Honma Golf has done an excellent job bringing high tech and attractive golf equipment to the North American market during the last year. It comes at little surprise that their golf ball offerings would include a strong product that is unique in design. The Honma TW-G6 is one of six ball options currently available in the product lineup, and is perfectly named.
Immediate Thoughts
Out of the box, the Honma TW-G6 has a nice tacky grip to the outer layer that many other premium balls provide, but also the soft cover that has a touch of give to lead golfers into believing it will feel good off any club in the bag. The badging on this 336 dimple six layer golf ball is the Honma logo, double digit numbers, and a helpful alignment aid noting the model of the ball. While the overall look is very suitable and not distracting, it would be the preference of this reviewer to see the brand name reduced in size. This could very well be a combination of personal preference and aligning with other popular premium brands.
How Many Layers?!
One of the most intriguing elements of the TW-G6 is the number of layers that comprise the ball. The breakdown of the six piece profile is as follows;
- Cover: NEW soft-spin urethane cover
- Second layer: High resilience Ionomer layer
- Third layer: High resilience layer
- Fourth layer: Mid-soft layer
- Fifth layer: Soft layer
- Core: Soft rubber core
As can be clearly seen, there are lots of elements in play here, which are expected to activate at the right speed and compression to maximize performance through spin and distance. It generates an expectation of an all-around golf ball which should be strong off the tee, active into the greens, and soft off the face of the putter.
On Course Experiences
There are a couple of extremely important aspects of a ball design that makes the difference between quality and inferior construction. The first, is resilience. While cart paths, trees, and rocks can make a mess of any ball, a strong golf ball cover construction should be able to withstand the rigors of a full round of golf, which the TW-G6 achieved perfectly. Some sand situations caused imperfections to form, but overall the experience proved that Honma has produced a ball that can handle regular play beyond the typical 18 hole round. That is a huge bonus for golfers who are able to retain the same ball for an extended period of time.
Secondary to resilience is the avoidance of staining. It is always nice to walk out to the fairway and hit the whitest ball of the bunch. Regular cleaning helped the Honma retain the whiteness of the ball, however going a number of holes without cleaning tended to let the ball discolor slightly as the round progressed. A simple solution and an understandable situation as the softer outer core reacts to the elements, especially on days where the turf has some give to it, and dirt is displaced regularly.
In terms of overall feedback quality of the various clubs in the bag, the Honma TW-G6 golf ball managed to provide excellent feedback regardless of the club. While some balls favor certain areas of the game, Honma has produced a ball that feels as good off the putter as it does off the driver. No rock-like feedback to the ears or hands, which leads to confidence of stroke and strike quality. On slightly firmer fairways, the ball landed and rolled well despite this particular reviewer’s steeper angle of descent. Off the wedges, the action was effective greenside, achieving a level of expectation set forth previous to the shot selection. This includes greenside bunker play where action is required to get the ball close to the hole.
Parting Thoughts
Similar to their golf clubs, the Honma TW-G6 enters the market quickly and effectively as a top tier product. It will accommodate a large percentage of the golfing public, and can perform confidently and comfortably for higher and lower swing speed players based on experiences during the testing process. While the feedback off the tee accommodates the higher spin style, it does not ignore the importance of action around the greens and softness off the face of the putter. In the end, the six layers are clearly doing great things. For more information on the Honma TW-G6 golf ball, visit www.honmagolfusa.com.
Very good review of an interesting ball offering. It appears that there is more to the six layer construction than bragging rights. I have a feeling they may be cost prohibitive to becoming a full time gamer for guys like me who tend to lose a ball or two per round. But I would certainly give them a whirl.
Strong review here Dan. This sounds like another good option for those wanting to play a top end ball.
Personally I like the logo and the alignment aid. Makes this ball strange out.
Nice write-up Dan. I like the durability of the cover that you mentioned, as well as the same performance and feel/feedback off the putter as well as the driver. I want to try this one.
I will be looking for these tomorrow to put in play over the holiday!
Where can I find the Honma golf ball and which one is considered your longest ball
have been playing them now for a few weeks.. great feel around and on the greens, I would say they have a slightly higher trajectory for me off the driver, and not as much roll as the pro v1x I was playing. None of the top line balls really cut any more, so not much different there. Price around me is the same as the titleists; but they’re hard to find.. it’s been cool and wet here (mid atlantic) so far, so we’ll see how they play when it gets hot before making a final decision.
I played this ball of last year, played the tp5 the year before. I thought both balls were superior to prov. I like the feel of the honma around the greens especially with the putter
Gilftown had the GW6 on for half price. I read up on them and they are 105 compression. I really hope the soft cover allows my slow swing speed to compress them or I wasted 80 bucks for 2 dozen.