MEMBER REVIEWS: Honma TR20 Driver Testing! See What Members Are Saying Inside!

[Shilgy]

On 11/4/2020 at 3:26 PM, ejcrossl said:

Got to test the Honma TR20 today.  It felt and sounded great, but the ball speed and distance wasn't quite there.  Compared it against my current TM M5 (74g X flex Fuji Pro 2.0 TS at D5).  I was fighting it going left the whole time.  I did put some lead tape bringing it up to D3.5 (same as putting a 13g weight up front) and I was able to keep it right but it actually shot the spin up.  Longest with Honma was 285/308.  Longest with TM was 298/315.  Averages with TM were higher, Honma maybe just a little more stable with D3.5.  Not sure why more weight up front moved the spin up?  Summary of my testing below.  I can send anyone interested the full data.  Also did some TSi3 testing for the fun of it. 

 

 

Based on that chart I would play the Honma. Essentially dead straigh....and playable spin. The two M5 had spin way too low for that ball speed. And the Titleist was miles offline.

[ejcrossl]

On 11/7/2020 at 12:07 PM, Shilgy said:

Based on that chart I would play the Honma. Essentially dead straigh....and playable spin. The two M5 had spin way too low for that ball speed. And the Titleist was miles offline.

I agree, weird day on the M5 for sure.  I'd go back up in loft on the M5 to get the spin back up.  Thinking of cutting a half inch off the M5 shaft, but just don't want to do it and find out it didn't work.  Can't just add it back on.  Tough to give up 15 yds, but if that's the way to keep it more in play then might have to suck it up. 

Want to test out on M5, 1/2" down (making play length 45.25").  Get heavier weight for the toe to bring it back up to D4 (D5 down to D2 after 1/2" reduction).  Go to 9.75 deg and hope the extra toe weight keeps teh lefts at bay.  

[Barracuda]

Try the tr20 with another shaft, you where probably not hitting the sweetspot, because the head is as hot as it gets.

 

I never really cared for sub 2000 spin numbers. Unless you are robot, you are going to loose strokes. I prefer the spin in the 2200/2300s.

[ejcrossl]

1 hour ago, Barracuda said:

Try the tr20 with another shaft, you where probably not hitting the sweetspot, because the head is as hot as it gets.

 

I never really cared for sub 2000 spin numbers. Unless you are robot, you are going to loose strokes. I prefer the spin in the 2200/2300s.

Not exactly easy to find somewhere to try shafts with a Honma adaptor on it.  Out of 25 balls hit, I only had 2 go over 158 ball speed and zero over 160.  With TM 25 balls hit, 11 over 160.  And M5 not known to be the most "forgiving" driver.  I'd love to try a 15g weight up front and the 70g FP shaft.  

[Barracuda]

3 hours ago, ejcrossl said:

Not exactly easy to find somewhere to try shafts with a Honma adaptor on it.  Out of 25 balls hit, I only had 2 go over 158 ball speed and zero over 160.  With TM 25 balls hit, 11 over 160.  And M5 not known to be the most "forgiving" driver.  I'd love to try a 15g weight up front and the 70g FP shaft.  

Did the launch monitor had face contact information?  Either you where not hitting the sweet spot, or the head was a dud.

[ejcrossl]

38 minutes ago, Barracuda said:

Did the launch monitor had face contact information?  Either you where not hitting the sweet spot, or the head was a dud.

No face/club data, that was not turned on in the free bays.  Interestingly, I should have been swinging the Honma faster, especially in the first test.  At 2.5 much lighter than the TM at D5 with a 74 gram shaft. 

[Mr. Grumpy]

Reviving this for my own due diligence. Forgive me father, it's been since November that I have swung a club....

Yes, seriously. I tore cartilage in my left knee last Summer, finally had surgery December 18, and have been cleared for 50% swings this week. It's been a hard and long ordeal, and thankfully any pain I am experiencing right now will not cause any further damage. So, I'm playing a tournament tomorrow! Swinging more than 50%. Hey, my last out after a knee surgery (i've had 6) was a 79, but, I really do not care, I am just ready to be golfing again!

My plans with the Honma - 3/4 swings and trying to find every fairway. I do plan to give myself a mulligan, or 2.. 

It's been a while since I have been this excited!

[Mr. Grumpy]

Played Thursday and today. Even with me trying to swing 50-70% I had great success. Today I played with a friend of mine who traditionally outdrives me or I am somewhat getting the same distance as he does, similar age but a much better player as a whole than I am. He sports a new SIM 2 and I outdrove him 95% of the time today, and I'd guess by 10-20 yards. My nutted ( and testing me knee to do more) drives were maybe 30 yards further. Not exactly anecdotal, nothing measured, but it wasn't like he was not trying.. 

That's it really. I am hooked on this driver and if I ever get away from SL Irons I will give their VL sets a try. Fab US rep and great product. Thank you Honma!

[Rapatt95]

Gonna go ahead and revive this thread. It’s been 2 years since I was fortunate enough to be chosen for testing for the TR20. At the end of 2020 I finally got around to a shoulder surgery I had been putting off. After playing nearly 200 rounds of golf in 2020, I played 7 last year. Now with a 6 month old at home, I’ve played about 10 this year. 
 

The Honma is still in the bag and still hitting bombs. I played in a Ryder Cup style event a few weeks ago and had the best 3 consecutive days with a driver I’ve ever had. The other guys in the tournament kept asking what driver I was playing since a lot of them didn’t recognize it, but I couldn’t really do much except tell them how much I enjoyed using it.

 

My participation on WRX fell off shortly after winning the driver and coincided with the mobile app not being supported any longer. I don’t have a laptop and the webpage doesn’t function extremely well on my phone. I’ve been able to start playing a little more this year, and it has me bitten by the bug again. So it’s good to be back (I see the blade users thread is still chilling on the front page of the equipment forum).

[AZGolfNut2]

Slightly off-topic, as this related more to clubmaking than the performance of this driver. But does anyone happen to know the weight of the shaft adapter sleeve for the Honma TR20 drivers? I've emailed Honma and they weren't able to tell me, and I don't want to have to pull my adapter just to weigh it. Figured I'd ask here to see if anyone has a loose one that they can weigh?