This Takomo Driver Is Further Proof You Don’t Have To Pay A Lot

Some of you may not believe this, but here goes …

There’s more top-quality golf gear at better-than-affordable prices available now than ever before.

Sure, we love complaining about “the rising cost of golf equipment.” It’s practically a bloodsport every January when mainstream OEMs fire up their launch cycles. There’s one big problem with that complaint, however.

It just ain’t true.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, the mainstream OEMs are selling $600 drivers and $1,400 iron sets. We can bitch and moan about that all we want but that would mean deliberately ignoring the incredible value propositions from the MacGregor/Hogan/Ram group, the outstanding products and customer service from direct-to-consumer stalwart Sub 70, and the unique vibe and perfectly playable gear from Takomo.

“We have a good product and we want to take an honest approach in the market,” Takomo Chief Marketing Officer Sean McCallum tells MyGolfSpy. “We’ve actually said in our ads that our clubs won’t fix your swing but you will save enough money to get some lessons.”

Takomo’s new Ignis D1 driver joins a growing list of really good drivers selling for considerably less than mainstream OEM offerings. If yards per dollar is your measuring stick, we’ll argue that the Ignis D1 at $319.00 is surpassed only by the extraordinary MacGregor Tourney Max at $249.99.

The Takomo Ignis D1 driver: Why we’re “diggniss” Ignis

“Ignis is Latin for ‘fire’. That came directly from the CEO,” says McCallum. “He’s been obsessed with the word ever since I’ve been around. He’s always wanted to name something ‘Ignis.’”

Takomo was founded in 2000 by Finnish golf enthusiast Sebastian Haapahovl and launched its first iron, the 101, a year later.

“It’s not lost on us that we were in the right place at the right time,” McCallum says. “We weren’t the first DTC company but our launch did coincide with the biggest influx of players into the game (the post-COVID boom) since Tiger’s big run.”

Primarily an iron company, Takomo is morphing into a full-bag company. Two years ago, it launched a limited run of prototype drivers on its website, primarily to gather customer input.

“The feedback was pretty consistent across the board,” says McCallum. “The driver wasn’t as long as what the mainstream brands had out. We knew that would be a drawback, as we were trying to be more forgiveness-focused.”

The biggest problem, however, was sound and feel.

“One customer said it sounded like throwing a can of peas against a big rock. The frequency range was low and the decibel range was loud, like NIKE Sasquatch loud. That’s not something you want to hit the market with.”

The Ignis D1 evolution

Based on that intel, Takomo delivers the Ignis D1 driver. According to the company, the Ignis D1 “blends modern forgiveness-focused tech with the adjustability you need to configure it for the flight you need.”

To quote WWII naval hero Ensign Charles Beaumont Parker: Gee, I love that kinda talk.

Aside from the pretty words, the Takomo Ignis D1 is a deep-faced driver with a low-and-back center of gravity, variable-face thickness and three swappable sole weights. The Ignis D1 comes stock with one 13-gram weight in the back and two forward three-gram weights, one toward the heel and the other toward the toe. You can move the 13-gram weight toward the heel to make the driver more draw-biased or towards the toe to make it more fade-biased. An extra eight-gram weight is also included.

“The weight ports are really far away from each other,” says Takomo Head of Product Teemu Laine. “We wanted to make it highly configurable to cover a wide range of players. You can even have the two heaviest weights up front to move the CG forward and improve ball speed numbers.”

“We could probably do a better job of explaining that (online),” adds McCallum.

The Takomo Ignis D1 driver is 460cc, with a carbon fiber crown and an adjustable hosel. You can adjust the loft up or down two degrees and you can adjust the lie angle up one degree to make it even more draw-biased.

While not overly loud, we can’t say Takomo has completely licked the noise issue. I wouldn’t call the sound objectionably loud, but it is noticeably loud. Not horrible, just noticeable.

Takomo Ignis D1 driver: Facts and figures

I like that the Takoma Ignis D1 driver is $319.00. I don’t know why it matters but it’s refreshing not to see “.99” tacked onto the end of it.

There aren’t many options with the Ignis D1, which fits Takomo‘s simplicity vibe. You can choose either a 9- or a 10.5-degree head, right-handed only. You can select any shaft you want, as long as it’s either a Ventus Blue or a Ventus Red. At this time, Takomo is not offering any additional upcharge shafts.

“We know our customer base is primarily mid- to higher-handicaps, since our No. 1-selling product is the 101 iron,” says McCallum.

“We know it won’t fit everyone,” adds Laine, “but we want to cover as much of the market as possible.”

I’ve put the Ignis D1 play twice and found that it is on the loud side but, as mentioned, it’s not objectionable, at least to my ear. In that never-ending battle between forward CG/ball speed and rear CG/forgiveness, I can also say it’s not the longest driver in the stable. It’s long enough, but if you’re comparing value-priced drivers, the MacGregor Tourney Max is longer, at least in my hands.

The MacGregor also sounds better, again, at least to my ear.

That said, I’ll go back to what I said at the top. You do not have to spend $600 to get a strong-performing driver. The list of sticks under $400 that you can play great golf with is, if you think about it, remarkable.

The Cleveland HiBore XL and the Sub 70 859/859 Pro are all $399. The marvelous new Ben Hogan PTX MAX and PTX LST drivers are $379.99, while the Vice Golf VGD01 comes in at $349.00. The Takomo is $319 while the don’t-sleep-on-it MacGregor Tourney Max is a bargain at $249.99.

The fitting question

Every direct-to-consumer brand understands the fitting challenge. Some golfers won’t buy a thing unless they’re squeezing out every last yard through a custom fitting. However, if you know your specs and have an idea how different shafts work in your hands, you can get fairly close, especially if yards-per-dollar is your metric.

“Fitting options are limited, but it’s something we’re developing,” says Laine. “We’re looking to widen our online fitting tools, but you have to make it easy enough for consumers to understand. Talking about swing tempo isn’t necessarily clear to a 30-handicap.’

Takomo also has a pilot program in South Africa, where it’s working with private club fitters and builders.

“We recognize there’s a certain customer segment that we won’t unlock with DTC, so we want to improve that segment.”

Are these really “original” designs?

It’s easy to dismiss DTC brands as simply selling open models, especially when so many of their clubs bear a striking resemblance to one another.

While that’s undoubtedly true in some cases, in most cases it misses the mark. No, Takomo, Sub 70, the Hogan-MacGregor-Ram-Teardrop-Zebra group and others don’t have an army of engineers jamming with AI supercomputers to develop the next generation of gear. They are, however, evolving.

Sub 70 has long worked hand-in-hand with its Asian suppliers to develop unique-to-them products. Meanwhile, the new 859 and 859 Pro drivers are based on Sub 70’s first official patent. They were co-designed by owner Jason Hilland and legendary club designer Bob Renegar. Simon Millington collaborated with Austie Rollinson, longtime Callaway designer and current Acushnet putter chief, on MacGregor’s MT-86 irons and several Teardrop putters. He’s also worked with Larry Tang, the former Odyssey designer known as one of the fathers of the Two-Ball putter. Hogan, MacGregor, et al may also be the only DTC brand with a full-time designer on staff in former Adams club man Gavin Wallin.

“We have an internal product team here in Torku (Finland),” says Laine. “We do the initial designs and cosmetics, then we work closely with one of the biggest golf club manufacturers in the world in Taiwan.”

Laine says they’ll then collaborate on issues such as materials, face designs and other performance-related developments.

“We’re just now starting to get our feet into proprietary R&D, doing our own thing and inventing something new,” says McCallum. “That’s our future, and it’s something we hope to achieve here in the next year as we move closer to being a full-bag company.”