Takomo 101 MKII Irons Review: A sleek new standard for affordable irons

Looks and features

Takomo's MO has always sat squarely in the production of irons that look more expensive than they are while offering performance that caters to the widest range of golfers possible. The 101 MKIIs are representative of this, with Takomo claiming that they'll suit golfers ranging all the way from a 15 handicap right up to a 40+.

Despite this, the Takomos carry a distinctly minimal, premium look that works in counter to the often overly bulky, ugly game-improvement irons we're now well accustomed ot seeing from most of the major brands. They have no major cavity, rather the body is simple and sleek, made from cast 431 stainless steel with a 17-4 stainless steel face.

There's also not a heap of flashy tech in these irons. Rather, Takomo have focused on dialling in the progressive weighting of these clubs to produce better launch towards the longer end of the bag, and more control on approach. Outside of this, the new 17-4 stainless steel faces are engineered with variable thickness to produce more speed and forgiveness on the kind of mis-strikes higher handicappers so often battle.

There's no doubt that, once again, Takomo have knocked it out of the park from a visual standpoint with the 101 MKII. The branding is minimal and clean, the subtle shaping of the back of the clubheads look gorgeous, there's simply no other set of irons at this price point that carries such raw appeal in the bag – however we did notice that these irons do, for whatever reason, start to mark up quite quickly even with irregular use.

The larger profile of 101 MKIIs' leaves no doubt that these are game-improvement clubs at address, however Takomo have done a good job making sure these don't feel overwhelmingly bulky at address. There is, however, a pretty sizeable difference in offset between the longer clubs and the shorter irons, 

The other major point to address is Takomo's sales model. They're strictly direct-to-consumer, which is no longer a rare thing in golf and is a major contributor to the appealing price tag, but does come with its drawbacks. While the 101 MKII is designed to cater for a wide array of golfers and comes with truly premium components (namely Lamkin grips and a choice of KBS Tour or Tour Lite shafts), there's no actual fitting process you can undergo to dial them in properly for your game unless you go to one of their testing locations, of which there are just under a dozen dotted around the UK.

As such, you'll need to know your specs and roughly the kind of shaft you need if you really want to ensure the Takomos arrive at your doorstep properly attuned to your game.

Performance

We tested the 101 MKII in their stock form to get the best representation of what the average punter would experience buying these without any modifications, and left very impressed on the whole. The new Takomos are fast and forgiving, delivering tight dispersion and great ball speeds across the entire set. 

This, combined with their fairly strong lofts, means beginner golfers will find plenty of distance with these while the added perimeter weighting ensures that a wide array of golfers should see good launch and a nice, stable ball flight. They're not the spinniest things in the world, which is fairly standard for a game-improvement iron, but the descent angles these irons produce should make it fairly routine for players to drop and stop these irons without too much runout.

The Takomos are a great example of clubs that feel forgiving and solid on pretty much every kind of strike, which is great for beginners just wanting to get the ball in the air and travelling further with regularity. It's great for confidence to play more shots and not necessarily know you've mishit it, however this does come at the expense of the detailed feedback players erring towards a mid-handicap might want as they improve further. 

The Takomos also tend to favour forgiveness over producing a truly consistent ball flight, meaning you'll likely see great dispersion with these over the kind of shot shaping control some improving golfers might like to see. 

Once again, however, this might make them an even better fit for high handicappers who just want launch and straight distance above all else.

Should you buy the Takomo 101 MKII Irons?

Priced as they are at just £529 for a 5-GW set, there's no doubt that the new Takomo 101 irons are among the best value golf clubs for beginners right now.

While Takomo market the new irons as being geared towards both high and mid-handicap players, we'd probably recommend them primarily for the former. While the 101 MKIIs are long and forgiving, they don't quite offer the feel and feedback teen handicap golfers really need to improve their iron play. Likewise the materials and finish, while adequate for pretty much all high-handicappers, feel and perform that touch less premium than what you tend to find on game-improvement clubs from the more expensive manufacturers.

These are all relatively minor points, however, and for high-handicappers these new Takomos  represent near unbeatable value – along with one of the best-looking offerings in the segment to boot. As a relatively low-risk entry point into golf equipment for beginner players and game-improvers, these irons will some beating in 2026 and are a must-try for budget-conscious golfers wanting an excellent set of irons to built their first proper bag around.