The Daiwa Thread

I am not sure if this applies to "classic" golf, but Daiwa was a brand I saw back in the 1990's, but you do not see them here in America anymore, though they still sell clubs in Japan.

I am presently looking into a set of Daiwa Hi-Trac MF-110 Tour irons. They look great due to their lack of offset, but I think most or all of their clubs come with graphite shafts. For now I like the MF-110 Tour irons, but with S300's on them.

Has anyone played Daiwa back in the day, and are there any other models I should be checking out?

Is that the Hi-Trac with a twin-cut sole?

A pro friend of mine used to play those with steel shafts,Daiwa also made some nice blades,Ian Baker-Finch was their main man on tour although I do remember him hitting his tee-shot on the 1st at St Andrews OB,the widest fairway in championship golf.

I have a set of Daiwa Advisor DG273 irons 1-SW .(I did some research on them when I bought them). Ian Baker-Finch used a set of DG273 irons to win the 1991 British Open. The irons are so-named because they were designed by fellow Aussie David Graham and 273 was the score David shot to win the 1981 US Open.

The irons were some of the first to be investment cast, not forged. Apparently they made a forged set and a cast set and tested them with a bunch of pro's. When the pro's couldn't tell the difference (so they say) Daiwa went ahead and produced the "cheaper to manufacture" cast version.

I use vintage sets of Wilson, Macgregor, Hogan, Mizuno and Spalding and the Daiwa irons are every bit as good as them.

I think it was the head on the shoulders and not the head on the shaft that caused the famous OB by IBF.

I remarked on that stroke because it was absolutely astonishing,I agree with your analysis,it was such a pity that he suffered so badly as one of the most personable players on the tour at that time.

I remarked on that stroke because it was absolutely astonishing,I agree with your analysis,it was such a pity that he suffered so badly as one of the most personable players on the tour at that time.

He still comes across as an absolute gentlemen. Apparently he was never a "long" hitter and after he won the Open he tried to change his swing to get extra distance. That's when the trouble started.

They made some great clubs back in the late 80's early 90's. Back in my club professional days, I was a Daiwa staffer for a couple seasons. Played the Advisor perimeter weighted irons. They were cast 431 stainless but polished up to look forged and chromed. Had 2 sets of them, one with graphite and one with DG steel shafts in them. I really liked the graphite but every once in awhile would hit a shot out of the blue that would go 15-20 yards too far. So I went steel in the 2nd set and played some good golf with them. I wish I still had one of those sets. They also made some very good drivers and traditional looking wedges.

Here is a Daiwa Hi-Trac Tour MF-110. There is no offset and the head looks futuristic, and in a good way, too!

Caught lots of bass with a variety of Daiwa!

Underrated brand, had a trypower persimmon 3 wood until after i turned pro. Whole trypower range rivaled Ping for forgiveness and playability inn that era

Trypowers were the first big selling, lower cost cavity. Prior to that Ping, Lynx and Powerbilt were all around the £500 for 3-pw. Daiwa came in at half that with an excellent product. They sold in big numbers in the UK. They were the first to really go for graphite shafts as well. Quality clubs (and fishing gear for all you Anglers..)>

Had Trypowers but got rid because they didn't have ferrules,I didn't like any of those clubs,they didn't look like proper golf clubs.

That said I did buy a set of Tommy Armour 845(?) at the car boot sale in York for £12 (3-pw) and played some of my best golf with them until Boxing Day 1999,bitterly cold day,alone on the course hitting 5-iron tee shot on a short par four,ball nose-dived,clubhead whizzed into the distance,nearly self-impaled on broken shaft (those gruesome stories are TRUE!),remaining clubs binned.

I still have a lefty persimmon Trypower 3-wood.

I still play my set of DG273's. Love them, wouldn't change them for any other set (ok, maybe a set of hickories or a National Custom Works set ground by Don White, but apart from that). OldTom allready posted some info on this set above. Designed by David Graham shortly before he left Daiwa (my first set was without the "desgined by David Graham" stamp on the head, but I also have a set with the designed by David Graham" stamp, that I am currently building with new shafts and grips, still contempleting if i should have these dechromed (they are not in new condition so this is as good of a set as any to try it out).

David Graham designed various other incarnations of the DG-line (DG8201, DG8301, DG8401, DG8601 and the DG273, after that they had a DG201(?) that i think David Graham was no longer involved in) most had MacGregor influenced headshapes, which is not surprising as he had worked at MacGregor before that. David Graham is probably also the last person to win a Major with clubs he had designed himself (@Merion where he shot 273, with a last round (67) that prompted Ben Hogan to call him afterwards to congratulate him and called it one of the most impressive rounds of golf he had ever seen.

Those 273's look good. However, since they were investment cast, I suppose they would break if you tried to bend them?

Here is another set of Diawas, the Hi-Trac Tour MF-110. Note the reverse-offset progression. I love the head design, but I would prefer a constant offset (preferably none) throughout the set. Is there such a set?

Those 273's look good. However, since they were investment cast, I suppose they would break if you tried to bend them?

Cast, yes, but with very soft metal. They can be adjusted very, very easily. I've adjusted several sets of Daiwa's soft cast irons inc DG273s with no issues/breakage.

The Hi-Tracs are a different matter. Tougher to adjust than Pings, in fact near impossible.

A lot of Daiwa (and Maruman) irons of that era have more offset in the short irons than the long - typical for Japanese markets in the 80s/90s.

The only 80s/90s Daiwa irons that I have ever seen that have zero offset across the set are the Daiwa Gold Medal forged blades. You'll occasionally see a set on Ebay UK. Even the DG273s have noticeable offset in the long irons. There was a companion set to the DG273s, the "Advisor Cavity Blades", made of the same soft metal and cast, that has fairly consistent offset across the set. A skilled fitter could bend some of the offset out of them further. As for Daiwa's cast cavity backs, you're probably out of luck as far as offset to your desires goes.

You might find some of the last Daiwa irons, before the Onoff rebranding, might suit your eye, but I couldn't point you to the particular models.

Some of Daiwa's graphite shafts were extremely good. If you can find some of the diamond whisker braided shafts in stiff (brownish with a noticeable weave) then you will have some top shafts.

84425;

Great post,I love those old ads and did you notice that the wedges go up to 11 Nigel?

And the 10 / PW was 51 degrees.....

Set of Hi-Tracs for sale at Delray Beach GC where I played today. They're asking $50 for 2 thru 9 iron set which I think is way too much. They've been sitting a few weeks so I might offer them $30 the next time I stop in if they're still there. Not that I need another set of clubs. lol

Those 273's look good. However, since they were investment cast, I suppose they would break if you tried to bend them?

I’ve bent hundreds of cast and forged clubs over 30 years. I Only ever broke 2. They were different brands and they were both cast and both going more than 3 degrees upright. Owners were warned ahead of time.

I’m not sure where this myth came from that cast clubs can’t be bent. Some big shops just won’t do them because they are scared of breakage and have poorly trained people doing the bending.

The only clubs that anyone should be concerned about are incredibly cheap low quality brands. Any main stream “respectable” brand can go at least 2 degrees in any direction.

Come to think of it.....I have a set of hi trac tours in the basement right now. Played them in the mid 90’s when I was on staff with Daiwa when I lived in California. I should probably put those on the Bay and get A few bucks for them.

And the 10 / PW was 51 degrees.....

If anyone is in the market for some Daiwa's, I just saw this bargain: https://www.gumtree.com/p/golf-clubs/daiwa-dg273-irons-2-sw/1295965366 (i'd jump right at it if I didn't allready have 3 sets...)

I still play my set of DG273's. Love them, wouldn't change them for any other set (ok, maybe a set of hickories or a National Custom Works set ground by Don White, but apart from that). OldTom allready posted some info on this set above. Designed by David Graham shortly before he left Daiwa (my first set was without the "desgined by David Graham" stamp on the head, but I also have a set with the designed by David Graham" stamp, that I am currently building with new shafts and grips, still contempleting if i should have these dechromed (they are not in new condition so this is as good of a set as any to try it out).

 

David Graham designed various other incarnations of the DG-line (DG8201, DG8301, DG8401, DG8601 and the DG273, after that they had a DG201(?) that i think David Graham was no longer involved in) most had MacGregor influenced headshapes, which is not surprising as he had worked at MacGregor before that. David Graham is probably also the last person to win a Major with clubs he had designed himself (@Merion where he shot 273, with a last round (67) that prompted Ben Hogan to call him afterwards to congratulate him and called it one of the most impressive rounds of golf he had ever seen.

 

The 201s were sweet irons, a bit of Mizuno mp 14/29 lines to them as well from address.

https://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/daiwa-dg-201-team-daiwa-irons-10-243520169

I had a Daiwa wedge back in my junior golf days, but never saw a set of them, other than an expensive set of graphite shafted, twin cut sole irons that say in the shop at my home club for half a decade because no one wanted them. I remember seeing the wide-body drivers too, but don't remember if I ever hit one.

Last year I picked up some DG-8201 heads, but I haven't shafted them up. They will get my attention one day, but I have a few other sets of classic JDM I have to get to first. But, for $10 3-PW I had to grab them.

Also, got a set of Daiwa Pro SS-1 limited edition (only 1000 sets) on the way.

Every day I look for Daiwa irons in Japan. It's a sickness.

My first proper set of irons were a heel-toe weighted set made by Daiwa. I assume they were cast. I even added a 1i and 2i later (yeah, they made 1 and 2 irons back then even for game improvement irons). I ended up selling them for a set of TaylorMade TP irons.

Are you still in search of these?  I have Daiwa Hi-Trac Tours (steel shaft) in 1 Iron to PW.  Lightly used back in 1996 and not since.  Great condition.