 tees between them. On top of these great freebies, luck customers had the chance to get hold of the latest John Letters gear at a special 25% discount rate on the day

31/08/2010 - Ian Marchbank Takes A Look At The New John Letters Equipment

Mention the name Marchbank and you immediately think of Gleneagles! Pictured here on the John Letters Tour workshop during the Johnnie Walker Championship is Ian Marchbank who was the golf professional at the famous Perthshire course for 30 years.Ian was taking his first look at the new T9+ line of golf clubs, launched at last month's Open Championship.

"It's great to see that new life has been injected in to John Letters.This was one of the great brands in golf during my time as a professional and they always produced fine looking golf clubs, " commented Marchbank.

It’s a family affair at Gleneagles.Eldest son Brian represented the resort on the European Tour for 17 years, middle son Graeme is now Director of Golf, and youngest son Billy is now carrying the flag on the Tartan Tour.

20/07/2010 - Equipment Exhibition At The Open Hailed A Huge Success

JOHN DALY CHOOSES A JOHN LETTERS DRIVER AT ST ANDREWS...

Past Open Champion John Daly visited the John Letters Equipment Exhibition and chose the new T9+ John Letters Driver to test whilst attending the golf clinic. The driving range was packed as golfers and professionals cued to get space on the range to demo the latest products. After a session of smashing balls to the end of the range 'Long John' went on to have a look at the new TP wedges with JL Managing Director John Andrew on hand to guide him on the latest design and specifications. Famed for his length off the tee and massive backswing John Daly has always had a fantastic short game, his touch around the green is up there with the best.

John Letters' presence at the Fairmont St Andrews during the 139th Open Championship has been hailed a huge success after a weeklong equipment exhibition attracted interest from golf's superstars and the golfing public. Visitors over the course of the week all keen to try out the latest John Letters products included: ex-European Ryder Cup Captain and John Letters player Sam Torrance, ex-US Ryder Cup Captain and player Tom Lehman, past Open Champion John Daly plus past John Letters staff players Lee Trevino and Gary Player and legendary BBC commentator and former Ryder Cup Referee Alex Hay.

John Letters' Tour Support vehicles were busy all week as golfers from Scotland and across the globe took the opportunity to try the brand new T9+, T8 and TP Wedges in the innovative new Letters line-up, many reconnecting with the great Scottish brand. With golfers getting custom built equipment assembled on-site, the products were well-received, gaining high praise from Fairmont Head PGA Professional, John Kerr, stating: "The T9+ is one of the finest fairway woods I've seen in years."

GARY PLAYER VISITS JOHN LETTERS WORKSHOP...

Gary Player is one of the most successful golfers in the history of the sport, being the only player in the 20th century to win the (British) Open in three different decades: 1959, 1968 & 1974 as a John Letters Staff Player. He went back to his roots when he visited the John Letters Equipment Exhibition at The Open St Andrews. Gary was delighted to see the brand was making a great comeback and said, "I had some wonderful times with John Letters. I remember winning the Open at Royal Lytham in 1974 with the Master Model, they were beautiful clubs." Gary was given a guided tour of all the new equipment and took the opportunity to go inside the custom fit workshop to see how clubs are custom assembled on-site today.

LEE TREVINO RECALLS GOOD TIMES...

Lee Trevino won the British Open as a John Letters Staff Player in 1971 & 1972 was delighted to see the John Letters brand at The Open St Andrews. He recalled his times as a John Letters staff player, winning one of the most dramatic Opens in the Championships history in 1972 when he beat Jack Nicklaus by a single shot. "John Letters was a master club maker and designer and was well ahead of his time producing the best clubs in the world which is why I played and won with them".

ALEX HAY PUTS CUSTOMISED T9+ INTO HIS BAG...

Former Ryder Cup Referee, Alex is best known for his commentating partnership with Peter Alliss where their banter, humour and wit became regarded by many as the "Voice of Golf". Pictured here the world renowned Pro and commentator visited the JL Equipment Exhibition and got custom fitted for a T9+ Driver and Fairway wood which he hit beautifully when testing at Kingsbarns Golf Links. After seeing the new TP Series Wedges he commented "they are one on the best shapes I have ever seen and the performance is remarkable"

A RESOUNDING SUCCESS...

John Letters Managing Director, John Andrew, said of the equipment exhibition: "It was Brilliant. We've had a fantastic variety of golfers visiting the tour truck and sampling the new gear, from Tour Professionals to high handicap golfers. It's been a great week and it's been good to see so many people interested in the new products and reconnect with the brand."


DID YOU SEE US AT THE OPEN, ST ANDREWS?
John Letters had a great week during The Open at St Andrews and met up with many friends old and new. If you have an interesting story relating to John Letters or this year's Open Championship then Submit your story here and you could win a fantastic prize.