Yourcaddy #4 | Page 30

YOUR GEAR | REVIEWED TOUR WORLD 2 TW727 Japanese golf brand Honma is a giant in the far East, but until recently it has been a relative unknown in the UK. Their reputation is for hand-crafting exquisite, ultra-high performance golf clubs which only the super-rich can afford, so they have always seemed out of reach for 99% of golfers. The reason for these high prices is largely misunderstood. A team of ‘takumi’ master craftsmen in northern Japan hand-make every clubhead and every shaft, and over 100 pairs of hands touch every club during the build. At ‘5 Star’ level you get ultra-advanced shafts and 24K Gold and Pt1000 Platinum detailing. Sets sell to royalty and heads of state at £70,000 and beyond, and orders of over £200,000 for multiple sets are not uncommon. In 2013 the firm launched the Tour World range, offering mid-to-low handicap Western golfers a chance to get into Honma at lower prices by choosing steel-shafted irons, along with the customary graphite options. Starting at £1,130 per set, with woods starting at £400, Honma hand-built quality was suddenly more accessible. Tour World was the brand’s biggest hit in the UK for decades. 30 | YOURCADDY MAG - ISSUE 04 EVERY KICKPOINT WAS ABSOLUTELY SPOT-ON. HONMA’S BUILD CONSISTENCY IS SIMPLY WORLD-CLASS.