By Ed Travis
A year ago, golf industry executive Mark King former TaylorMade Golf CEO was hired as a “strategic advisor” for Honma Golf. The Japan-based golf equipment company wanted a bigger presence in the equipment industry. King has since moved on to the top spot at Taco Bell, but he left his imprint on their view of the equipment business.
The most obvious marketing move by Honma was the signing of Olympic Gold Medalist, then world number one, Justin Rose to an endorsement contract in January. Rose had been endorsed by TaylorMade, King’s ex-employer, for over 20 years. 
Honma has been making a big splash in the golf club business and their newest game-improvement club family is the XP-1. The new clubs have some interesting features and retail in the upper end of the golf equipment pricing spectrum.
The XP-1 driver has a double slot in the sole to allow the face to flex over wider area which of course is helpful when impact is not exactly dead center. Acknowledging that 80 percent of recreational players slice the ball, additional weighting has a built-in draw bias to assist squaring the club for straighter shots.
The super-light ribbed crown, one of the thinnest in the industry, means the center of gravity is lower in the head, closer to the sole, promoting a higher launch angle, plus additional forgiveness.
The XP-1 driver has an innovative through-the-head design that does not require the shaft to be rotated when dialing in a loft and lie setting. This is especially important since for best results the high response Vizard shaft is spine-aligned in the factory and when adjustments are made that alignment is retained.
The XP-1 Fairway Woods and Hybrids have a clean look similar to the driver and the 3-wood uses the lightweight carbon fiber crown construction. Both fairway and hybrid clubs have the same double sole slot construction, plus the fairway woods use an internal weight placement to provide better ball launch.
XP-1 Irons have a large traditional profile with a cavity back and a thin face for added ball speed. Turf contact is improved with the wide soles which also helps forgiveness by adding weight low in the head. Low and medium loft irons (4- to 7-iron) have a hollow construction and a tungsten sole weight while the high lofts (8-iron to sand wedge) have an extra deep cavity for better ball launch conditions.
Honma clubs retail pricing is not for the weak of heart. A driver will run you $600, fairway woods, $300 and Hybrids $250 each. Irons with steel shafts are $175 each and graphite shafts add an extra $20.00 to the cost at $200 each. Eight irons alone will make a $1,600 dent in your checking account.
These clubs are for the golfer who is sticker shock adverse and can afford to spend a few grand on a new set of sticks.
That being said Honma is making some of the best clubs in the world right now and if you are accustomed to the very best, these are the clubs for you.
