The Honma TW series has been a sneaky-good performer in MyGolfSpy testing for several years. The Honma TW PX finished second overall in this year’s player’s distance iron testing and the TW 767 driver ranked fourth overall in forgiveness.
No one, it would seem, doubts Honma’s ability to make very good golf clubs. The problem, however, is that Honma’s performance hasn’t translated into North American market domination.
Honma’s not even market-pesky.
That doesn’t mean you should skip over the new Honma TW 777 lineup. Between three new drivers, two new fairway woods, a new line of utility woods (what the rest of us call “hybrids”) and one new iron set, Honma is presenting some compelling options.
It all depends on how you feel about moles.
Moles?
Honma TW 777: The mystery of the mole
Moles are fascinating little critters. They’re known for their subterranean lifestyle but did you know a single mole can dig up to 15 feet of tunnel in one hour? Did you also know that, through the miracle of evolution, moles smell separately through each nostril? It helps them target prey and avoid predators while underground.
Why are we telling you all this? Welp, if you’re going to embrace the new Honma TW 777 line, you’ll need to embrace the Honma mole.
The little bugger is prominently displayed on the sole of the new TW 777 metalwoods as well as in a bright blue logo on the toe of the new TW 777 PCG-Max irons. Believe it or not, moles carry a certain cultural symbolism in Japan. They’re admired for their tireless and unseen underground digging in a straight line toward a goal. Honma uses that symbolism to show that its TW club line is built for serious golfers digging it out of the dirt.
So, now that we know the mole truth, we can examine Honma’s new TW 777 series without making a mole mountain out of a molehill.
Aw, c’mon, man. You knew that one was coming.
TW 777 drivers: Standard, Max and Mini
The big TW 777 driver story is carbon titanium, a composite material combining carbon fiber with titanium alloys. Carbon titanium is used in aerospace, high-end automotive and bicycle frames and, back in the ‘90s, in golf shafts.
Honma uses carbon titanium as part of the three-piece body for the TW 777 and TW 777 Max drivers. By combining a carbon titanium sole and a carbon ring with the rear carbon body, Honma says it’s enhancing the driver head’s flexural stiffness to deliver higher ball speeds and greater stability.
Flexural stiffness is the ability of a material to resist flexing or deflecting under a load. In this case, that’s at impact. When combined with Honma’s forged SJ221 titanium face, it serves as a ball speed lever.
The standard Honma TW777 driver is 460cc with front and back sole weights (3.5 grams in front, 20.5 grams in back) to fine-tune trajectory.
The TW777 Max is the more forgiving model although it doesn’t appear to be playing the 10K MOI game. It features flippable sole weights on the heel and toe although both weights are as far toward the perimeter and as far toward the back as can be and still be considered heel and toe weights. There’s also a Honma-branded fixed rear weight designed to push the CG as far back as possible, hence the “Max” designation.
The TW 777 360 Ti is Honma’s entry into the mini driver market. At 360cc, it’s the biggest mini out there which means only the most daring of you will use it off the deck. It’s all-titanium construction with three adjustable sole weights including one on the extreme toe to help those of us afflicted with the duck hooks.
Fairways and “utilities”
Honma is touting the two new TW 777 fairway wood lines as descendants of its legendary persimmon LB-GET fairway woods.
Yeah, I had to look that one up, too.
It seems that, back in the ‘80s, Honma earned a name for itself with oversized persimmons with LB (Low-Balance) technology and a GET (Gravity Energy Transfer) sole designed to move mass low and provide smoother turf interaction. The overall headline was a larger-than-normal head to push CG lower and back. The combination made the club more forgiving.
Both the standard TW 777 and its larger, more forgiving sibling, the TW 777 Max, carry on that tradition. Both feature a carbon crown, tungsten and aluminum weighting and a C300 titanium cup face backed by an SUS630 stainless steel body. It comes with two swappable sole weights with the heavier 16-gram weight in front for lower spin and faster ball speeds.
As the name suggests, the TW 777 Max fairways are larger and more forgiving. Material construction is the same with permanent weighting on the rear skirt bringing CG low and back to increase forgiveness and encourage higher launch.
The TW 777 utility woods, which you and I call hybrids, also feature the GET sole and a C300 titanium cup face. Also, somewhat surprisingly for a hybrid, they feature a carbon crown. Honma says the CG is deep and low (for a hybrid) and is designed for mid to high handicappers who need help getting the ball up in the air for more carry distance.
The standard TW 777 fairways feature an adjustable hosel. The 777 Max fairways and the 777 utility woods are bonded hosel.
Honma TW 777 PCB Max irons: Word doc on a stick
There’s no other way to say it: a lot is going on with the new TW 777 PCB Max irons. It may be the first iron set released this decade that needs spellcheck.
Yeah, there’s a lot of verbiage looking back at you.
Kidding aside, the TW 777 PCB Max is a game-improvement iron that nudges up against the super game-improvement borderline. The body is forged from S25C carbon steel (the Japanese equivalent of 1025). Honma uses two different steels for variable thickness cup faces for the PCB Max. The 5- through 8-iron faces are made from a high-strength AM355P stainless steel. AM355P measures out stronger than the typically used 17-4 stainless.
The scoring irons (9-iron through sand wedge) feature a material Honma is calling ES235. That appears to be a proprietary designation for a low- to medium-carbon steel engineered for forging.
For those turned off by thick toplines, Honma is using something called the Honma CUT. It’s a precision-milled slope at the top of the face designed to make the topline look a little thinner.
Additionally, the TW 777 PCB Max doesn’t bother with this pitching wedge nonsense. The iron set goes from 5-iron to 11-iron before transitioning to an approach wedge and sand wedge.
Honma TW 777 specs, price and availability
Like many Japanese brands, Honma is proprietary from grip to tip. Mostly. It’s also right-handed. Exclusively.
The TW 777 and 777 Max drivers, the 777 360 Ti mini driver and the standard 777 fairways come standard with the Honma-made Vizard Blue shaft (R- and S-flexes only), The 777 Max fairways and 777 utility woods come with a lighter shaft, the Vizard for TW 777 (also in R- and S-flexes).
Both TW 777 drivers come in nine- and 10.5-degree lofts, while the 777 Max adds a 12-degree head to the mix. The TW 777 360Ti mini driver is 11.5 degrees. All three include Honma’s useful but not altogether intuitive adjustable hosel.
The drivers sell for $650 while the mini runs $450.
The standard TW 777 fairways come in 3-, 4-, 5- and 7-wood models (15, 16.5, 18, 21 degrees) while the 777 Max comes in 3-, 5- and 7-woods only. The utility woods come in 3U through 6U models with lofts ranging from 19 to 28 degrees in three-degree increments.
The fairways and utility woods are $375 each.
The Honma TW 777 PCB Max irons also feature the lightweight Vizard for TW 777 graphite shaft in R-flex. For S-flex, the set shifts to the Nippon N.S. PRO 950GH Neo steel shaft designed for more spin with strong-lofted irons.
The standard five-piece set (6– through 10-iron) runs $1,125 in graphite and an even $1,000 in steel. The 5- and 11-irons, plus the approach wedge and sand wedge, can be ordered separately for $225 per club in graphite, $200 in steel.
The moles, of course, are included in that price.
Presale is underway now. For more information, visit the Honma website.
The post The New Honma TW777 Lineup: How Do You Feel About Moles? appeared first on MyGolfSpy.
