Tony Cheng of Parsippany, N.J. is a 60-year-old owner of a jewelry distributorship – costume, fashion and golf jewelry. He focuses on the low-priced jewelry market, and his big USA customers include Walmart, Target, Kohl's, Macy's and JCPenney. Cheng’s played golf for 30 years, and now spends most of his fairway time on a nearby private course. His 30-year-old son and two daughters – ages 24 and 26 – all play golf. In fact, they all played golf beginning in middle school, and went on to become captains of their respective high school golf teams.
Cheng first heard about Honma clubs from his uncle, who is a doctor in New Jersey. “He got his three-star BERES driver in Taiwan,” says Cheng. “I saw it for the first time probably three years ago, and I play with him a lot. So every time I played with him, I tried this club. I’d always been playing R series drivers from TaylorMade. But I thought his driver looked very interesting and he told me Honma is very popular in Taiwan and Asia. So I would sometimes just take his club and swing it for fun. And it was great. So I bought a Honma driver and fairway wood from Taiwan. They’re easy to swing. Then I went to Honmausa.com and found out they can ship the clubs directly to me. I started buying clubs for my wife. She was playing her TaylorMade and Callaway clubs very well, but not hitting them consistently. But I thought the BERES was very good for her. Now she hits the ball a lot straighter and with good distance. Then I bought the fairway woods. They’re very good for ladies. I was also playing Titleist CB irons myself for about 10 years. Then I found out that Honma had similar irons, so I ordered a set. Am still waiting for it. But I hit the driver straighter – without a lot of slices. And it feels very good. The distance is about the same as TaylorMade, but it’s about 80 percent straighter.”
Cheng’s best tee shot with the Honma driver thus far was a 230-yarder. “At my age, I hit it maybe 220 or 230, and I’m happy about that – as long as the ball is straight. That’s important. And that’s why I feel very good about Honma.”
Now he owns two Honma sets. One he keeps at home, the other in Taiwan. His American set includes Honma’s BERES 3-Star driver and BERES 3-Star 3-, 5- and 7-woods. Plus he’s ordered Honma T//World 757 irons Vx irons to replace his Titleists.
Cheng’s best score is 78. Being the CEO of a company, he only gets to play once a week. So he feels that shooting 82 or 83 is decent for him.
He’s adamant that his son is the best player in the family, followed closely by his youngest daughter. She hits her drives 200 yards, so he encourages her to practice more.
He doesn’t travel much. And because he needs to run his company, he plays all of his golf nearby and mostly with his family – all for fun. Plus he plays once a month in an all-Asian outing. He would love to go on a golf vacation to Myrtle Beach in 2023.
He likes Tiger Woods because he never gives up and because he’s patient.
Cheng plays violin, and plays basketball twice a week. He also likes driving and is getting a new electric car.
