Another very individual quirk of the Hayabusa irons is the lack of individual iron numbers on the clubs, instead Matsubara has opted to engrave the lofts on the sole. Again, as a feature of individuality, I love this touch, although I must say it takes a little getting used to remembering the correct loft of the club you intend to pull. At this stage I should tell you that I was sent a full set from 1-iron to pitching wedge, so looking into your bag and seeing a knife-like blade staring back at you with 14˚ engraved on the sole is a little intimidating!
In terms of the performance, I was suitably impressed with the Hayabusa irons. The careful shaping of the sole has really paid off, and despite being very narrow, they glide effortlessly through the turf which is a lovely sensation.
I was expecting a soft feel based on what I read, and they didn’t disappoint. A buttery yet deep impact feel greets well-struck shots, but make no mistake about it, you can certainly feel when your strike is less than perfect which I would both expect and hope for in any bladed iron. What I will say, however, is that despite the very apparent change in feel on misstruck shots, the performance in terms of distance didn’t suffer too badly, which I would imagine is a testament to the effectiveness of the indentation on the back in increasing MOI.
They were as workable as anyone could ever need and a practice session on crisp, links turf, manipulating ball flights high and low, left and right, was an absolute joy. As you will see from the images, the 1-iron (sorry 14˚) is a pretty intimidating prospect down behind the ball but was far more manageable than I’d anticipated. It produced some absolute bullet flights for me and I was seriously impressed with the distance output.
Testing golf equipment is always fun, and there are some fantastic products out there, but once in a while you come across something that offers just a little bit more, and that’s what I feel about the Hayabusa iron. Not only do you get a stunning, unique aesthetic, strong feel, and performance, but I felt a genuine sense of joy using these beautifully crafted tools. You can feel the craftsmanship and personality in every strike and I thoroughly enjoyed testing them. I could 100% happily game the Hayabusa iron, but my dilemma is that I am terrified of marking up and ruining something so perfect, which has left them in a bag next to my office desk for the last couple of weeks. While I wrestle with that problem, I would implore you to take a look at the Bose Iron Factory website for some of the most interesting products in the game.
