Honma Tour World TW-U Is Powerful New Driving Iron

• Driving iron-style utility club sits between hybrids and long irons

Although metalwood-shaped hybrids more commonly bridge the gap between fairway woods and long irons these days, many golfers still prefer the shot-making control advantages of playing longer shots into the green with a clubhead which is closer to a conventional iron shape.

Step forward Honma’s hand-built 2014 Tour World TW-U, a powerful new driving iron with a rounded heel for a clean-cutting and consistent strike on long approach shots.

A club for the more aggressive, confident golfer, the muscular-looking TW-U clubhead was developed by Team Honma’s tour staff, and is cast in MS225 steel with tungsten weights on the back face combined with a wide sole to give a deep, low centre of gravity.

The structure of the maraging stainless steel clubface offers an increased moment of inertia over other long irons, providing an enhanced rebound action for superlative distance.

Available in 2i, 3i and 4i lofts, TW-U is fitted with the Nippon NSPRO 950GH steel shaft as standard, but golfers can specify their choice of shaft when they visit their Honma stockist for a fitting. It is also available in Honma’s high-performance VIZARD and ARMRQ8 carbon graphite shafts, although as with all Honma graphite shafts these options have to be factory-fitted in Japan to order.

“The TW-U is an old-school driving iron which suits the stronger golfer who likes to propel the ball on a penetrating flight path to a distant green” said Honma UK spokesman Andy Hiseman.

“If you come up against an opponent who is wielding one of these, you know you are in for a tough game.”

Like all Honma golf equipment, the TW-U is hand-built to order in a single location – Honma’s Sakata studio, in northern Japan, where over 100 craftsmen work on every single club the company produces. Each TW-U clubhead is precisely finished, measured and balanced by hand.

The TW-U complements Honma’s powerful Tour World range of woods and irons in the UK. Tour World was introduced in 2013, aimed at the mid-to low-handicapper, and includes three different forged iron head shapes – the blade TW717 M, and the cavity-back TW717V and P models. Honma Tour World also features three driver heads, four fairway woods, the Tour World Wedge and two utility clubs – the TW-U and the Tour World TW717UT, a metalwood-shaped hybrid club available in thee lofts.

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www.honma.co.uk

Hiro Honma hand-built his first persimmon wood over 50 years ago, and over the years Honma’s Japanese craftsmen and women have perfected the art of making golf clubs, and the carbon graphite shafts which power them.

Honma’s meticulous approach is illustrated in every stage of a golf club’s life. No compromise is made at any stage, from initial design, through a manufacturing process in which at least 100 Honma craftsmen and women handle each club, to final checking and testing. Every single club is inspected by eye before it leaves Honma’s giant Sakata facility in northern Japan. Using state-of-the-art clubmaking technology, and the finest high-performance materials available, Honma Master Craftsmen add a uniquely human factor – decades of experience in the fine art of the golf club – to every piece of equipment the company produces. When you pick up a Honma golf club, you can be secure in the knowledge that skilled Japanese clubmakers have worked at length to craft it into the optimal piece of golf equipment.

Honma golf equipment sells throughout the UK at a select group of expert custom-fitters and clubmakers. Honma wedges and individual irons are available from £225, with putters from £325, utility clubs from £375 and fairway woods from £505. Drivers start at £910 and sets of Honma irons are available from £1,275.

Honma’s Star grading system enables golfers to select their preferred grade of carbon graphite shaft along with additional customisation options including head colour, shaft colour and the addition of 24 Karat gold and PT1000 platinum detailing and weights. 5-Star Honma drivers and fairway woods retail for £5,095 per club, with 5-Star Honma irons starting at £26,995 for a set of six clubs.