A Honma TR20 460 driver cost $649.99 when it reached US shops in March 2020, a hundred dollars more than TaylorMade’s SIM that spring. In October 2026, our target for a used TR20 460 was $110, and for a used SIM $234.
Honma drivers lose value in the US far faster than the big American brands’, and little of that has to do with how the clubs are made. That makes a used Honma one of the odder bargains in golf, as long as you know which line you’re looking at, what the stars on a Beres mean, and how to tell a real one.
The short answer
Most used Honmas in the US are worth a small share of their launch price. In October 2026, Honma’s TR20 and T//World GS drivers from 2020 and 2021 had targets of about $110 to $150, and a 2022 TW757 P iron set about $590, a little under half its $1,272 launch price. You have to price a Beres model by model and grade by grade, because the stars change the shaft and the finish while the head stays the same.
To price one fast, type it into ClubChecks. Our algorithm sets a target for that exact club, about what a buyer pays for one today, and lists every live listing under it, shipping included.
Honma in brief
The Honma brothers opened a driving range in Tsurumi, Yokohama, in 1958, and founded the company, then called Tsurumi Golf Center, on February 18, 1959. The first Honma-branded club followed in 1963. In 1973 Honma brought carbon-shafted woods to market, a first in Asia, and in 1981 it moved production to Sakata, in Yamagata prefecture, where its craftsmen still build clubs today.
The money ran out in the 2000s. Honma itself blames investments in golf courses and property and a slow move from persimmon to metal woods; Honma Japan filed for civil rehabilitation at Tokyo District Court on June 20, 2005. Liu Jianguo’s group bought 85% of it in June 2010 and the remaining 15% in August 2011, and Honma Golf Ltd listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on October 6, 2016.
The American push started that year: Honma formed a US company in November 2016 and later moved that company’s headquarters to Carlsbad, California. Justin Rose signed on January 1, 2019 and won that month’s Farmers Insurance Open with a full set of TW747 clubs. The deal ended in May 2020.
Honma’s lines, and who each is for
Honma’s annual reports describe two main families, and nearly everything on the used market belongs to one of them or sits between them.
- Beres is the luxury line, built in Honma’s words for golfers with moderate swing speeds, and it makes up more than half of Honma’s club revenue. The first came in 2005. Recent generations: Beres 07 (December 2019), Aizu and Black (in the US January 2022), the star-free Beres NX (US, April 2023), Beres 09 (US, March 2024) and Beres 10 (January 2026).
- Tour World is the performance line: TW727 (January 2015), TW737 (October 2016), TW747 (November 2018), TW757 (March 2022), TW767 (November 2024) and TW777 (November 2025). Honma’s stated policy is a new Tour World product every 12 months.
- In between came three shorter-lived lines. The XP-1 (October 2019, $599.99 driver) was for 8–20 handicaps. The TR20 (March 2020) was the “Tour Release” for single-digit players: a full-size 460 driver and a compact 440, both $649.99, and irons at $174.99 a club in steel. The T//World GS, for “Gain Speed”, launched in the US on March 1, 2021, again for 8–20 handicaps.
- Older names you’ll still see: Be ZEAL (from 2016, for intermediate golfers) and the G1X (2015), which Honma aimed at North America and had made by outside suppliers rather than in Sakata.
What the stars on a Beres mean
Beres drivers, fairways, hybrids and irons come in grades from two stars to five, and Honma’s description of them is plain: higher stars mean more gold, higher-grade shafts and more handwork. The four-star clubs carry 24-karat gold; the five-star add platinum, and Honma’s master craftsmen assemble them. The shafts are Honma’s own ARMRQ (pronounced “AR-MARK”), hand-rolled in Sakata, with a new generation for each Beres: ARMRQ for the 07, MX for Aizu and Black, FX for the 09 and FLIGHT for the 10.
The head stays the same from grade to grade. At the 2022 launch of the Aizu and Black ranges, Honma said every grade shared identical clubhead technology, with the shaft improving as the grades rise, and the Beres 10 driver pages list identical head specs at three, four and five stars.
The prices climb with each star. On Honma’s US site in October 2026, a Beres 10 driver was $1,440 at three stars, $2,600 at four and $6,000 at five, and a nine-club men’s iron set $5,940, $14,040 and $54,000. There is even a seven-star: Honma’s US site lists a Beres 7 Star Fuji Limited Edition set at $399,800.
Two Beres ranges have no stars at all: the Black, which Honma ranks alongside its two- and three-star clubs, and the NX, a game-improvement Beres whose driver launched at $750.
The grade lives on the shaft. Because the head is shared, the star count printed on the shaft and the gold or platinum trim on the ferrule are what separate a five-star from a three-star. Once someone reshafts a Beres, the part you’d be paying the grade for is gone.
Why Honma loses value so fast in the US
None of the reasons is about quality. The market is small. North America brought in 3.0% of Honma’s revenue in its 2026 financial year, against 37.1% from Japan, and Honma counted 119 points of sale there. Fewer stores selling new means fewer golfers looking for a used one.
The warranty stays with the first owner. Honma covers its clubs “to the original customers only”, bought from an authorized retailer: two years, and up to five on five-star models. Buy one used and you get none of it.
Buyers worry about fakes. Honma doesn’t authorize retailers to sell on Amazon or eBay, and its FAQ warns that unauthorized sellers there are more likely to be offering counterfeits. A used buyer discounts for that risk.
Much of the price is finish. On a Beres, the gap between grades is gold, platinum and shaft on a shared head, and we doubt many second owners pay for the jewelry.
The cycle is quick. A new Beres about every two years and a new Tour World on a yearly plan keep pushing older models down, in a market with few buyers to absorb them. For a buyer, all of that is good news, because a Honma plays the same for its second owner as it did for its first.
What a used Honma is worth
Launch prices are Honma’s US prices with a stock shaft. The last column is our algorithm’s target for a typical used one today; models we are still pricing show “Check it”.
| Year | Model | Launch price | Used today |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | TW767 driver | – | $267 |
| 2024 | TW767 Max driver | – | $257 |
| 2023 | Beres NX driver | $750 | $178 |
| 2022 | TW757 D driver | $719 | $140 |
| 2022 | TW757 P irons, 5–PW | $1,272 | $590 |
| 2022 | TW757 Vx irons, 5–PW | $1,272 | $465 |
| 2022 | Beres Aizu 4-star driver | – | Check it |
| 2021 | T//World GS driver | – | $147 |
| 2020 | TR20 460 driver | $649.99 | $110 |
| 2020 | TR20 440 driver | $649.99 | $112 |
| 2020 | TR20 V irons | $174.99/club | $430 |
| 2019 | XP-1 driver | $599.99 | $155 |
| 2018 | TW747 455 driver | – | $143 |
| 2016 | TW737 455 driver | – | $81 |
Set those beside the big brands. In October 2026, the TR20 460 had kept 17% of its launch price after six years, against 43% for the 2020 TaylorMade SIM. Honma irons held up much better: the TW757 P set’s $590 was within about $85 of a used 2022 Mizuno Pro 225 set ($675). Honma’s TW-W wedge is worth $70 used.
What to check before you buy
The serial number. Every genuine Honma club except a putter has a serial number on the ferrule, the plastic collar where the shaft meets the head. Honma’s North American customer support will help verify one from a photo, and you can check serials on its US website. A club with no serial, or one that’s been scraped off, isn’t worth Honma money.
The hologram. Honma puts a hologram label on each club to prove it’s genuine, and says removing it can void the warranty. On a used club it’s one more sign the shaft is original.
That the stars match. On a Beres, the shaft label and the ferrule should show the grade the listing claims, and the head should be the generation it says. Price a three-star as a three-star, however gold the photos look.
Who’s selling it. Honma warns about “new” Beres clubs from marketplace sellers. A used club from a golfer who bought it at a Honma retailer, with a serial to check, is far safer.
The flex, by Honma’s chart. Honma’s own guide puts its R flex at 84–96 mph of swing speed, SR above 97 mph and S above 105 mph, with A for 72–83 mph and R2, a soft regular that Honma puts closest to senior. Match your swing speed to Honma’s numbers, and ignore the letter on your old shaft.
The set makeup. Beres irons are numbered past 9: a men’s Beres 10 set runs 5–11 plus AW and SW. Count the clubs, because the last number on them won’t tell you how many there are.
The plating. Worn gold is cosmetic, and Honma’s warranty doesn’t cover it anyway. On a four- or five-star Beres it’s also part of what you’re paying for, so ask for close photos of the ferrules and the back of the irons.
Which used Honma to buy
Buy a Honma driver. That’s where the US market is most generous. The T//World GS ($147) was built for 8–20 handicaps; the compact TR20 440 ($112) and the full-size TR20 460 ($110) for better players. In October 2026, all three had targets between $110 and $148, less than a used 2020 TaylorMade SIM ($234), and the TR20s had launched a hundred dollars above it.
Don’t expect the same discount on irons. A TW757 P set at $590 is a fair price for good irons. Buy one because you like them, since the discount is far smaller than on the drivers.
Buy a Beres for the Beres. If you want one, pay for the grade you can verify on the shaft, at a price that assumes no warranty, from a seller who’ll show you the serial. Our catalog lists more than 40 Beres models; type the exact model and grade into ClubChecks to price yours.
Skip a new-in-plastic Beres from a marketplace seller at anything close to retail. You’d be paying full price for the risk Honma warns about, with none of the warranty that full price is supposed to buy.
The TW777 reached Japan in November 2025 and the T//World 26 irons in June 2026, and each new Honma pushes the ones before it further down a US market that was already thin. That makes the bargains predictable: shop a generation or two back, and check the serial before you pay.
Questions
Are used Honma golf clubs worth buying?
Often, yes, especially drivers. In October 2026, a used Honma TR20 460 driver had a target of $110, about 17% of its $649.99 launch price. Check the serial number on the ferrule and buy from a seller who will show it.
Why are Honma golf clubs so expensive?
Mostly because of Beres, Honma’s luxury line. Higher star grades add 24-karat gold, platinum, hand-rolled ARMRQ shafts and more handwork. A five-star Beres 10 driver was $6,000 on Honma’s US site in October 2026.
What do the stars on Honma Beres clubs mean?
The grade, from two stars to five. Higher stars mean more gold and platinum, a higher-grade shaft and more handwork; Honma’s master craftsmen assemble the five-star clubs. The clubhead design is the same across grades.
How can I tell if a Honma club is real?
Look for the serial number on the ferrule (putters don’t have one) and the hologram label, and ask Honma’s customer support to verify the serial from a photo. Honma doesn’t authorize retailers to sell on Amazon or eBay and warns that counterfeits are more likely there.
Where are Honma golf clubs made?
In Sakata, in Japan’s Yamagata prefecture, where Honma moved its production in 1981. Honma says its US orders ship from its Sakata warehouse.
When was Honma founded?
On February 18, 1959, by the Honma brothers, who had opened a driving range in Tsurumi, Yokohama, the year before. The first Honma-branded club came in 1963.
Does the Honma warranty transfer to a second owner?
No. Honma’s North American warranty covers original customers who bought from an authorized retailer: two years, or up to five on five-star models.
Targets right now
A few clubs other golfers checked recently. Each links to its price page.
