Takomo 301 CB Irons Review

Takomo 301 CB Irons

With the upward trend in the market of “direct to consumer golf club offerings”, a new brand has quickly gathered popularity, especially following making it into the bag on the PGA/Korn Ferry Tour with Wesley Bryan. That brand is Takomo Golf based out of Finland with a goal of making quality golf equipment accessible to more people. The Takomo 301 CB irons are their player’s forged cavity back design featuring clean looks and feel.

The Looks

From address, the Takomo 301 CB irons have a contemporary blade appearance. I say it’s contemporary because the toe and leading edge aren’t razor sharp like some Haig-Ultra irons from the mid 20th century. Personally, I think this makes the iron look a little more hittable while still giving you confidence in being able to get creative with your shots. The top line is relatively thin and the head has an overall compact profile with pretty minimal offset.

Looking at the back of the club, branding is super minimal with a Takomo logo toward the toe and a small notation of the club model near the heel. The perimeter weighting is created by a shallow milled pocket on the upper half of the blade. This pocket adds some forgiveness to the club, but also leaves some extra weight lower in the head which we’ll discuss further later. The milled lines across the cavity contribute to the more modern looks as well.

How Does it Feel?

Takomo Golf forged the 301 CB irons out of a soft S20C carbon steel. I’m not a metallurgy expert so I’m not totally sure what S20C is, but I will say that I found it to be really clean and precise. I don’t like to call forged blades “soft” these days as I don’t feel like that really reflects reality. In my opinion, clean is a better term here with the S20C steel. There’s solid response from the face for precise feedback at impact, but a well struck shot feels nice and pure. Clean, as I prefer to put it.

As mentioned previously, the Takomo 301 CB irons have a milled out pocket which creates more perimeter weighting. This helps expand the sweet spot a bit as well as raising the MOI slightly. A higher MOI means the club is more resistant to twisting at impact so it’s a bit easier to keep the club face square to your intended target line. Overall, the cavity back design makes the club feel a little more controllable and the face less punishing without sacrificing feedback.

Ok, I guess I lied. I AM going to use the term “soft” to describe a feel characteristic, but only a little bit! Through the turf, I found the Takomo 301 CB to be crisp, but soft through the turf on a reasonable swing. What I mean is that it won’t cut and grab like an old school blade, but will be a little smoother and lenient while it takes its divot. Don’t get me wrong, a bad swing is still plenty capable of digging deep into the ground. I’m just saying a good swing will result in a softer cut through the turf from a feel perspective.

How Does it Sound?

When it comes to sound, we can get back to using the term “soft” again. The S20C carbon steel in the Takomo 301 CB has a softer sound at impact. Shots off the sweet spot result in a somewhat muted, yet direct “thwack” with a slight, very muted, undertone of “pop”. There’s also a “swish” note to it from that soft sweep through the turf I mentioned above. If you take a little more of a divot, it takes on a “ripping” characteristic as it peels the divot away. I didn’t find the Takomo 301 CB to have much of a “thump” sound on heavier shots.

On-Course Performance

The Takomo 301 CB irons are designed for players looking for premium control in working their shots. They also want that control to come with a little more forgiveness. In my testing, I found the 301 CB to handle shaping and flighting shots very well. If I had one criticism, I wish they offered a few different shaft options. The stock KBS Tour plays a bit soft for me and I could use something with a bit more stability. Takomo offers the KBS C-Taper and a couple other options via custom order, but the current selections are limited.

These aren’t your grandpa’s old blade irons! Remember when I mentioned above about more weight lower in the head from that milled out pocket? This lowers the center of gravity (CG) in the head making it a little easier to get the ball off the ground. Some might ask, “won’t that make the ball balloon too much?!” No, it just helps lift the ball a little bit easier so it’s less of a fight to get it carrying in the air. I was still able to maintain a penetrating flight, but I didn’t feel like I had to work as hard to get the ball airborne like an older blade with a higher CG. This proved especially beneficial in the longer irons. It certainly made hitting a 4 or 5 iron much easier.

Final Thoughts – Takomo 301 CB Irons

If an affordable, clean player’s cavity back with a combination of modern and traditional design is what you’re looking for, the Takomo 301 CB irons are worth taking a look at in the direct to consumer market. The 301 CB is available in 4 through pitching wedge with traditional lofts, but a more modern CG. Additionally, Takomo’s current stock offering of the 301 CB is right handed with KBS Tour shafts and Lamkin Crossline grips for $649.99. Left handed setups are available via custom orders, as well as a few different shaft and grip options for an upcharge. OR, if they don’t offer your grip or shaft of choice, you can buy just the heads and build your set yourself! (They’re .370 hosels for all of you fellow gear tinkerers out there.)

From my experience, I’d say the 301 CB is a solid iron that’s certainly a good value if the offered combinations are a good setup for your game. Currently, Takomo Golf clubs are only available directly through their website. Takomo also offers the 301 irons in a cavity/muscle back combo set.