Honma TW-U Ranks in Forgiveness & Distance

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, both 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 – Available at: http://www.tourspecgolf.com/honma-2013-tw-u-utility