JDM. How I got started.

By Toby

Flashback to 1991. I was about to finish college and was going to be moving back to Cebu from Manila (Philippines). My dad who was around a 6 handicap at the time wanted me to take up the game again on a regular basis. I was a 20 handicap- 6xs a year player at the time playing Ping Eye irons, Lynx Boom Boom Drivers and FWs. I told my dad I’d get down to a single handicap in 8 months (by December at that time) if he would get me a new set of irons. He replied “since you are graduating anyway let’s make it a graduation gift and make money no object. You have 2 weeks to find a golf set.”

That is when I started my search. I went to each and every golf store in Manila looking at clubs. Titleists, Mizunos, Pings, Lynx, name it I looked at it. I poured thru every iron like I was analyzing a Management Accounting exam. I went to each and every single store 2-3xs each bugging the salesperson on the brochures and the technology on each and every iron.

I knew of Honma at the time but never really considered them because the ones that I had seen outside the course were the FE and CL models. These small blades which I knew wouldn’t get me anywhere near the 8 handicap I was aspiring for. My dad finally gave me 3 more days to choose. Out of frustration I walked into the Pan West store. They were, and still are, the dealers of Honma. I met their head sales guy, Henry. He asked me a few questions, it lead to a “what do you use now?” question. I said Ping Eye irons. He said “wait her”. He came back with a set of irons that looked like Ping Eyes.

He showed me the LB 280s in a black barrel finish. It was the first time I had seen a dark finish on a set of irons. I put it down on the floor to address then asked how much for a set. Pricey but I liked them so much. We then spent the next hour going through all the options. We finally settled on a 2-11,SW set with Hagane Steel shafts in S1 flex. He did a couple of measurements of height, wrist to floor, checking lie angle at set-up, etc. I called my dad that night and told him to wire money.

I had been having a couple of restless nights after paying because I wasn’t sure if I did the right thing. It was such a big ticket item for a college kid to be buying. A week after placing my order I got a call at home from Japan. Honma was calling. A sales person on the other end was calling to check whether the 37.75 5 iron measurement I requested was with grip on or off. I was actually speechless and didn’t know what or how to anser. That sealed it for me. The worksmanship, quality, and concern for customer reflected in that single call made me a JDM fan for life.

I didn’t get to an 8 that year. I got down to an 11. The next year though I bought a Big LB (Blue) Titanium driver with a 3 star Titanium Carbon shaft in S2 flex to go with my Honma irons. With that fearsome combo in my bag I got down to a 6 handicap.

I’m slowly trying to rebuild a JDM bag again. Hopefully with the customization program of Epon I might go down that route. BTW Henry still works at Pan West helping people get the best out of their Honmas.