Club test: John Letters latest TR47 clubs
First impressions of irons, hybrids,woods and driver, inspired by Irish legend Fred Daley
I'M not quite old enough to remember Fred Daley winning the 1947 Open Championship at Hoylake but if I'd been a golf writer back in the day no doubt I'd be writing about the John Letters clubs he carried and the strange habit he had of making a dozen practice strokes over the top of the ball before every putt.
This genial Irishman who whistled his way around the course is fondly remembered in a new set of clubs by the innovative John Letters brand celebrating the year of Ireland's first Open winner and its famous Trilogy models.
John Letters TR47 irons, woods, hybrids and drivers are the result of two years development by the Huddersfield-based company trading on its 103-year Scottish heritage. I had the privilege of trying them out this week with product development engineer James Graham, rightly proud of his team's achievement in delivering the Daley legacy - 66 years on from his triumph on Merseyside.
He told me: "The TR47 iron replaces T9+ irons which have been around for three years. At John Letters, we don't bring anything out until we can improve what's already out there and instead of bringing out another forged head we've introduced a cast head with a face that's only 2.2mm thick to deliver more distance throughout the bag."
The clubs, available from 3-iron to sand wedge, are priced at a competitive £399 for an nine-club set and are made to accommodate beautifully crafted TR47 hybrids to replace those more difficult to hit long irons if required.
But Graham claims the irons themselves have also been developed to introduce more distance per club.
"The thinner face gives us some discretion within the head to bring extra weight further back in the club, lowering the centre of gravity to help get the ball airborne. All the weight is now below the ball at impact so with a higher launch it enables us to take two degrees of loft from every club and still get the same flight," he said.
"So with a 7-iron, for example, the face is two degrees stronger and will fly upto 10 yards further without the golfer putting any more effort in to it."
