Honma Golf: Stars, Gold and the Sakata Workshop
Honma is the Japanese golf house that treats the club as an object of luxury. Its top irons are trimmed in gold and platinum, its grades are counted in stars, and for decades the company has been associated in Asia with gifts, status and the golf of the executive suite. It is also a real manufacturer with a real workshop in Sakata, a bankruptcy behind it and a stock-market flotation in Hong Kong. This chapter of The Atlas of Japanese Golf separates the legend from the record.
From Yokohama to Sakata
Honma’s own history page says the company was founded in a small workshop in Yokohama in 1959, as the Tsurumi Golf Center Company. A 2017 trade profile dates the origin a year earlier, to a driving range opened in Tsurumi in 1958; accounts differ by a year, and the 1959 date is the company’s own. Both agree that the Honma brothers turned from running a range to making clubs.
- 1962. The first test club is produced.
- 1963. The Honma Golf Club Manufacturing Company is established.
- 1981. Production moves to Sakata, in Yamagata Prefecture, where the company says it still makes clubs.
- 1988 and 1990. A Titanium Boron shaft is launched, and a US patent follows for its Titanium Fine Metal and Titanium Carbon shafts.
- 2005. The Beres series is introduced. In the same year, the trade profile records, Honma filed for bankruptcy after the long decline in the Japanese course market.
- 2009. A Chinese businessman and golf enthusiast, Liu Jianguo, buys the company.
- 2013 and 2015. The Tour World series and the Be ZEAL series are launched.
- 2016. The company is listed on the Hong Kong exchange (stock code 06858).
- 2018. A strategic alliance with the trading house ITOCHU covers its apparel business.
What the stars mean
Honma sorts its lines by stars. According to the 2017 profile, the number of stars sets both price and specification: more stars bring tighter tolerances, newer technology and precious metals such as gold and platinum. The grades are printed on the shaft and echoed in the finish of the head, the ferrule and the grip. The full table for the Beres grades, from the entry two-star to the platinum-and-gold five-star, is set out in Japanese Golf Clubs: Honma Beres, Miura and the Star Grades.
Beres, Be ZEAL and Tour World
- Beres and Be ZEAL are the higher-star lines. They lean towards game-improvement design and towards luxury of finish. A Beres S-05 driver, priced at about $3,755, was reported in 2017 to have been the gift Shinzo Abe presented to President Trump.
- Tour World is the most affordable line, and the one the company’s tour staff play, developed with their direct input. In 2017 its irons cost about $165 a club, its wedges $175 and its drivers $670.
Where it is made
Honma describes itself as the only company that handles every step from design to final production in-house, and it owns its facilities in Sakata. The 2017 profile counted about fifteen master craftsmen, with an average of thirty-seven years of experience. The same profile also found that part of the Tour World line was forged and assembled in China, that some heads lacked the “Made in JAPAN, Sakata” stamp, and that Honma said it used the same materials in both places. For a buyer, the practical lesson is simple: read the stamp, and read the grade, because the two together say where a club sits in the range.
Why Asia buys it
The 2017 profile reported a considerable stronghold in Asia, with $250 million in sales in the previous year, and noted that some buyers find the exclusive and exotic nature of Japanese equipment part of its attraction. That is a market for display as much as for play, and the pre-owned sets that come back to Japan’s shelves are often in very good order. A full set in a high grade, with its headcovers and bag, is the form that collectors want.
- What to check. That the stars on every shaft match and agree with the description; that the set is complete, with matching headcovers and grips; that the specification, flex and length suit the player; and that the face, sole and ferrules are free of wear.
- What to ask. For the production stamp on the hosel or head, and for the maker’s model name, since the same line can vary widely in finish.
Read next: Miura Golf: A Himeji Family Forge, where restraint is the luxury, and Why the World Buys Japanese Golf Clubs.
In the archive now
- 24K Gold Coin iron set, 4-Star, nine clubs · Beres Forged K24 gold iron set · New LB-280 K24 4-Star irons · Beres IE-05 3-Star irons · Tour World Tour V irons
- Browse the whole HONMA Golf room.
Continue reading
- The Atlas of Japanese Golf: Makers, Methods and Why the World Collects Them
- Why Japan Became Golf's Great Workshop
- Mizuno and the Chuo Forge: Feel as Engineering
- Miura Golf: A Himeji Family Forge
- Epon and Endo: The Forging House Behind Other Names
- XXIO, PRGR and Yonex: Clubs Built for Ease and Speed
- Bridgestone, Srixon and Cleveland: Japan on Tour
- Directory of Japanese Golf Brands
- Buying Golf Equipment from Japan
- All collector guides
After a particular Honma Beres, Twin Marks or LB set? Our Hunting Salon™ searches across Japan's private collector circles on your behalf.
Index terms: honma golf history · honma beres star grades · honma sakata factory · honma tour world vs beres · honma be zeal · honma 4 star 5 star · liu jianguo honma · honma hong kong stock 6858 · japanese luxury golf clubs · honma made in japan sakata stamp
References
Dates and figures in this chapter were checked against these pages. Where accounts differ, the text says so.