Sweet Stuff
Honma XP-1 Driver
With the emphasis on driving distance these days—and hitting it as far as you can—manufacturers are stepping to the plate with the latest technology to enable players on all levels to maximize their abilities with the Big Stick.
Honma Golf, the venerable golf club company that was founded six decades ago in Sakata, Japan and has now gained world-wide stature with its performance clubs going all the way to the tour level, has branched out in an effort to reach the largest segment of the golfing market—the mid to high handicapper.
The XP-1 driver is one of Honma’s most popular clubs in the game improvement category—and comes loaded with some of the latest technological features that could easily make it the favorite club in your bag.
Designed for players that swing a driver 94 miles an hour or less, the XP-1
Is considerably lighter than most drivers, especially with what Honma calls the industry’s lightest carbon crown. Its use allows for internal draw-bias weighting, a low center of gravity that results in a higher launch, and a high moment of inertia that translates to stability at impact. The clubhead’s “Double Slot” technology lets the entire front of the driver flex inward at impact, with more flex occurring in the heel and toe to help retain speed and accuracy on mishits, including shot enhancing gear effect--before rebounding outward and catapulting shots forward with some thrust that results in greater distance.
It is said that the shaft is the real engine of the club and for the XP-1 Honma has developed a proprietary shaft that makes this club extremely easy to hit. Honma designed and produced a new series of lightweight VIZARD shafts in its Sakata plant to complement the performance of the XP-1 head. The new ultra-light 43 and 63-gram VIZARD shafts have a unique blend of a soft mid-section and higher torque with enough stiffness in the butt and tip to allow the golfer to feel the head for better timing and deliver it consistently to impact with more speed. In various tests these light shafts have even held up with higher swing speeds.
The exclusive Honma non-rotating adjustable hosel maintains the precisely located shaft spine in the same location while offering a multitude of settings for face angle, loft and lie angle. The torque wrench supplied with the club allows you to make custom adjustments to fine tune settings for your own game. The club sets up nicely at address—and with all the adjustment features you can really dial it in.
“We are thrilled to bring the many decades of club-making knowledge and shaping talent of Honma’s master craftsmen to game-improvement golfers with XP-1. This product line is incredibly beautiful and exceptionally playable and will help golfers with a wide range of skill levels enjoy the game even more,” said Chris Mcginley, Honma’s Vice President of Global Product.
The golf equipment-rating website Mygolfspy has named the XP-1 as its best driver for slower swing speeds, while also praising Honma’s newest driver—the TR20 460—for its Top 5 finish among all drivers and swing speeds from tests performed earlier this year.
“We were also very pleased to see this,” added Mcginley. “It proves that TR-20 works well across all swing speed categories.”
Honma also works to fit the right club to the right player. The Honma Mobile Experience, which will come to many golf clubs by setting up an appointment on the website for a custom fit—is absolutely free. The program was launched in 2019 on a national scale in the US with a fleet of mobile vans that have all the tools such as launch monitors to measure a player’s swing characteristics—including expert fitters that can custom design a Honma club.
“Honma believes in custom fitting its clubs—and it has been great for us to watch the players who appreciate the optimization we can give,” said Nick Dini, the territory manager in Southern California and a master club fitter. “We also have pre-determined mobile fitting days with our network of courses, so that is another option as well.”
For more info or to schedule a fitting: www.us.honmagolf.com.
Footjoy Hydrotour Rain Jacket
Footjoy is meeting the fall and winter seasons this year with a new addition to its rainwear lineup that has been designed to be the ultimate in protection from the elements.
The new Hydrotour™ rain jacket is the latest addition to FJ’S Hydroseries™ of rain gear that includes the Hydroknit™ and Hydrolite™ jackets, along with rain pants for those days when mother nature just will not cooperate. The Hydrotour jacket makes good on its intention to be a jacket that gives maximum protection from both the cold and rain—in the most extreme conditions, featuring the new proprietary Dryseal™ technology that is 100% waterproof.
Utilizing a double collar, Dryseal features an inner collar system with a stay dry cinch cord that keeps rain out, as well as drainage grommets to move water away from the collar opening, delivering maximum waterproof protection. Designed as FJ’S most innovative rain jacket, Hydrotour