Personally, there is always a lot of intrigue and curiosity when THP gets something in from Honma Golf and we get to take a closer look for review. Much of that is because there is always an intrigue with JDM based brands, but there is more here since Honma prides themselves on being an elite Japanese brand committed fully to a blend of elegance, extravagance, and performance in everything they do. A chief example of that can be found within their foray into golf balls. With three new designs arriving for 2024, THP was able to get each in hand, including the TW-X which is the focal point of this review.

Quick Take
The TW-X is an interesting experience in mystery and performance. A three-piece urethane golf ball, it proved to be a design that sits on the slightly firmer, and faster, side of things compared to the other Honma offerings. The TW-X brought good speed, easy launch, ample descent, and a response level that got better the more aggressive the swing. Despite the distance label, there was no shortage of spin.
2024 Honma TW-X Golf Balls
Making its debut alongside the TW-S and D1 golf balls, the TW-X is at first glance aimed at being the more distance oriented urethane design of the three. The thing about any JDM based product, even those released stateside like this, there can sometimes be a bit of a disconnect when it comes to knowing the minute details, especially when it comes to golf balls. It is for that reason that it made the most sense to also bring numbers alongside the baseline design information that we have for the TW-X.

According to Honma:
“Honma TW-X Golf Balls, where distance meets precision for an unparalleled golfing experience. The innovative dimple design ensures a high and consistent flight, delivering impressive distance with each powerful swing. Crafted for players seeking maximum distance, high flight, a premium feel, and reliability, the TW-X’s advanced design redefines your potential.”
Getting a little more specific though, the TW-X is again a three-piece design with a premium cast urethane cover. The cover utilizes a 326 dimple makeup to aid in the mid-high trajectory Honma is seeking. Each cover has a nice, bold, alignment line which is one of the more balanced, but still efficient, looks we have seen this year. It is actually nicely subdued which was a bit of a surprise. That alignment line sits on the seam of the golf ball which is very well blended and only noticeable at closer looks, an impressive feat that even some of the biggest OEM’s haven’t managed with their golf balls.

Underneath that cast urethane cover is Honma’s “LD Core” surrounded by a “High Elasticity Flex Layer” engineered for initial speed and better distance. According to the box, this all equates to a golf ball with soft feel, high wedge spin, low driver spin, and great distance. While that sounds like practically every golf ball out there in this classification, the TW-X showed out well in our testing when it comes to those areas.
SHOT | BALL SPEED | LAUNCH | SPIN | CARRY | TOTAL | HEIGHT | DESCENT |
80 Yard LW | 74 | 31 | 9039 | 85 | 84 | 20Y | 48 |
SHOT | BALL SPEED | LAUNCH | SPIN | CARRY | TOTAL | HEIGHT | DESCENT |
Full LW | 89 | 31 | 10545 | 103 | 102 | 30Y | 51 |
SHOT | BALL SPEED | LAUNCH | SPIN | CARRY | TOTAL | HEIGHT | DESCENT |
Full 9-Iron | 115 | 23 | 7904 | 150 | 151 | 35Y | 54 |
SHOT | BALL SPEED | LAUNCH | SPIN | CARRY | TOTAL | HEIGHT | DESCENT |
Full 6-Iron | 129 | 18 | 5680 | 188 | 193 | 34Y | 48 |
SHOT | BALL SPEED | LAUNCH | SPIN | CARRY | TOTAL | HEIGHT | DESCENT |
Driver | 160 | 16 | 2528 | 277 | 304 | 38Y | 41 |
As you can see, there was a lot of data recorded on the TW-X in order to get a better understanding of the all-around performance picture. Each data set above is the average of ten shots with the two worst being thrown out. The immediate thing that stood out was that the ball isn’t necessarily what I would classify as soft or firm, but more in the middle. However, the longer the club and the faster the swing, the more the sound changed to a very powerful tone off the club face. It is hard to explain, but you could hear the difference immediately.

More importantly, the TW-X proved to be impressively consistent through the bag. The launch and subsequent peak height was much easier to come by than expected, but the correlating spin numbers for each club show the same balanced performance which was seen outdoors on the course. Even with the launch, there was good response here in the Oklahoma winds, and precision shots into the greens were rewarded, while off the tee it walked that middle ground of speed and spin control well.
The Details
The new TW-X and TW-S golf balls from Honma are priced at an impressive $36.00 per dozen and will be available in white only for the time being. To find out more about all three of the nee Honma designs, as well as where to purchase them, be sure to check out Honma Golf | Official North America Honma Golf Store.
Good info and like to hear about the consistency. The data is pretty strong as well.
That is a ton of performance for only $36! I thought the price of these would definitely be higher than the D1. [USER=1579]@Jman[/USER] would you consider the TW-X a mid-spin or high spin golf ball?
Nice price point for a 3 piece urethane ball.
Great write up [USER=1579]@Jman[/USER], the data that you provided and the price point make this ball intriguing.
Great balls that will be ignored by 99.9% of the golfing public. Same as Honma clubs. Kind of sad really, they make such good stuff!
[USER=1579]@Jman[/USER] do you have any information on which national retailers stock Honma golf balls. I went to their website and shipping is on the high side.
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[QUOTE=”Thrillbilly Jim, post: 12364718, member: 50607″]
[USER=1579]@Jman[/USER] do you have any information on which national retailers stock Honma golf balls. I went to their website and shipping is on the high side.
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No, I do not currently. I suspect there will be more avenues as time goes, but for now from what I’ve seen Honma is the access point for now.
Intriguing, and I’ve always found their logo fun. But the high shipping makes them on par with anything else domestic, or higher if a sale of bogo deal.
Interesting, another brand that is intriguing but pricing puts them away but these are definitely in a better range for trying out.
Good info and numbers as well.
Compared to your normal ball what did you find that was better?
[QUOTE=”kiwichris, post: 12365267, member: 57426″]
Interesting, another brand that is intriguing but pricing puts them away but these are definitely in a better range for trying out.
Good info and numbers as well.
Compared to your normal ball what did you find that was better?
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That’s not really how I test/review, I try to not compare to things and instead just see exactly what the product is or isn’t.
This, is a shockingly solid all around golf ball.
Pretty damn good performance for the price point! Great write up and solid data
[QUOTE=”badolds, post: 12364714, member: 47579″]
Great balls that will be ignored by 99.9% of the golfing public. Same as Honma clubs. Kind of sad really, they make such good stuff!
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So true. It seems the Homna stuff doesn’t get a lot of love on this side of the Pacific. For some reason I get attracted to quirky, off brand, weird stuff that the mainstream seems to ignore. Have an old Reverend USA Eastpoint guitar (phenomenal!), drove a ’05 Scion xB for several years (would buy another in a heartbeat), and own a C-Dory ’22 cruiser, etc… Honma seems to fit right in there.
After hitting a bunch of the popular brand newer/used drivers at Van’s PS I ended up picking up a super clean TW747 460cc 10.5* driver for very little $$$ off CL. I REALLY like it! Quality of construction/materials is very nice, and it has a pretty nice traditional look to it. I have only hit range balls so far but it’s very easy to hit and very forgiving. Looks super clean at address too. I’ll be using it for the first time on the course this Friday, so we’ll see how it goes.
I also recently read [USER=1579]@Jman[/USER] great review on the Honma Hybrids and they sound pretty solid. I currently have a couple of Titleist 816 hybrids, which are great, but, would definitely like to give the Honma’s a try too. I’ll keep an eye out for a couple.
Mesmerizing!
Would definitely recommend my friends working at Frelan hardware (https://www.frelanhardware.co.uk/) about this amazing review!
FWIW, Amazon has colorful 2024 D1s for $20.23, TW-X for $31.52 and TW-S for $39.95, all with free shipping. The boxes are bi-lingual Japanese and English. Even though I have ProV1x balls coming out of my ears, I’m tempted to try one of Z or S model . In fact, I hereby pledge to buy a dozen if I end up with Honma irons this year.
Edit: the store looks legit, packaging excellent. No reviews in English; almost all in Japanese.