Connect with us

Equipment

Honma launches new XP-1 Series driver, fairway woods, and hybrids for 2020

Published

on

new 2020 Honma Driver

For 2020, Honma Golf is launching the all-new XP-1 line of clubs comprised of an entire family holistically designed to help players maximize forgiveness and get the most out of their games with one set. The new Honma XP-1 drivers, fairway woods, and hybrids, all the way to irons, is a new direction for the premium Japanese company that brings together ultimate craftsmanship with performance.

The highlight of the XP-1 line from Honma is the fact that they were designed from top to bottom to work as a comprehensive set of tool to achieve maximum performance. The technology in the metal woods flows from the driver to the hybrids with a seamless transition that creates consistency for feel and looks for the player.

Honma XP-1 driver

new 2020 Honma Driver

New 2020 Honma Golf Driver

Honma is known for its dedication to quality and craftsmanship, and every part of the XP-1 line was developed with the golfer in mind to both look appealing and perform to the highest standards. The XP-1 driver packs a lot of technology into a very classic looking club, and we’re here to take you under the hood—or in this case, the carbon fiber crown—to show you how it can help you hit better shots.

2020 Honma XP1 Driver toe

Honma XP-1 Driver Toe

It starts with a tour-inspired look from address, designed to inspire confidence for any level of golfer. Underneath ther gloss black crown, there is a lot of technology to generate faster ball speeds around the entire face and help get you dialed into the right setting. Speaking to the crown, it’s made from ET-40 fiber, making it one the lightest in golf. This weight savings helps engineers relocate an additional 15g of mass around the head towards the heel for increased MOI and greater ability to help players close the club face more easily.

Flip the driver upside down, and we have a lot more going on with the sole than initially meets the eye. Honma is introducing a new double slot in the sole for increased ball speed across a much larger area of the face. What starts off smaller in the middle increases in width and depth as it reaches towards the heel and the toe of the club. These slots, along with improved MOI, keep ball speeds up and misses closer to the intended target. The last part of the equation: How these wider parts of the face, flex around the more narrow middle to also increase gear effect—think of it like one more way to help the bigger misses stay in play.

New 2020 Honma Driver XP1

2020 Honma XP-1 Driver sole and shaft adjustment connection

The last piece key piece of technology in the XP-1 driver head is exclusive to Honma—the adjustable hosel that changes face angle, lie, and loft, but never changes the orientation of the shaft. This gives the player or fitter the ability to truly dial in hosel settings without having to worry about the constantly changing of the grip orientation. This, according to Honma, also keeps the shaft spine in the ideal location for consistent performance.

Honma 2020 xp1 driver shaft

Honmq Vizard 43g shaft

Honma is the only manufacturer that produces its own shafts from start to finish in house, and the XP-1 is getting its own custom-designed and built shafts to complement the technology built into the heads. The Vizard stock shafts are engineered to produce a smooth feel that promotes faster clubhead speeds, yet also remain extremely stable. For the XP-1 driver, the matching Vizard shafts will come in weights of 43g, 53g, and 63g, and flexes from senior to stiff.

Honma XP-1 fairway woods

The XP-1 woods bring the same level of craftsmanship and technology as the drivers to a club designed for use both off the tee and off the fairway.

New for 2020 Honma XP-1 Fairway wood

New for 2020 Honma XP-1 Fairway wood

The Honma XP-1 3-wood uses the same weight-saving ET-40 crown to position a large amount of the club’s total mass low and on the sole for greatest possible launch and spin consistency. The 3-wood is the second-lightest club in most players bags by total weight and head mass, and unless you are carrying a second driver, it’s also the second-largest by volume. By using the carbon crown designers get everything they can from the other technologies including the double slot sole and thin fast face without having to sacrifice the overall design of not just the head but the entire club.

New Honma XP-1 3 wood crown fairway

Honma XP-1 3 wood crown

The XP-1 fairways also include a 5  7-woods, but with the smaller volume of the heads and the reduced crown size, using a carbon crown would actually increase the mass higher in the head, so they instead utilize an extremely thin high strength steel crown.

New Honma 53g Vizard Fairway Shaft XP1

Honma 53g Vizard Fairway Shaft

All of the fairway woods come with the same made-in-Sakata, Japan 43g, 53g, and 63g Vizard shaft options as the driver to help every player get the most of each club in the set. If might seem like a minor detail, but being able to design an entire club in house from head to grip is a big advantage for Honma versus other OEMs. This holistic approach to designing an entire club/set is a big benefit to the consumer looking to get the most out of each club in their bag and not feel like something may be working against them.

Honma XP-1 hybrid

With the Honma XP-1 hybrid, forgiveness and flow from the fairway woods is the number one consideration for these club. The flow includes a wood-like shape that keeps the club shallow and the center of gravity as low as possible for higher launch and approach shots that fly higher and land softer. Considering the target player for the XP-1 line, the wood-like shape is also very confidence-inspiring.

New 2020 Honma XP1 hybrid

Honma XP-1 Hybrid

Honma continues the design philosophy of keeping the XP-1 both forgiving and fast by utilizing the double slot sole all the way into these hybrids that go from a 19-degree 3-iron replacement to a 25-degree 5-iron replacement.

Honma XP-1 specs & availability

The Honma XP-1 driver, fairway wood, and hybrids will be available starting in October.

New 2020 Honma XP1 Driver fairway hybrid specs

Honma XP-1 line club specs

Ryan Barath is a club-fitter & master club builder with more than 17 years of experience working with golfers of all skill levels, including PGA Tour players. He is the former Build Shop Manager & Social Media Coordinator for Modern Golf. He now works independently from his home shop and is a member of advisory panels to a select number of golf equipment manufacturers. You can find Ryan on Twitter and Instagram where he's always willing to chat golf, and share his passion for club building, course architecture and wedge grinding.

9 Comments

9 Comments

  1. Doug

    Sep 22, 2019 at 10:42 am

    What is USA release date

  2. JP

    Sep 19, 2019 at 7:41 pm

    $599?!? Are they crazy? No thanks.
    .
    Drivers are getting out of control with prices. All of golf is getting out of control $$$!!!

  3. 15th Club

    Sep 19, 2019 at 3:53 pm

    That is what golf clubs should look like at address. I realize that TaylorMade and others are doing things with clubhead paint and graphics that make their clubs easier to recognize on tv in the hands of Tour players. But that doesn’t help me one bit. I’d rather play with a club that looks like a golf club; all other things being equal.

    My current driver is a TaylorMade M2. It’s a good driver, of course. I’d prefer that it looked like this Honma.

    So where — say in the area of Miles of Golf and Carl’s Golfland — can a guy demo these new Honmas?

  4. Curt

    Sep 19, 2019 at 12:45 pm

    What’s the point of patents?

  5. Paul

    Sep 19, 2019 at 9:21 am

    Wow, a slot in the sole. That’s genius, I don’t know why a company hasn’t done that before…

  6. BoomDaBoom

    Sep 19, 2019 at 7:48 am

    Gotta admit that driver sole kinda looks dope as funk. Jusr a clean look. Wonder what it looks like from the top. Might actually look into these and eventually buy one… probably in a couple years when they are much cheeper.

  7. Flow

    Sep 19, 2019 at 2:25 am

    The shafts obviously can’t compete with the Beres series but still better than anything else on the market in this price category. In my opinion thats excellent value for your money and there are not many clubs out there with shafts this light and soft that still show decent torque values.

    • Thomas A

      Sep 19, 2019 at 9:23 am

      “Obviously???”

      • Ugudor

        Sep 24, 2019 at 3:46 pm

        You pay 3k+ for a set of Beres, do you think the shaft is the same quality as in a 1k XP1 set?

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Equipment

Odyssey extends Damascus Milled lineup with 3 new putters

Published

on

Odyssey Golf announced Tuesday that the already popular Damascus Milled putter lineup is getting more options.

Initially launched back in April, only in a Damascus Milled #7 head (in plumbers or double bend configurations), the family grows to four with a One Wide, Two and Rossie S shape, all available in the second limited-edition drop at retail on June 6th.

“Damascus Steel is a beautiful material, and the patterns tell the story, because every one is different” said Odyssey General Manager, Jacob Davidson. “But what stands out is that  as beautiful as these putters are, the feedback from Tour has been the exceptional feel of these putters. We wanted to deliver the most premium performance-driven putter we’ve ever done at Odyssey. When you look at this product, we have so much confidence because there is not one thing we’d do different. On this one we really took our time over  the last couple years to try to perfect the design.”

Created from a layered construction of multiple steel alloys, this Damascus Steel insert is forged, folded and pressed to create a unique, striking pattern in every piece. Think of it like a fingerprint. Each Damascus construction comes with its own 1-of-1 style pattern. No offerings will ever look the same.

The layered structure, combined with a specialized heat treatment, delivers a finely tuned, highly responsive feel different from other insert materials. The Damascus steel is audibly different compared to other inserts, potentially with slightly more feedback. Odyssey also uses AI-designed back contours to maintain consistent ball speed across the face, blending traditional craftsmanship with modern tech.

Each head in the line is precision-milled from stainless steel and features a blasted silver finish to complement the Damascus insert and sole plates.

With Tour feedback, Odyssey has also developed, in collaboration with Golf Pride, a grip featuring meticulously crafted edges, pistol shaping and a classic modern tour feel.

Odyssey Damascus Milled One Wide
Odyssey Damascus Milled Two
Odyssey Damascus Milled Rossie S
Continue Reading

Equipment

L.A.B. Golf launches new VZN.1i putter

Published

on

L.A.B. Golf has been the pioneer when it comes to Lie Angle Balanced putters for years now. When you talk to another golfer and zero torque putters comes up, as it will since it is the hottest thing in golf, the first brand out of their mouthes is L.A.B. Golf. Currently their putter line up has something for every golfer, wether your like blades or mallets. But the company has a new creation for golfers that we saw out on tour just a few weeks ago and is now available to us, the VZN.1i putter.

One of the big stories with the new VZN.1i putter is alignment in the form of the shape. L.A.B. has always given us plenty of alignment options in their putters with different line formations and shapes that can be laser etched onto the top of the putter. With this new design they used the shape of the head and the open cavity in the middle to help enhance the alignment for players. These shapes help players lock into their intended line to improve accuracy and concistency.

“VZN.1i was approached formulaically by combining everything we’ve learned from the success of previous L.A.B. Golf models into a familiar mallet shape that’s easy on the eyes and even easier to putt with,” said Cameron Day, Senior Vice President of Product at L.A.B. Golf. “Every L.A.B. putter is engineered to roll the ball on its intended line through Lie Angle Balance technology. With VZN.1i, we took things a step further by simplifying another critical aspect of putting: alignment.”

Like most of the other L.A.B. mallet putters the VZN.1i is machined from a solid block of aluminum and features a 303 stainless steel face insert. Steel face inserts on all L.A.B. putters not only enhance the sound and feel but they improve ball speed for better distance control. The new shaping also offers two ways of picking up your ball, using the sole or the rear flange can scoop up the ball. The company is offering the VZN.1i with a 1.5 degree forward shaft lean or a vertical shaft option in order to fit more golfers. Each VZN.1i is hand balanced and 10 other stages before it is complete and ready to ship. L.A.B. has its custom program where the golfer can select their length and lie but also head color, shaft upgrades, and grips to make their VZN.1i fit them perfectly.

The VZN.1i is available now starting at $499 for stock models and $599 for custom.

Continue Reading

Equipment

2026 Edition: Most comfortable walking shoe? – GolfWRXers discuss

Published

on

In our forums, one user has asked a question sure to interest all sorts of golfers. What’s the most comfortable walking shoe of 2026?

@RobDMB posed the following question:

“Looking for suggestions/recommendations on the currently available most comfortable walking shoes – preferably waterproof. Essentially looking for something comfortable like a running shoe, but with some stability and waterproof for golf. Decent room in toe box as well. Any recommendations are appreciated. Thanks!”

Our members in the forum have been sharing their own recommendations on the best walking shoes that can also survive a number of golf rounds. Here are a few posts from the thread, but make sure to check out the entire discussion and have your say at the link below.

  • SheriffBooth: “To check all your boxes I’d vote for whichever of the current Nike lineup fits your feet the best. Obviously the Victory Pro 4 and Victory Tour 4 are good enough for the two best players in the world, but the new Pegasus, Next% Tour 3, and Tempo all look really good too.”
  • i*windows: “when I had issues with my feet I played in Asics running shoes they were a little bit like the hoka’s above, very comfortable, now I’m back to Ecco shoes which are great.”
  • mshills: “Everyone’s feet are different so this will be a long list of lots of different shoes. For me, anything from Ecco’s Biom lineup. Nothing else comes close.”

Entire Thread: “2026 Edition: Most Comfortable Walking Shoe?”

If you aren’t a member, join us in the GolfWRX forums today!

Continue Reading

Announcement

Our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use have been updated as of January 29th, 2026. Please review the updated policies here Privacy Policy | Terms of Use. By continuing to use our site after January 29th, 2026, you agree to the changes.

WITB

Facebook

Trending