The year 2020 is going to be a big year for Honma aficionados, and here’s an additional reason: the Japanese company just announced its new Tour Release product line, and by that we’re talking about the HONMA TR20 clubs, which are crafted to perfection and built for speed, being the ideal tool for accomplished golfers.
Honma Golf is a premium brand from Japan and their new Tour Release range is built to deliver Tour-level performance and speed, and they've already used by Justin Rose, the Olympic Champion, and US Open winner. The new Honma Tour series, the TR 20 line respectively, includes what the company describes as 2 holistically designed drivers, as well as 2 sets of irons. Later this year, the collection will be enriched by fairway woods, hybrids, and new iron models.
As the name suggests, the Tour Series is built for better golfers, and it complements the company’s XP Crossover Series, which plays in the game-improvement category, being part of HONMA Premium Performance line-up. We already told you about the luxury/high-end BERES range, which completes Honma’s super-premium sector in 2020, and here’s the General Manager of HONMA Golf Alejandro Sanchez on the new TR20 drivers:
“The fact that Justin has already put the TR20 driver in his Tour bag so soon is testament to the high level of performance on offer to serious golfersRenowned for crafting the most premium products in golf at our factory in Sakata, the drivers are our most technologically advanced yet and the irons deliver the incredible looks and feel that we pride ourselves on at HONMA,” he added.
The Honma TR20 family of clubs debuted earlier in January with 2 drivers and 2 sets of irons and they're a testament to Honma’s long-standing tradition to produce aesthetically refined clubs with impeccable workmanship. While the obsessive attention to detail is well known in enthusiasts circles, the new TR20 clubs are more than “good optics” so to speak, as they literally push the boundaries on the tech side also. Here’s Honma’s vice president of global product Chris McGinley on the TR20 drivers:
“We save a lot of weight with the carbon crown and sole and that frees up a lot of weight to distribute in the head. We all know it’s a race for discretionary weight. The more weight we can take out of the face, the crown and the sole, the more we’re able to build into this club. We think it’s a really versatile design. We think this is a crucial advantage and gives us very consistent dynamic loft angle performance.”
The new TR20 drivers, more precisely the TR20 460 and TR20 440 are already seeing battle, as the 460 is currently in Justin Rose’s bag, and if you didn’t know it by now, this Tour Pro golfer is Honma’s ambassador. The 460 can be best described as a full profile driver deeper front to back with a swept crown. Judging solely on its design, we can infer that the TR20 460 is all about inspiring confidence and boosting playability, while the 440 version boasts a more compact profile (we're talking cubic centimeters here, 460 cc vs 440 cc), that sits higher in the back, offering the club a more traditional look. Honma President John Kawaja said about the TR20 drivers that, let us quote:
“TR20 drivers are a feat of engineering craftsmanship from our incredibly talented teams in Sakata and Carlsbad. Combining innovative carbon construction with the legendary shaping of our takumis in Japan is something we’re very excited for golfers to experience.”
Both drivers from Honma are built using an ultra-light carbon body and a state of the art TiCarbon Fast Frame, i.e. everything is built to be as light as possible with an emphasis on speed and Tour-level performance. The TiCarbon Fast Frame consists of a lightweight ET40 carbon crown courtesy of Toray Composites, and an ultra-light carbon sole working in tandem with a highly optimized titanium frame; everything in these drivers is aimed at boosting speed and saving weight, while the Ti frame and carbon body feature a unique vertical groove face, for even more speed. There are also 3 cleverly located sole weights, fully adjustable, which allow you to customize your club for reduced spin, increased moment of inertia or more draw bias. If you’re looking for explosive distance and total accuracy, the beautifully shaped profiles of the TR20 drivers in their lightweight titanium frame and near-full carbon body would definitely fit the bill, and speaking of costs, the TR20 460 and TR20 440 drivers are already available for fitting and cost $649.99 in 8.5-, 9.5- and 10.5-degree lofts with high-performance VIZARD shafts (50,60,70g) orVIZARD FD/FP and Tour prototype shafts (as an upgrade) .
The TR20 irons combine the company's hugely popular craftsmanship and Tour-level performance, as expected from Honma’s premium line-up actually, and they’re crafted using the best materials and workmanship for delivering the ultimate feel, along with control and distance. The TR20 irons are aimed at better players looking for their preferred blade length, and they’re forged from the best soft S20C carbon steel available in Japan, incorporating a novel cavity back design, with the company’s mole logo in the cavity. The P irons make for a true player’s distance iron, but without sacrificing playability in the process. In this regard, the P irons act more like game improvement irons, i.e. they really offer that level of playability, and yes, that’s amazing. Speaking of build quality, the TR20 irons are engineered using a forged S35C steel body with an L-cup face, which confers them amazing speed, while the tungsten weighted pocket cavity is aimed at delivering speed-boosting forgiveness when it comes to off-center hits. The irons are designed to have a high moment of inertia and a low center of gravity, for longer carries and high launch, blending forgiveness in the P series with the V short irons, which are more on the compact side.
Here’s Honma Vice President of Global Product Chris McGinley talking about the new iron set:
“The combination of Honma hand-crafted looks with tour-level performance, modern constructions and expert designs provide a blend of looks, sound and feel that golfers will love.”
The new TR20 irons from Honma arrive with VIZARD TR20-85 graphite and Nippon Modus 105 shafts and they retail for $200 per club in graphite and $175 in steel, being available just like the drivers from March 15th.
