charge Posted February 7, 2013 Report Share Posted February 7, 2013 I used to play Honma forged irons and the Big-LB woods back in the day but kind of tuned out and switch to other brands when they seemed to stop catering the serious golfers and went through financial problems. Their recent drivers and forged irons in the TSG pro shop look very encouraging but wonder if they are still playing catch up to brands like Epon, Yamaha, Mizuno etc... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vegaman Posted February 7, 2013 Report Share Posted February 7, 2013 (edited) Yep, the new stuff looks cool. I'd like to point out though, that they have always had "serious" golfer stuff next to the more glitzy stuff. I picked up a Athport driver, the Athlete model a while ago on a whim because of a great price and it's as good as anything I currently have. The Stiff ARMQR shaft is really not whippy at all, holds up really well to my rather hard swing. More so than almost any other "stiff" shafts I have ever tried. I have kind of a plan to pick up a TW914 driver as soon as the chance presents itself, it's deep faced, forged and low spin looking. Edited February 7, 2013 by Vegaman Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
charge Posted February 19, 2013 Author Report Share Posted February 19, 2013 (edited) I tried this driver today: Pros: Looks fantastic. Classic pear shape. Paint job is high quality. Cons: Unfortunately the head doesn't feel good as she looks. No where near Endo forgings feel...The stock three star Amraq shaft felt loose. Bottom line: Satisfied my curiosity but not worth looking into any further. Edited February 19, 2013 by charge Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevopagolf Posted February 20, 2013 Report Share Posted February 20, 2013 Have tried Honma and I don't think its worth the premium, nor the hype. My opinion. Better innovation better quality better products at better prices elsewhere. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spoon Posted February 20, 2013 Report Share Posted February 20, 2013 honma has ALWAYS been there and the most aspirational brand especially in the emerging world. they are just targeting a different demographic and younger golfers. there trying to change their image of "Honma for rich old seniors" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevopagolf Posted February 20, 2013 Report Share Posted February 20, 2013 I just don't see it. I am not a Senior who like their gaudy clubs. I think I can name 5 better products in irons, woods and shafts easily better than what is currently offered by Honma at better prices. Companies go bankrupt because what they offer is not what the customer seeks. Without outside intervention, these companies don't make "comebacks" golf or otherwise. Remember Hogan or McGregor? Neither of these companies have returned to anything close to their former glory. Another industry, but how about Saturn in the US, Pontiac the originator of the Firebird? All companies Gone never to rise again to rise from the ashes like a Phoenix. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spoon Posted February 20, 2013 Report Share Posted February 20, 2013 ho I just don't see it. I am not a Senior who like their gaudy clubs. I think I can name 5 better products in irons, woods and shafts easily better than what is currently offered by Honma at better prices. Companies go bankrupt because what they offer is not what the customer seeks. Without outside intervention, these companies don't make "comebacks" golf or otherwise. Remember Hogan or McGregor? Neither of these companies have returned to anything close to their former glory. Another industry, but how about Saturn in the US, Pontiac the originator of the Firebird? All companies Gone never to rise again to rise from the ashes like a Phoenix. honma was never gone. they have always been around. we arent their market. they are VERY big in japan and Asia. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevopagolf Posted February 20, 2013 Report Share Posted February 20, 2013 Fair enough, but I couldn't/wouldn't recommend them to anyone on this forum... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spoon Posted February 20, 2013 Report Share Posted February 20, 2013 Fair enough, but I couldn't/wouldn't recommend them to anyone on this forum... guys here are well informed, even if you recommended it to them they would most likely settle for something else.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xxio Posted February 20, 2013 Report Share Posted February 20, 2013 Honma's bread and butter will always be the executive/aging/status golfer but they have quality products for the better golfer. The Tour World blades and the player's CB (they have been still been making them every 2-3 years) are solid products. We just don't get to see/try those products much because they are less available and less marketed. Don't dismiss the brand because the guys you have seen using it are old and aging. PRGR, Yamaha went in that direction in the early 2000s because that is where the money was in the Japan at the time. There is a huge "aging-executive who wants status" market in Japan. Just look at Majesty, Gliore, etc. The problem with Honma is like most aspirational brands (LV, Gucci, Mercedes, BMW, etc) is that there will always be the "wanna-be" crowd that shows off, becomes a negative and takes away from the actual product. Honma went bankrupt because they started financing golf courses then the Japanese economy dove. If they stayed with golf equipment, they would have weathered that financial crisis. When was the last time someone here actually tried a player's or even non-player's Honma product? I doubt it because most of us are not their main market. I had TW CBs that were circa 2004sh for a while but couldn't stand the PW look. I recently tried the irons that have the red badge in the back, Beres Pro with some ARMRQ graphite shaft. These were as good, or even better for me than any recent Yamahas and PRGRs that I have tried. I would even pick them over the 301s that I had a couple of years back. I agree about being overpriced because I don't like spending much for equipment but guys here drop $700 on a shaft, $1,000 on a retail putter, $80 on a dozen balls. Getting value for money is a low priority in the JDM world. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+TourSpecGolfer Posted February 20, 2013 Report Share Posted February 20, 2013 I would say they are trying to change their brand image, it was pretty evident at the way their booth was setup. Everything was Tour World while Beres was hidden in a small corner. None of their GI or executive type models were present at all. We hit everything, I'll try to post video later, the feedback from our partners, friends, and Tatsuro was mostly positive. As one member mentioned the woods lack feel and we felt the same. Now to someone who hasn't hit all the Juicy JDM stuff we market they may think the feel is fine to good but to the more critical and experienced JDM players (TSG'ers) we will notice a difference. Same went with their TW irons, I mean after hitting Personals, ONOFF Forged and the George Spirits irons and experiencing just how sublime they feel and perform it would be hard to think of buying the TW's. Or if one already owned the TW's it would be hard not to want to wander into the others. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shambles Posted February 20, 2013 Report Share Posted February 20, 2013 I made a mistake and tried out a Honma Beres with a stock 2 star shaft a couple of weeks ago on my home course. The owner warned me that I would probably end up wanting to own it. The damn thing was the smoothest Driver I have ever tried and actually gave me something like 10 more yards than my norm and could have had more but I had a tail end slice on it that carried the ball into the rough. Down side was that it left me feeling as if it had nothing more to give and I was not going to find any more performance except to fix that tail end slice. Now I'm looking around for a model with 3 stars to see if that would be better. Shambles Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
misterbrownparis Posted February 20, 2013 Report Share Posted February 20, 2013 I would say they are trying to change their brand image, it was pretty evident at the way their booth was setup. Everything was Tour World while Beres was hidden in a small corner. None of their GI or executive type models were present at all. We hit everything, I'll try to post video later, the feedback from our partners, friends, and Tatsuro was mostly positive. As one member mentioned the woods lack feel and we felt the same. Now to someone who hasn't hit all the Juicy JDM stuff we market they may think the feel is fine to good but to the more critical and experienced JDM players (TSG'ers) we will notice a difference. Same went with their TW irons, I mean after hitting Personals, ONOFF Forged and the George Spirits irons and experiencing just how sublime they feel and perform it would be hard to think of buying the TW's. Or if one already owned the TW's it would be hard not to want to wander into the others. Although not really a Honma fan either, I must admit their W105C wedges are kind of appealing. Did you guys try them ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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