My UK friends, tell me about John Letters

torrejuan · July 30, 2012

I saw these irons a week ago, and really like how they look. Please tell me more about them. If I choose them, they will be purchased site unseen. Thanks for the help. Mods, put this in the right place if I didn't.

Hogan's Cardy · July 30, 2012

Some good info in this thread from a while back

[url="http://www.golfwrx.com/forums/topic/494173-john-letters-master-irons-looking-fine/"]http://www.golfwrx.com/forums/topic/494173-john-letters-master-irons-looking-fine/[/url]

davidi · July 30, 2012

They've been around as long as I can remember, and the first set I ever bought (after getting my dad's old hand-me-downs) were John Letters. I think they have a deal with a chain of shops in the UK named Direct Golf, as DG always seem to advertise JL.

Quality-wise I think they have a traditional, solid reputation.

[url="http://www.johnletters.com/history/"]http://www.johnletters.com/history/[/url]

[url="http://www.direct-golf.co.uk/golf_irons/john_letters/t10s0m117.aspx"]http://www.direct-golf.co.uk/golf_irons/john_letters/t10s0m117.aspx[/url]?

My brother-in-law has my old GI irons and they're still going strong.

mahonie · July 30, 2012

Played by Trevino in his prime I believe.

Iggypop · July 30, 2012

They have been through a few owners in the last while & it looks like the new owners are back on track as to where these clubs & accessories should be with such a great name & heritage.
I find the players cavities have too much offset for my taste but I've not seen the blades.
Good options on shafts & paint fills etc.
All that said I think they will struggle without tour representation. Even Wilson are slow sellers despite great heritage & Harrington / Lawrie...

Yrag · July 30, 2012

As far as I am aware their irons were very good back in the day, my dad gave me a hybrid of theirs which was quite nice but I was really too young to know how good! They had a shop in Glasgow city centre which closed down when John Letters was in trouble. I am sure they still make nice blades but can't imagine their drivers being anything special.

BigPete · July 30, 2012

They were big back in the day - then they got bought out and produced cheap / GI clubs that were OK for beginners and such.

Then they got bought out again I believe.

Now they have a Master Model line which is really really nice. The forged irons and wedges especially are comparable to Mizunos. The blades are eerily similar to the mp 68s and the players cavities are more like the mp 52 type profile.

I've hit the driver too - it's pretty good but limited shaft options etc. I could quite happily bag a whole 14 clubs of Letters nowadays - 3 years ago I wouldn't have considered it.

torrejuan · July 30, 2012

Keep'em coming guys. Thanks.

martinritch · July 31, 2012

The people who own direct golf now own John Letters. Go into any of their stores and you will get the hard sell on JL equipment. They have also opened a John letters store on North street in St Andrews where they do custom fitting and club repairs. Many of the European senior tour players are playing the stuff under contract I would imagine.