TourSpecGolfer

I agree, Thai & Chinese love Honma but it's not the same Honma most TSG'ers would be interested in, I can assume most folks here would like the Tour World models or the new Beres S03 driver. It's also popular in parts of europe, In northern Italy BERES was quite common to see at the better courses used by better players. This week we will be highlighting Honma and getting people reacquainted to the fact that it's evolved.

From what I know Yes and the most impressive part is that Sakata does things most factories outsource like tooling, finishing, paint, weaving the carbon etc.. all done in house. It's the biggest factory I've seen in Japan, even larger than Endo HQ in Niigata. That said it's always a possibility they use other manufactures in Asia. It's all golf focused technology, many large factories serve a dual purpose not golf focused. One example is in finishing, there are some out of industry finishers that do a really fantastic job plating golf clubs but when a golf specific plating is applied it actually feels better at impact and has a more consistent weight. This is not only Sakata related, many makers in Himeji notice this as well. Sakata just hasn't received much acclaim because they are secretive, they only produce their own products and haven't had the marketing push to expose what they are capable of. I basically wrote Honma off for the past many years and would have continued to do so until seeing everything they can do. The website in the first post "50 reasons" sums it up pretty well.

Ohh Honma, virtually non existent in our forums yet one of our top selling brands in the proshop. What is up with that? Is it just not cool because of it's history of making game improvement expensive and sometimes gaudy designs? I spent a couple of months in Asia recently visiting nearly a dozen factories and the thing that stood out most was mass production vs hand made and then everything in between. In the golf industry hand made is pretty much exclusive to Japan, yes there are the occasional makers in the U.S & UK but it's few and far between. While in Taiwan & China it's less about the labor of love or crafting spirit and more about fulfilling orders in mass without going overtime. I don't know how to feel about mass produced, it's often very consistent especially when we are talking about Endo type tolerances but seeing a factory like Sakata Studio which by the way is no studio it's a massive factory where nearly everything is done by hand and that is such a beautiful thing, especially when most of the other big factories are starting to look alike and feature identical machinery. Hand crafting takes years of work, a higher purpose than just a job, and a sense of pride. It's what we love about many of the boutique brands we feature here at TSG. The process of how the big OEM's produce clubs is the polar opposite of how hand made clubs are produced. Big OEM's pay design firms for new tech ideas or "gimmicks" that are put into CAD and mass produced, many of the in house golf club designers have been let go in the last decade as big box OEMs outsource to actual design firms. This is not the case for hand made clubs, it's usually the owner, son, family, and fans that influence the direction of design. It's the passion of the maker. I could go on for days talking about this, I'll just shut my mouth and let this website make the point... Click the Image to visit "50 Reasons"

The Buchi is not as forgiving, the TW-U reminds me of a much improved version of the ol TM Japan DI's. Buchi is for someone who can hit a 3 iron well enough. Least forgiving compared to the bunch tested but best feeling, probably most workable. Buchi is not hollow inside meaning it has to remain small to make weight.

Yes it is!

Honma Golf has had gigantic success in decades past catering to the slower swinging wealthy segment of golfer, yet that very same success acts as a double edged sword as now there is a preconceived notion that Honma only produces blingy golden clubs for older ladies & gentlemen.. and that couldn't be further from the truth. I'm going to highlight one of their recent products that I just had to have the 2013 TW-U driving iron. I'm a driving iron junkie, lots of options have recently caught my eye but the #1 concern was always forgiveness & accuracy, so why not use a hybrid wood? Because of accuracy, I rarely ever go OB with a driving iron while with a hybrid I can from time to time. In a nutshell it's my belief that Driving irons are safer and more accurate with a tighter dispersion IF you excel in iron play over wood play. At the same time If you don't get the ball up easily, and have a slower swing speed I suggest considering hybrid woods. Over the past 3 months I tested Epon, Royal Collection, and SYB driving irons and of those the Royal Collection won big in all categories, then just a few weeks ago my Honma TW-U arrived and knocked the RC out cold, the TW-U gets up quick, it's long and very easy to hit especially if you opt for the vizard UT850 graphite shaft, it's simply accommodating all around and not only for me but for the TSG test crew which includes some really excellent ball strikers. I think this is the only CAST club in my bag, that's right it's cast by Honma of MS225 Steel and if I didn't know what I was hitting I would have said it's a damn good feeling forged club, I asked everyone who hit it how it feels and everyone came back expecting it was forged of soft carbon. Keep in mind Honma has perfected the art of casting now for a very long time and this club is changing my tune on how good castings can actually feel, that said most castings don't feel this good. The sole is wide but nicely rounded enough to have a predictable interaction with the turf, It's obviously designed to appeal to the better player as there is really no excessive offset or bulging anywhere on this head. Like all Honma golf equipment, clubs are hand-built to order in a single location – Honma’s Sakata studio, in northern Japan, where over 100 craftsmen work on every single club the company produces. Each club head is precisely finished, measured and balanced by hand this is a rarity now days as brands are doing all they can to reduce costs and manufacturing in China, Taiwan, and Thailand. For those of you who find the Honma line up a bit confusing, Tour World is for the professional and advanced player while the BERES line up spans from average to high handicapper. The Honma TW-U is designed for the better player as it's a part of the Tour World series. If you decide to go with steel NSPro has got you covered, but if your considering graphite like I did I suggest going with the Vizard UT950, I went with the UT850 and probably would go a little heavier if I could do it all over again. The shaft name vizard has a funny origin, VICTORY x WIZARD = VIZARD! The Honma Tour World TW-U is available in 18,21,24* lofts. It features a half cavity on the exterior but within it is hollow for increased forgiveness, It's size maintains workability while still easily flying straight. It is a great club for those who like utility clubs to play similar to their irons while having that extra room for error providing a strong medium trajectory with no ballooning.

Thanks for the write up, looking forward to your long term review. For me these are still in rotation, Very consistent and reliable set that I consider well rounded in terms of forgiveness, setup, feel, and results. Your praise of graphite in them makes me want to experiment.

Found out today they don't offer matte black for the crown, will go with metallic black. The great news was that they do offer black IP sole & face. So it looks like it's Vader's helmet again.

More Art

Sometime in May

Yup, GTD - George Takei Designs He is the designer not owner. The product looks promising.

Yes that's no problem. We can arrange copper that wears, copper that doesn't wear, CNC milled grooves instead of stamped, micro milling on the entire face, custom logo placement, you can add a kanji, and of course custom grind, offset, etc..

Custom wedges just added to the pro shop. CBC iron is going in soon, you can also drop one of us a PM if you need it sooner.

Drop Gocchin an email or PM he can get you sorted with a custom build at a good price.

These were done at the same finishing factory Tabuchi-san uses for most of his plating in Ichikawa. There are also some nickel under - copper over finishes that act as a plating and don't wear or rust.

Click HD

I know Fujikura is working on a prototype that is 25 grams which i think will be the lightest. I would also say look at the Honma ARMRQ in 40 & 45 grams attached to the BERES E-01 or 480cc non conforming amazing spec. For slower swingers seeking uber light and easy specs I've found the most success suggesting Honma. The 480cc high cor has me curious, imagine if it was available in 9.5, 199g, square face neutral bias it might be quite the toy.

This will be my custom build: - 9.75* loft - 59* lie - 0.5 closed face - non conforming face - draw bias - matte black head - pressure injected based on 100mph swing speed - 199g head - No paint fill on head Gonna put a seven dreamers haute design in it.

I've tinkered with a lot with Maxima's and found it needs shafts that really keep the spin down and dispersion tight, extra weight helps too I found. Interestingly the stock shaft works well too but I'm sure you would manhandle it. If you plan to part ways with that head another option is to take this shaft you love and try it in a more deeper face head, currently I rotate between Maxima & xXx but I've also got my eye on some new drivers like the Jbeam 535 440 coming so, the Modart MA01D driver, Kamui Works Air built custom, SYB Prelity 7. Just a few new options to toss into the mix.

TSG is now accepting normal spec orders in the pro shop as well as custom craft orders with more/less offset, many finishes, sole grind, etc.. Check it out:

For sure we can help, need a place to eat? - Crazy is by appointment only, honestly they are pretty far out in Adachi, kinda a pain. little english is spoken. - Anything you need we can get and for a great price, just because it isn't in the pro shop it doesn't mean we don't offer it. That mystery FW head no worries but interesting choice. - BST has better selection & pricing than most used shops but have fun there are golf shops aplenty in tokyo and surrounding areas.

haha! not against Zombies!

Yes it is, drop [email protected] an email or gocchin a PM.

It's one of the best FWs of 2013, simply special in feel, flight and dispersion. Goes to show we can have a penetrating and stable trajectory with such a shallow face.

Yup it's the same blue board I believe in a blue ion plated looking finish.