As part of The Countdown with Honma Golf (https://www.thehackersparadise.com/forum/showthread.php?98536-The-Countdown-is-Here!), I was the lucky recipient (in Publisher’s Clearinghouse style, no less!) of a full bag of Honma Beres clubs. The driver I have in play is the Beres S-05, in the three star grade. For those who aren’t familiar with Honma, some of their lines are available in 2-star through 5-star versions. The major difference across the ratings is the shaft - more advanced materials are used as the rating increases. However, there are differences in the head and build as well, including the presence of gold and platinum in the higher star-rated clubs. In addition, the star rating also indicates the seniority of the Honma craftsman who built the clubs at the Sakata factory. “Craftsmanship” is a word you see a lot in the information about this line, and that’s born out in the first impression seeing these in hand. Fit and finish is exemplary, even when the ferrules are examined closely - this is one area where I’ve always seen some inconsistencies in how clubs are assembled in previous sets. Like the rest of the line, gold is definitely the theme color here, but it’s less forward in the driver and metalwoods than the irons (unless you go with the 4 star or higher, where the crown becomes gold).
The S-05 driver is the more “all abilities” driver of the Beres line - Honma’s description of the S line is “Straight and Smart”. The other, the E-05 (“Easy and Excellent”), appears to be the more SGI offering, with the location of the weighting near the heel indicating a draw bias. The driver is an all-titanium design, but there are a couple of design elements that I found interesting while reading up on the line that are advertised as increasing ball speed. The first is the “honeycomb” crown design (internal, not visible at address like the dragonfly structure on the PING crown). This design element is designed to propagate crown deflection to the club face, increasing ball speed.
Next is the presence of three “ribs” connecting the thickest part of the face, the sole, and the crown. From my understanding, the goal of this is a similar effect to what is seen with Jailbreak in the Epic line - a more efficient, coordinated rebound effect resulting in more ball speed.
In hand and at address, the driver has a pretty classic shape. Face angle is not listed on the Honma website (which has more specs than you’ll see from any other manufacturer), but the face looks like it might be just a tad closed - not to the extent of some of the other premium Japanese lines I’ve hit (the XXIO 9 comes to mind). The stock shaft is the ARMRQ (“Ar-Mark”) 48 shaft. Weighing in at 52 grams, it’s a lightweight shaft but not that far off from what is seen in most stock setups these days. It’s also quite long, coming in at 46.25”.
I’ve only been able to take the driver out a few times since receiving the clubs, but from my experience, the driver is performing as advertised. Due to the longer-than-usual for me shaft, quite a few of my initial swings with the clubs were drop kicks. Still, these shots ended up in places I’m used to ending up on the course. The sound of the driver is loud, but not unpleasant. Balls hit in the center have a more solid sound, while mishits on the heel and especially the toe sound more metallic. With the low CG design and low kick point shaft, one would expect a high ball flight and that’s exactly what I’ve seen - albeit with no issues with ballooning or high spin playing on quite windy day. I’d say the shaft is best suited for a smooth tempo, though I haven’t felt out of control when I’ve gotten a bit quick with it either. I haven't had a chance to hit the driver on a monitor yet, but it seems to retain ball speed quite well - some of my longer drives have been on balls that were nowhere near the center.
More thoughts on performance and plenty of in-hand pictures forthcoming, but I wanted to get threads up on the equipment before I got out for 36 holes this weekend. It’s not often that someone gets a chance to provide feedback on clubs like this, and I wanted to give the forum a chance to ask some questions beforehand. I couldn’t be more thankful to THP and Honma for the opportunity. I’m still blown away every time I walk into my garage and see my bag there.
The S-05 driver is the more “all abilities” driver of the Beres line - Honma’s description of the S line is “Straight and Smart”. The other, the E-05 (“Easy and Excellent”), appears to be the more SGI offering, with the location of the weighting near the heel indicating a draw bias. The driver is an all-titanium design, but there are a couple of design elements that I found interesting while reading up on the line that are advertised as increasing ball speed. The first is the “honeycomb” crown design (internal, not visible at address like the dragonfly structure on the PING crown). This design element is designed to propagate crown deflection to the club face, increasing ball speed.
Next is the presence of three “ribs” connecting the thickest part of the face, the sole, and the crown. From my understanding, the goal of this is a similar effect to what is seen with Jailbreak in the Epic line - a more efficient, coordinated rebound effect resulting in more ball speed.
In hand and at address, the driver has a pretty classic shape. Face angle is not listed on the Honma website (which has more specs than you’ll see from any other manufacturer), but the face looks like it might be just a tad closed - not to the extent of some of the other premium Japanese lines I’ve hit (the XXIO 9 comes to mind). The stock shaft is the ARMRQ (“Ar-Mark”) 48 shaft. Weighing in at 52 grams, it’s a lightweight shaft but not that far off from what is seen in most stock setups these days. It’s also quite long, coming in at 46.25”.
I’ve only been able to take the driver out a few times since receiving the clubs, but from my experience, the driver is performing as advertised. Due to the longer-than-usual for me shaft, quite a few of my initial swings with the clubs were drop kicks. Still, these shots ended up in places I’m used to ending up on the course. The sound of the driver is loud, but not unpleasant. Balls hit in the center have a more solid sound, while mishits on the heel and especially the toe sound more metallic. With the low CG design and low kick point shaft, one would expect a high ball flight and that’s exactly what I’ve seen - albeit with no issues with ballooning or high spin playing on quite windy day. I’d say the shaft is best suited for a smooth tempo, though I haven’t felt out of control when I’ve gotten a bit quick with it either. I haven't had a chance to hit the driver on a monitor yet, but it seems to retain ball speed quite well - some of my longer drives have been on balls that were nowhere near the center.
More thoughts on performance and plenty of in-hand pictures forthcoming, but I wanted to get threads up on the equipment before I got out for 36 holes this weekend. It’s not often that someone gets a chance to provide feedback on clubs like this, and I wanted to give the forum a chance to ask some questions beforehand. I couldn’t be more thankful to THP and Honma for the opportunity. I’m still blown away every time I walk into my garage and see my bag there.
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