Softly says 'clubs' (7)
I believe the answer is:
putters
'clubs' is the definition.
(putter is a kind of club)
'softly says' is the wordplay.
'softly' becomes 'p' (short for piano, musical term for softly).
'says' becomes 'utters' (I've seen this before).
'p'+'utters'='PUTTERS'
(Another definition for putters that I've seen is " Golf clubs".)
I've seen this clue in the Evening Standard.
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