Honma has built a reputation in Asia for irons that have the look of carefully refined craftsmanship. It’s a fair assessment because the attention to cosmetics in its irons is unrelenting. It might be overshadowing its commitment to the technical side, though. The head in this iron uses a zippy high-strength steel face that wraps around the sole for more ball speed. On the sole, a heavier steel is used to drop the center of gravity, creating a sufficiently high launch despite the strong lofts. The real hero, however, is the attention the Honma pays to aiding shots struck on the toe—a spot where average players tend to make a high percentage of their off-center impacts. Not only has the company placed a tungsten weight in the lower toe area, it has added a smartly designed slot in the sole that gets wider as it moves toward the toe area, producing more spring and making those nagging toe strikes behave closer to that of a center hit. The sub-100-gram Nippon NS 950 Pro Neo shaft nicely matches the needs of most middle-handicappers. Despite all of these technology advancements, Honma hasn’t sacrificed the cosmetics it’s known for. This iron looks as sharp at address as it does in the bag.