Travis R. covers equipment, shafts, and the DORMIED Index data for DORMIED. He is the data co-founder and has been tracking the golf brand market since 2018.
Honma is a good golf brand, but the answer depends on which Honma you mean. BERES is the luxury line: star-graded, gold and platinum at the top end, built for golfers with moderate swing speeds, and priced like jewellery. Tour World is the performance line for better players, the one Justin Rose won with in 2019. Both are made to a high standard, and both are expensive for what they are. The difference is what you are paying for. With Tour World it is performance. With BERES it is mostly the shaft and the craftsmanship, and the gold is prestige.
In one sentence: Honma is a Japanese maker of genuinely well-built clubs split into two businesses, the star-graded BERES luxury line and the Tour World performance line, and whether it is good for you depends on which one you are shopping.
Is Honma a Good Golf Brand?
On build quality, yes. Honma makes its premium clubs in Sakata, Japan, and says it handles every step from design to production in-house, including its own ARMRQ graphite shafts, which it designs alongside the heads. Its most experienced craftsmen, whom it calls takumi, are the only ones permitted to work on BERES.
Where the verdict divides is value. BERES suits a specific golfer: moderate swing speed, a preference for light, soft shafts, and a budget where a set of clubs can cost more than a car. For that golfer it is among the best-made equipment available. Tour World suits better players who want Japanese craftsmanship at something closer to normal premium prices. It does not suit anyone who wants tour validation from the players they watch, or a mainstream fitting network outside Asia.
Why Are Honma Golf Clubs So Expensive?
Three reasons, in descending order of how much they matter to the golfer.
The shafts come first. A specialist Honma fitter puts it plainly: the real difference between star grades is primarily the shaft, and Honma's lightweight shafts hold their stability and low torque unusually well. The higher grades use more exotic carbon fibre as the stars increase.
The craftsmanship is second. BERES is hand-built by Honma's most experienced staff in Sakata, and in a category where most clubs are assembled from contract-made parts, that is genuinely rare.
The precious metals come last. Four-star BERES includes 24-karat gold and five-star adds platinum. The same fitter calls the gold finish prestige rather than performance, which is honest from someone who sells it.
On Honma's US store as of September 2026, a BERES 10 driver is $1,440 at three stars, $2,600 at four and $6,000 at five. Full sets run $9,784, $20,664 and $70,830, and a five-star iron set alone is $54,000. That puts a standard five-star set within about $1,200 of the $72,000 Bugatti set, which we covered separately. The brand's status in Japan is best captured by one gesture: after the 2016 US election, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe gave Donald Trump a Honma club.
What Is the Difference Between Honma BERES and Its Performance Line?
BERES is built around the golfer rather than the tour. Honma dates the line to 2005 and grades it by stars, which rise with cosmetic detail, shaft quality and the amount of precious metal in the head. It is designed to be bought as a complete matched set, driver to sand wedge. The current BERES 10 generation has dropped the two-star grade: Honma's US store lists it only in three, four and five stars.
Tour World is the performance line. Honma introduced it for professionals and better golfers, and its own timeline places the line before the 1981 move to Sakata. The current generation is the TW777, priced like a normal premium line: drivers from $450 to $650, fairway woods and hybrids at $375, and the PCB Max irons at $1,125 as of September 2026. A five-star BERES 10 driver costs more than nine TW777 drivers. It is where the tour work happens: Rose played his own Rose Proto blades from it. It is also where Honma has made its biggest compromise. MyGolfSpy reported in 2023 that some Tour World irons and wedges are made in China and lack the "Made in Japan, Sakata" stamp.
Who Owns Honma Golf?
Honma began in 1959 in a small Yokohama workshop as the Tsurumi Golf Center, produced its first Honma-branded clubs in 1963, and moved production to Sakata in 1981, where it remains. The Sakata detail is often misreported as the founding location.
The company boomed with Japan's economy and suffered when it collapsed. It sought protection from creditors and was delisted in 2005. In 2010 it was acquired by Liu Jianguo, a Chinese businessman whose other company makes hair dryers and rice cookers, and in October 2016 Honma Golf listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.
Liu still runs it. According to Honma's 2025/26 annual report, he is chairman and president and holds about 39 percent of the shares through a family trust, making him the controlling shareholder. The second-largest holder is Thailand's Charoen Pokphand Group with about 30 percent, and its chairman sits on Honma's board. Liu's son became chief executive of Honma Holdings in April 2026. The shares trade under the code 6858 and have lost about 70 percent of their value since listing.
What Happened Between Justin Rose and Honma?
Rose is the honest test of the performance side, and the result is mixed.
After roughly two decades with TaylorMade, Rose signed a multi-year deal with Honma in January 2019, the most significant endorsement in the brand's history. He won the Farmers Insurance Open in only his second event with the clubs, and finished 2019 ranked eighth in the world and 13th in strokes gained per round. MyGolfSpy called it a successful first season by any measure.
It did not last. At the Honda Classic in February 2020 Rose had a TaylorMade driver in the bag; at Bay Hill the following month he carried no Honma clubs at all. In May 2020 the two announced in a joint statement that they had agreed to part ways, less than 18 months in. Neither side has said why.
The fair reading is that the clubs were good enough to win with, which proves the Tour World line can compete at the top level. It does not prove Honma is the best choice for a tour player, and Rose chose not to stay. He has since bet his bag on another startup, joining McLaren Golf as its first tour player.
How Is Honma Trending on the DORMIED Index?
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| Global DORMIED Index rank | 76th of 215 |
| DI score | 1.5 |
| Monthly global searches | 8,100 |
| Month-over-month change | 0% |
| Three-month change | -6.5% |
| Year-over-year change | -18.2% |
Source: DORMIED Index, August 2026 snapshot. The DI score is a brand's global search interest relative to the most-searched golf brand, which scores 100.
Seventy-sixth of 215 with 8,100 searches a month is real, durable interest for a luxury brand. The direction is the concern: down 18.2 percent on the year, and a headline-making Bugatti collaboration in June has not turned the quarter around. Only two of the 285 tour bags DORMIED tracks include a Honma club, and both are older records: a TW 747V 3-iron in Charl Schwartzel's 2021 bag and Rose Proto irons in Richard Bland's 2022 bag. Our data does not cover the Japan Tour closely.
What Do People Ask About Honma?
Are Honma clubs worth the money?
Tour World clubs, such as the $650 TW777 driver, offer Japanese craftsmanship at normal premium prices. BERES is worth it only if you value its shafts and hand-building: a five-star BERES 10 driver is $6,000, and the gold and platinum add prestige rather than performance.
What do the stars on Honma clubs mean?
They grade BERES clubs by cosmetic detail, shaft quality and precious metal. The current BERES 10 comes in three, four and five stars; four stars include 24-karat gold and five add platinum. The biggest playing difference between grades is the shaft.
Where are Honma clubs made?
Honma's premium clubs are made in Sakata, Japan. MyGolfSpy has reported that some Tour World irons and wedges are made in China.
Who owns Honma?
Honma Golf Limited is listed in Hong Kong. Its chairman and president, Liu Jianguo, who acquired the company in 2010, is the controlling shareholder with about 39 percent through a family trust. Thailand's Charoen Pokphand Group holds about 30 percent.
Do any tour players use Honma?
Rarely. Two of the 285 tour bags in DORMIED's WITB database include Honma clubs, both from older records: a TW 747V 3-iron in Charl Schwartzel's 2021 bag and Rose Proto irons in Richard Bland's 2022 bag. At the time of the Rose deal, Honma's tour presence was strongest in the women's game, with So Yeon Ryu and Shanshan Feng on the LPGA.
What is Honma BERES?
BERES is Honma's luxury line: complete matched sets, graded by stars, hand-built in Sakata with lightweight shafts designed for moderate swing speeds.
Why did Justin Rose leave Honma?
Neither side has said. Rose signed in January 2019, won in his second event with the clubs, stopped using them in early 2020, and the split was announced in May 2020.
