Honma TR21 Ti Fairway Wood

In this Honma TR21 Ti fairway wood review, we see if the new oversize head offers any more or less versatility than a traditional design.

Honma TR21 Ti Fairway Wood Review

While most manufacturers produce fairway woods that are intended to offer versatility off the tee and from the fairway, Honma has decided to split its TR21 range into two models that specialize in each area.

The Ti Big-LB is an oversized three-wood designed for distance. The name is a nod to Honma’s past when they had an oversized persimmon driver called the Big-LB, which stood for Low Balance. 

The first thing you notice when using the new version is that the head doesn’t actually look any bigger than a normal three-wood. In fact, it’s a very classic looking clubhead when you place it behind the ball.

It’s a very traditional shape and the plain black crown doesn’t have any alignment aids. The silver face and white grooves contrast it really nicely.

It’s 14° of loft is a little less than most three-woods but it actually launches the ball pretty high because more than half of the clubhead’s total weight is in a 90g steel soleplate and a standard 12g weight (which can be switched for other weights) at the back of the head.

Moving so much of the mass low and back from the clubface pushes the centre of gravity down and back, which increases the launch and forgiveness.

The feel is also more traditional than most of its carbon composite competitors because the face and body are made of 6-4 titanium. This creates a livelier sound and feel at impact and more of a sense of ball speed of the face.

The overall performance is very good. The combination of less loft and that low CG work well together to produce height, distance and forgiveness that a lot of golfers would benefit from, especially if you struggle to keep the driver in play. It’s also very effective off the fairway so it’s no less versatile than most other three-woods.