Future of Honma Golf?

[larciel]

This might be an overaction but I think they botched US launch so badly it hurt the brand image so thoroughly that it still hasn't recovered. 

 

1 yr old TW757 can be purchased for less than 1/3 of MSRP.   Who would buy this at full retail then?

 

It's unfortunately because they still do make great clubs. 

[idrive]

IMO:

 

Until recently Honma has been a boutique brand for the Asian market. They have a cult like following. If you want to impress your group, you show up with Honma's. It's not how you play but what you play with. 🏌️‍♂️

 

They were never aimed at the masses. 

 

Not sure they will ever become mainstream here in the states, but they will be just fine. They are still considered "top notch" in the overseas markets.

 

And yes, they do make some very good clubs.

[Wham49]

my hometown Play It Again Sports that I do club work for has a lot of brand new drivers, fairway, and hybrids and Can not give them away at bargain basemant prices

[larciel]

21 minutes ago, Wham49 said:

my hometown Play It Again Sports that I do club work for has a lot of brand new drivers, fairway, and hybrids and Can not give them away at bargain basemant prices

Brand new honma clubs at play it again just about tells the whole story.

 

[pdxhak]

49 minutes ago, Wham49 said:

my hometown Play It Again Sports that I do club work for has a lot of brand new drivers, fairway, and hybrids and Can not give them away at bargain basemant prices

 

They have TW757 at discounted prices? Or older Honma unused clubs?

[pdxhak]

One of the biggest issues for Honma in US market is having their clubs available to hit. When I reach out to shops that advertise selling Honma, they never have them. Which very likely leads into the lack of reviews we see for the clubs as well. 

[Wham49]

9 minutes ago, pdxhak said:

 

They have TW757 at discounted prices? Or older Honma unused clubs?

they are a few years older now I never really looked that hard to be honest

[third-times-a-charm]

They make fantastic clubs especially irons with their JDM heritage and connections in the P and V series for 'the masses' which are not the 'impress people' Berez line.

 

Their shaft mantra doesnt line up with the NA market, unfortunately for them. No one wants to play their made-for shafts regardless of how good they are and how they may be fine-tuned to the heads they make. They needed to offer known shaft brands.

 

And the screwed up NA market launch along with the Justin Rose debacle didnt help.

 

They needed more brand time in front of people - which Srixon (Dunlop) is finally seeing with their ZX clubs that are selling well in the NA market finally - but they withdrew too soon.

[Avidswampthing66]

Amazing irons.  Best deal out there imo

[MattM97]

Like many JDM brands they will survive just fine in Japan and not worry about the US market. They tried but doesn't seem like it will work despite their irons having a bit of a cult following I'd say. 

[pdxhak]

I love my Honma clubs. I initially bought a set of their forged wedges and was very impressed with which lead to to explore their other offerings. I have a death grip on my TW-X irons :) And the TR21 fwy woods are really good. I will likely buy a set or two of their older irons just hit them. I'm looking for a good vintage set to play a couple times per year.

[bellken]

I don't think they are trying to compete against the mainstream golf companies anymore. They are going for their niche market - status and aspirational. The TR20 469 was a nice driver, but, it wasn't forgiving enough for me.

 

They had some amazing deals, if it was what you were looking for. But, you need to get on their email list to see their deals. I got a great deal on Honma Sunday golf bag.

[NailedIt]

I had a set of 747v irons. Fantastic clubs with that buttery forged feel. Only moved on due to shafts being a poor fit. I also think the Justin Rose sponsorship was a bad move. He doesn't move the needle here in the US. Had they gone after a Rickie Fowler, Xander type I think it would have worked out better.

 

Also, their fitting options here were lacking. It does seem strange they pulled the plug so fast. I know PGASS carried some stuff, not sure they still do.

[larciel]

another thing is that US-sold Honma products were mostly Made in China when they kept Made in Japan to JDM. 

 

Marketing bomb from the get-go.

[V1nc3nt]

I used Titleist CB before and switched to honma for life. Currently owned tw901, tw727v and tw757b.

 

Honmas are made with very high quality in mind. But aside Honma, Miura, Majesty or Srixon there are bunch of boutique japan brands in East Asia. It is a very different market and I think without NA market those JDMs can survive very well. (Especially after covid19 there is a boom among younger generations.)

[gemo]

My whole bag is Honma aside from my Yes putter. TW-X irons TW-W wedges, along with TR21 hybrid and woods, and TR20 driver. Bought most of it back in the spring directly from Japan when the yen was at 160 to the usd.

 

The clubs are good, Rose was too much of a wrx-er to stick with a whole bag deal including shafts. Their shafts really are top notch but yeah Americans always seem to reject OEM shafts as "cheap junk for retail rack buyers".

 

Their real failure from what I've read (and I've read everything I can find on their time in the US) is that they just didn't play the wine and dine American business way of getting deals done and units on shelves.

[gemo]

On 4/26/2023 at 6:20 PM, larciel said:

another thing is that US-sold Honma products were mostly Made in China when they kept Made in Japan to JDM. 

 

Marketing bomb from the get-go.

 

 

Also, while I can't speak to the GS and XP lines, every tr20/21 piece I own or seen has made in sakata japan printed or stamped right on it. The GS line also used many of the same upgrade shafts as the TR line, all made in japan.

[autronicdsm]

I bought a LB-818 440 driver a year or two ago, with Vizard 45 S shaft. New but heavily discounted. It stayed in the closet for a while and now all of a sudden it has become one of my favorite drivers. And that's a club made for Golf Partner to sell in their stores!!!

I'm actually waiting to see what they release for 767 line. Drivers that showed up on USGA list look so clean.

[gemo]

12 minutes ago, autronicdsm said:

And that's a club made for Golf Partner to sell in their stores!!!

 

Thank you for this, I have always wondered why that line existed.

[pdxhak]

Finally found some official info on the upcomping TW767. Honma has been very slow with releasing information. There will be 3 drivers. I am looking forward to trying the LS driver head. I'm hoping they come out with an adjustable FW heads like the TR21 lineup. There will be four new irons as well. Hx, V, Vx and Px. The pics were pulled from the link below. The page sucks. You have to keep scrolling to see the clubs load. TW767 will start shipping on Nov 29th 2024.

https://honmagolf-ec.com/jp/tourworld/tw767

 

 

 

Edited September 29, 2024 by pdxhak

[autronicdsm]

Nooooooo 😞

I don't like the blue. Was hoping for all black looks on the driver. USGA photos be damned...

[pdxhak]

8 minutes ago, autronicdsm said:

Nooooooo 😞

I don't like the blue. Was hoping for all black looks on the driver. USGA photos be damned...

Looks like only the LS head will be black.

 

 

[gemo]

So around Dec-Mar timeframe the price of TW 757 gear on japanese used grar sites should take a nosedive.

[pdxhak]

[HandsomeMatt]

On 10/3/2024 at 1:14 PM, gemo said:

So around Dec-Mar timeframe the price of TW 757 gear on japanese used grar sites should take a nosedive.

I picked up a 'used' set of TW757VX irons on GolfPartner that still had the plastic on the heads and grips, literally brand new, under $400 shipped from Japan and arrived in 3 days.  

[JungleJimbo]

On 9/30/2024 at 1:52 AM, pdxhak said:

Finally found some official info on the upcomping TW767. Honma has been very slow with releasing information. There will be 3 drivers. I am looking forward to trying the LS driver head. I'm hoping they come out with an adjustable FW heads like the TR21 lineup. There will be four new irons as well. Hx, V, Vx and Px. The pics were pulled from the link below. The page sucks. You have to keep scrolling to see the clubs load. TW767 will start shipping on Nov 29th 2024.

https://honmagolf-ec.com/jp/tourworld/tw767

 

 

 

The Blue color accents = seems more suitable for Mizuno

(and even Mizuno had a "blue period" for their drivers ... then reverted to black as they thought the blue deterred potential buyers?)