Obituary: Hope Letters, Scottish golf club manufacturer and designer

Hope Letters, golf club manufacturer and designer. Born: 19 March 1925 in Glasgow. Died: 15 May 2020 at North Berwick, aged 95

Hope Letters

Hope Lawrie Letters died peacefully after suffering a stroke at his home in North Berwick.

Born and bred in Glasgow, Hope was the last surviving child of his father John and mother Hanah’s eight children. He was evacuated to Newton Stewart at the outbreak of war but after only three months he decided that children should be with their parents. He returned to Glasgow and started work at his father’s company of golf club manufacturers. At the time there wasn’t much call for golf clubs and the factory had been re-tasked to make essential wartime equipment, mainly blackout blinds. This work wasn’t for Hope and he left to work as a supervisor loading and unloading ships in a Glasgow dockyard.

Despite being in a reserved occupation, Hope got permission to volunteer for the army in November 1942; he was just 17 years old. He was called up to the Gordon Highlanders and he trained in Aberdeen for six weeks, during which time he survived a Luftwaffe attack on his barracks which killed more than 30 soldiers. He would later comment: “Luckily Aberdeen is made of granite, it could have been worse”. He was then posted around Britain with the London Scottish regiment. In late 1943, the army asked for volunteers to join the second front then raging in Europe, and Hope stepped forward. He was deployed for action in Italy, and on his arrival in Naples in March 1944, reassigned to the 4th Indian Division which comprised the Cameron Highlanders, along with Sikh and Gurkha regiments. He went into the line on his 19th birthday, and over the next 8 months progressed with his Division on foot from Naples to Monte Cassino, and northward from there. They ultimately forced the enemy’s retreat from the country. Hope fought with distinction, and his Division was the first Allied troop unit into Florence, San Marino, Montepulciano and other neighbouring towns. After the German surrender he was posted to Yugoslavia and Greece.

After release from the army, Hope rejoined his father’s company in 1947, beginning a lifelong passion for the game of golf. Working together with his father and four brothers, the company became a highly respected name in the golf world. Fred Daly playing John Letters clubs won the Open in 1947 and in 1949 eight of the ten-man Ryder Cup team played Letters clubs through choice. This helped a lot. Hope was a natural at golf club design and heavily involved in the success of the iconic Golden Goose and Silver Swan putters and the Master Model irons amongst others.

At this time on a trip “Doon the Water” Hope met the love of his life, May McNiven. They married in September 1954, beginning 64 years of happiness and companionship. They had three sons, John, Peter and Cameron.

In 1968 Hope moved his young family to North Berwick, where he was works director at Ben Sayers until 1980. He developed carbon fibre technology for golf club shafts – they fitted well with his Big Ben Design for the world’s first oversized wooden driver. He also introduced parallel tip shafts into the manufacturing process, thereby cutting global shaft inventories by 80 per cent, a huge saving for all golf club companies.

Hope was a golfer too, good enough to play in the Scottish Amateur championship. He introduced his wife and sons to the game and to his other passion, fishing. He was never happier than when standing waist deep in a fast-flowing salmon river or casting a fly on Coldingham Loch. Indeed, inspiration for carbon fibre golf shafts came when he came across fishing rods of that material.

He was captain of Haggs Castle golf club in 1963 and served on the committee at North Berwick and Gullane. He was also a member at Western Gailes and Royal Portrush, amongst others. At one time he possessed one of the world’s largest collections of antique golf clubs and balls and he was the club historian at North Berwick, the 13th oldest club in the world. He also carried out research for golf authors.

Hope liked to travel. He visited many countries on business or holidaying with May and visiting their boys in far flung parts of the world. In later years he discovered a talent for landscape painting. His specialist subject was, of course, golf courses.

Hope Letters was a loving father, devoted husband to May, with whom he is now re-united, and a loyal and caring friend to many.

His outlook on life was summed up in his own words: “Every day is a beautiful day.” He will be sorely missed and is survived by his three sons and their families.

CONTRIBUTED