- Admin
- #26
Honma Introduces TR21 Irons, Hybrids and Fairway Woods
TRA024
Well-known member
For me it's about access to the brand. For starters if you want to buy from the web site you only get the option to buy a full set at standard spec (shafts, grips, loft/lie), that's a pretty big ask to put 1,000+ down on a pretty unknown brand. If they would offer demo and / or playability guarantee (play for 30d, if not happy return no questions asked). I know they have a presence at Clubchampion but not everyone either easily has access or is willing to go down that route.
I also can't identify with the brand in any way. Is it for traditional feel players, the smash and bash crowd, the tech geek, etc.? I have no idea. The product seems really good but with so many option and being new in the market I think they need to move some hurdles to get significant traction.
I also can't identify with the brand in any way. Is it for traditional feel players, the smash and bash crowd, the tech geek, etc.? I have no idea. The product seems really good but with so many option and being new in the market I think they need to move some hurdles to get significant traction.
Most definitely!!! Honma, to me, is in a similar position as Wilson/Staff...just 180° opposed. W/S has been struggling to get the stigma of the “cheap, box set” off its image. Honma, especially with the Beres line, comes off as elitist and only for the wealthy. This automatically becomes a disconnect for the average golfer. The best way for Honma to connect with average golfer is to do a better job advertising, align their cost to more popular OEMs(Mizuno), and they have to have some type of presence on the PGA Tour. If not, they are relegated to a “JDM boutique brand”.
- Admin
- #30
Ill ask this as a follow up then. Honma doesnt market the Beres much either. Could that be more an impression of the THPer or internet golf person than it is casual golfer, who might view it more as the brand Rose used?
As a THPer, I am more well informed about brands and equipment...thanks to this site...but I just typed Honma Golf into the Google machine and the first picture that popped up was for a $27K set of irons and the top asked question was “Why are Honma golf clubs so expensive?” So, I have to say no.
- Admin
- #32
Thats interesting, as I have never tried that, but then I would follow up and say based on that discovery, there wouldnt be anything they could do to get the casual golfer interested, right?
Or do they have to work a little harder for clear messaging to distinguish Beres from normal lines?
It is a tough thing to re-brand yourself! To be in the conversation of the average golfer, price would be the first hurdle. The average golfer will not pay more for equipment, when in the average golfer’s eyes, Callaway, TM, Ping are the best and technically cheaper than Honma. I would treat the Beres series as a separate “company”. I would compare it to Toyota and Lexus. I can not go on the Toyota website, and find information about Lexus. They fit different retail segments and budgets and should be separated, IMHO.
- Admin
- #34
Im not sure I agree that you cannot be more expensive. PXG, while struggling at retail, has excelled in some circles doing just that. Golf is a game of social credit, as much as it is a game of performance in my opinion.
- Admin
- #37
Harder to quantify. We deal in only off course, meaning retail and neither have a huge retail presence. Currently Honma was higher, but not by much. Overall sales, PXG would edge them out. North America only.
Mabuckeye
Active member
- Joined
- Feb 12, 2020
- Messages
- 380
- Reaction score
- 163
There seems to be stability issues at the top at least within North America - saw where Mark Kawaja just left the company - he wasn’t there long after replacing Mark King. Why is it that very few social media influencers have reviewed any of their offerings? They clearly need a better go-to-market plan if they intend to penetrate North America with greater success....
- Admin
- #39
Yes, Kawaja (its actually John) left the company in July after less than 2 years. Mark King before that. They still have some pretty smart people there though.
Do you think that with better messaging and marketing this lineup could have legs?
The TR21X is Honma's most forgiving iron, correct? And they describe it as an iron suitable for "tour players through middle handicappers". Well if this is as forgiving as it gets, it seems to me Honma is choosing to ignore a large portion of the market, not the other way around. Even more so when you consider the price of entry starts north of $1,300 for a stock 7-iron set, which is substantial investment for a lot of casual golfers. Something in the Game Improvement category for a thousand bucks could really help them make inroads, but I get the impression that's not who Honma wants to be.
I remain intrigued by the brand, and I think I [just barely] qualify as the target audience for the TR21X's. I will give them a look when I get serious about replacing my current irons, but only if it's reasonably convenient to do so. A local distributor would help tremendously. The problem for Honma is that Mizuno and Srixon won't make me work as hard to "kick the tires", so to speak.
I remain intrigued by the brand, and I think I [just barely] qualify as the target audience for the TR21X's. I will give them a look when I get serious about replacing my current irons, but only if it's reasonably convenient to do so. A local distributor would help tremendously. The problem for Honma is that Mizuno and Srixon won't make me work as hard to "kick the tires", so to speak.
- Admin
- #42
I dont believe so, that would probably be XP-1 out of their current lineup.
My bad. Just goes to show you how poorly I know the brand. I don't know if I'm representative of the average golfer or not, but I consider myself generally well-informed on equipment. Obviously that doesn't apply to Honma, however.
Just found the XP-1 and it is definitely chunkier, but not massive. It's a good looking club that should appeal to a lot GI players -- if they know it exists. I'd give them a hit even though I'm hoping to move out of the GI category.
- Admin
- #44
Here it is next to a Rogue X which was definitely a larger iron. It’s pretty big, but I think they nailed the looks here.
I agree though, if you don’t know about them, you don’t know about them
XP1 on the left is a bit larger.
Honma US Marketing has some work to do for sure.
I'd love to try all the TR20 and TR21 stuff but there is no access around here that I'm aware of. I check ebay casually for TR20P and V irons just to see if there's a too good to pass up deal but I can talk myself out of it pretty quickly since it's an impractical, blind purchase and I am pretty darn happy with Apex.
I think my initial thoughts about Honma was price. I think the fist set I saw was over $10k. After my fitting and researching Honma has some great options in the normal price range. The TR20 was easily the best for me iron at my fitting. I think if they made a club fittings days at local courses it would help. I think people know of Honma but don’t know Honma. I’m still planning to get a set at some point.
I play Apex and was recently fit into TR20P. They seem pretty similar to me. Only getting to hit the 6 iron does leave many questions. What I can say is I hit the Honma 6 better than my Apex 6 iron. This could be due to the shaft as well. I have no intention of getting rid of the Apex but I’d really like to add the Honma to my stable.
- Thread starter
- #50
I'm sure plenty of people will say it so I'll beat them to it. These are a bit thicker than a few popular hollow body irons on the market. It isn't by much and you would never be able to tell unless you are REALLY looking for it, but it is what I saw. Total non-issue in my opinion but this is the internet.