Honma Beres 09 Irons for Men

Honma Beres irons have long been the absolute gold standard for lightweight, high-quality irons. This will not change with the new 09 series for the 2024 and 2025 seasons. Of course, the basic concept remains the same and Honma has only made a few changes:

Firstly, the Aizu design of its predecessor has been dropped and the new Beres irons are once again much sleeker and more modern. Secondly, the Beres Black series, which will only be available exclusively for the Japanese market, has been discontinued.

The main difference to the predecessor is the even lighter shafts. The shaft weight of the irons has been reduced by 2-3g without compromising the shaft quality or torque. This is exactly what characterises Honma Beres: Extremely light construction methods and very soft shafts, which nevertheless ensure the necessary precision. Honma Beres is therefore the ultimate aid when it comes to launch and optimum ball flight - even at low club head speeds.

If you are interested in the new Honma Beres Aizu irons please contact us by email: info@exactgolf.com or phone: +49 8031 7986088.

Club Data for the Honma Beres 09 Irons: Lofts, Lengths & Swing Weight

Buying Honma Beres Irons online

Set from 5 or 6?

The right set size. The most important question you have to ask yourself is the right set size. In this case there's no right or wrong. It must fit you. A set of 5-SW is considered standard, which means that it starts only from iron 5, but comes with three wedges, namely PW, GW and SW. Usually this range of wedges is sufficient - at least for the classic Beres players who can do without a 60° Lobwedge. With the set of 5-SW you are usually well positioned and can add hybrids and fairway woods depending on your preferences. This constellation is normally sufficient for average players.

Players who are below average or who like to fill up their set with hybrids can also use a set of iron 6 or higher. However, this is a special order and you should contact us beforehand. We are at your disposal by email, live chat or telephone.

Stronger players or those who are rather not fans of hybrids can also choose the Beres iron set from iron 5. However, this should only be considered if you really have no difficulty to actually get an iron 5 from the fairway into the air. Otherwise this selection is not recommended.

By the way, there is a reason why we offer the Honma Beres iron set only with the corresponding wedges. Honma would like to offer an iron set that is perfectly matched. If the set ended with the pitching wedge you would have to buy other wedges again and here the question arises which one exactly? Honma takes this decision off your hands and is convinced that this way we can offer you a more harmonious set of wedges. And to be honest, the success also proves them right.

Choice of stars: 2, 3, 4 or even 5 stars?

The stars are a hallmark of Honma and not just a status symbol. It's not about being able to claim you have a set with more stars than anyone else. In short, the stars express the quality of the shaft. That doesn't mean that a 2 star shaft is bad. On the contrary. Also the 2 star shaft is so much better than practically everything on the market. Honma knows how to build shafts that are light and soft but still have little torque like no other manufacturer. These are the twists during the stroke that you absolutely want to avoid because they push the ball in the wrong direction.

So it's up to you. There is no question that the surcharge for 5 stars is extremely high. Only very few players allow themselves this luxury and can then claim to possess the best of the best in this segment.

Shaft selection

There is only one shaft to choose from, the ArmRQ X. It is available in two weight classes: 42 and 47g with different flexes. The 42g shafts are only available with 3* and up. There is a reason why no further shafts are offered: Honma is so good with these shafts that offering more shafts makes no sense. They have perfected these shafts for the "Beres target group". Other shafts would overstrain the player in the selection and would not bring him any advantage. The two different weight levels are usually also sufficient for fine tuning. It is clear that all these shafts are relatively light. Therefore the Beres is not suitable for players with high club head speeds. These are better advised with the Honma TWorld series, for example.

The Flex is available in Regular, Stiff/Regular and Stiff. Stiff/Regular is simply a flex that lies between stiff and regular. Most often we sell the 47g version in Regular. If you want to swing a little faster or have more weight in your hand, you can adjust the weight and flex accordingly.

Shaft length

As a rule of thumb, we only make adjustments here if we are dealing with unusually large or small players. One thing should not be neglected in this case: adjusting the shaft length also changes the swing weight, i.e. the club "feels" much heavier or lighter although it is not at all. Basically, this can only be attributed to the leverage effect. For you, however, this means that you are normally well advised to use the standard length. If you are unsure, please contact us.

Longer shaft and different lie

Please also note that a longer shaft as well as an adjustment of the lie is automatically a Honma Custom order and may require 8-10 weeks delivery time. This is due to the fact that Honma makes these adjustments itself and not us at ExactGolf. Theoretically, however, you can purchase all variants and make adjustments through us.

Choice of grip and grip thickness for the Beres irons

The grip is also a very individual subject and normally our customers are satisfied with the standard Honma grips. Standard doesn't sound special, but Honma's standard is still very, very good. Nevertheless, we will of course comply with all your wishes and you have a wide selection of alternative grips with us which we will be happy to install for you at no extra charge. However, this is only really recommendable for players who have a real preference in terms of grips.

The grip strength depends above all on the length of the fingers. Regular is already suitable for relatively short fingers. Depending on the length you should choose one, two or three additional tapes. The Midsize grip is really only something for very long fingers and should only be chosen then. The performance suffers significantly if you play with a grip that is much too thick. If you are unsure about this, just ask us. However, we are also happy to correct a wrong selection. If you notice that you do not get along with the selected grip strength at all, we will gladly mount another grip for you.

Review of Honma Beres men's Irons

One thing can already be said in advance of our test: compared to the IS-06, a lot has changed with the irons. However, the differences are not as obvious as with the woods of the new Beres series. Above all, the new irons appear much more noble and elegant. The grips of the new Beres are a bit thicker which is good news for the European market. They are also much more "grippy". The basic principle has not changed: The Honma Beres are designed to make playing as easy as possible with their light and soft shafts. This means: maximum launch and maximum ball speeds even at low club head speeds. And in addition enough spin so that the ball can also come to rest on the green. Not an easy task, but Honma has already shown in the past that they have mastered this profession as well as no other.

Aim of our test

In this test the main goal was to be able to assess the performance with constant values and hits. The clubhead speed was 66.4mph with a smash factor of 1.38. The result was a ball speed of 91.8mph, 110m carry and 128m total length. All this with a launch of 16.2° and about 4000rpm backspin. So far the dry numbers.

What we can see from this is the following:

The Honma Beres manage to get a decent result with quite a low club head speed. This means that the resulting ball speed is quite high. The spin value of 4000 can be seen as a kind of compromise. After all, a compromise between length and control must be found. The launch angle is relatively high at over 16°.

Basically we can confirm our test results which we got with the IS-06 in the same way. With the Beres head, Honma manages to provide maximum launch and maximum ball speed.

What is new with the Beres 2020 irons?

In our opinion, new Beres irons have a more explosive ball contact when the ball is really hit in the center. Honma of course manages to make pretty much the most out of every hit, no matter how bad it is. Especially the thick sole is helpful with rather fat shots. But when it comes to the really good hits, we were surprised how much ball speed they produce. The smash factor was especially high on these shots, which means that even low clubhead speeds are enough to achieve good lengths.

Who are the Honma Beres suitable for?

The new men's irons are available with 47g and 42g shafts. 47g is so to speak the standard version. The 42g shafts are only available from 3 stars upwards. It is a good choice for seniors, for example, for whom the 47g shaft is too heavy. Basically the Beres are an option for all players who have a below average club head speed of less than 70mph for a 7 iron, for example. Players who find it difficult to accelerate the club. The lightweight ArmRQ shafts are ideal for this, as is the whip effect of these soft shafts. There is simply no serious competitor on the golf market and Honma is doing everything right with the new series. Honma has even managed to improve its appearance and performance once again.

About Honma

The history of Honma is absolutely unique and everyone who has been involved with this brand knows that. Honma stands like no other brand in the golf industry for perfection, elegance, precision, individuality and extravagance. No other company can combine these qualities in one.

All Honma clubs are handmade in Japan, Sakata. Not only the club heads, but also the own shafts are drawn by hand and reach thereby an incomparable quality. This is particularly evident in the 3, 4 and 5 star shafts which are used in the Beres series. These stars do not simply represent a high price tag and status symbol. The higher the number of stars, the higher the quality of the shaft, which is a bit special because it is very soft and still has little torque. That means: the shaft plays extremely comfortable and delivers a minimum of "twists" which push the ball in a direction where it doesn't belong.

Each Honma club is unique and can be individually adjusted if necessary. The quality assurance is as strict as nowhere else and no lack escapes the trained eyes from Japan - even if it is so minimal. While the quality of most other manufacturers, especially the big names, fluctuates extremely, Honma delivers clubs in exactly the same quality. That means the exact same weight, same shape, etc.

No compromises are made especially with the shafts. The shaft is often underestimated, but it influences the swing enormously. Shafts built into Honma clubs are not only of the same quality and extremely high quality, the shafts are also reliable in terms of length and weight. The shafts used by other golf brands vary enormously in this respect and can have a great influence on the swing weight, for example if a shaft is only minimally shorter than it should be. You don't have this problem with Honma. And guaranteed not when you buy from us. Because we at ExactGolf take our mission seriously and measure and weigh all our clubs carefully before shipping. In this way we can guarantee the highest quality true to the Honma motto.