December 27, 2017 – New projects, the same passion. New golf clubs, the same brand. Thanks to his long and brilliant career, Madrid player Carlos Balmaseda is one of the key figures of Spanish golf. After a “positive 2017 season” he is looking forward to a “better 2018 season” and to re-launch his professional career. A “golf worker”, as he defines himself, at a stage of maturity where he will continue to grow as a golfer from the Asian Tour School, with better health, and armed with his new bag of Honma golf clubs.

Indeed, Honma Golf Europe has signed Carlos Balmaseda as Ambassador of the brand in Spain. After five seasons playing with the Japanese golf clubs, he is continuing to enjoy the quality and exclusivity of Honma for the sixth consecutive year. Soon after receiving the new equipment at the end of the season, with the TW 737 in the forefront, he started achieving good results from October onwards. He came second in the Final of the Madrid Professional Tour in Golf Santander, and second in the Grand Prix Philips Lighting of the Gambito Golf Tour at CG Retamares, which are a great sign that ‘Charci’ is on the right track.

We spoke with him during one of his usual training afternoons at the Club de Campo Villa de Madrid.

MYGOLFWAY: What do you like most about an exclusive label like Honma? Why do you think the Japanese golf club brand gives you so much confidence?

CARLOS BALMASEDA: Basically because they are very conscientious when it comes to creating golf clubs. They don’t manufacture them through a production line but make them with craftsmanship, with many of the components and assembly done manually. That’s why it is one of the reference brands in the golf world and one of the most expensive. And above all, I love the new forged clubs. It is made from superior materials, which you notice when you hit the ball.

MGW: How do you feel after having renewed with Honma for the new season?

CB: The truth is that I am really delighted. It is a pride and an honour to be chosen to be ambassador in Spain for such an important brand. And the best part is that I have improved my performance with it, which is really what I’m looking for in the end.

MGW: They will have fitted them expressly for you in Japan. Which ones have been updated for you?

CB: Yes, the have custom fitted them for me in Japan. The heads are from the Tour World range, with the model of shaft that gives me better performance, according to the fitting we did.

Basically the configuration of the set is the same, within the latest Tour World series. Now I have some irons that are more ‘blade’, with thinner heads than before, the TW 737 Vn, although Honma has another model that is even more ‘blade’. I have two wedges and the U-II driving iron 3 with a Vizard graphite shaft, which gives me more height when I play from the tee at the par 3, in the narrower fairways.

Then, in fairway woods I have the new TW 737 3 and 5, and the TW 737 455 driver, all with the Vizard EX-A Stiff shaft, of 65 grams, coloured green.

MGW: When fitting the TW 737 455 driver with the launch monitor, what improvements have you found?

CB: Above all in the height and spin of the ball, which translates into distance in the end. 

MGW: How far do you drive?

CB: Well, about 255 metres of carry and about 290 metres in total, but of course, I am now just 46, and I am no longer a spring chicken – he says smiling -.

MGW: And in the fitting with the TW 737 irons, how have you improved your performance?

CB: Here the shaft change has been essential to gain a little more of spin off the ball, which allows me to have more control towards the green.

Carlos Balmaseda will be able to get the most out of his new golf bag in his next project. On the 30th of December he is off to the other side of the world to play the Asian Tour School, starting on the 3rd of January in Thailand. “In Honma they are very pleased that I am trying to get into the Asian Tour playing with their golf clubs,” he adds. But before that, how did he do this year? 

MYGOLFWAY: What is your assessment of the 2017 season?

CARLOS BALMASEDA: It has not been a bad year, as I finished third in the ranking of the Professional Madrid Tour, behind the stratospheric guys of this season, Sebastián García and Jacobo Pastor, who have played very well all year round, both national and internationally.

Due to personal circumstances it has been a very uncomfortable year, so to be third in the ranking with a couple of victories in the Madrid tour, and then to be about to win twice more in the Gambito Golf national tour, the truth is that the assessment is quite positive.

For the next season I am really longing to get going, because I will be more focused, and I really feel like it.

MGW: What are your goals at competition level for 2018?

CB: I am open to everything. As I say, I’m going to play the Asian Tour School, to try from there to access the European Tour from there. Whatever, I’m going to Asia to try to take a step beyond what I’ve already achieved. Then, on the Gambito Golf Tour and the Madrid Tour I will try to play as much as I can, always looking to open other markets, both Asian and European by different routes, wherever possible.

MGW: Also we know that you’re really preparing yourself physically.

CB: Well, yes, I am in really good physical condition, with the limitations of my 46 years, which are logical and normal.

This year I have signed with the IEP (Spanish Institute of PsychoNeuroimmunology), which sounds a bit odd but it makes a lot of sense, because of its concern for the health of the brain and organism. You have to keep your body and mind very healthy, because all the processes are related. I have a physical trainer and they control my nutrition, thanks to which I have lost 15 kilos. I go to the gym and I’m keeping well physically. In addition, I’ve done a mini preseason to prepare for Asia and get there in good shape.

MGW: Undoubtedly you are a key player in Spain and you are demonstrating that, by seniority, we have “Balmaseda for a while”, regardless of whether the young players rise with strength.

CB: I try to do my daily work. I want to feel proud of myself and if people can enjoy my game, so much the better… I consider myself a golf worker, as I have always said, and I also enjoy this sport very much. Here I am right now, under the spotlights hitting golf balls.

Behind me there are very young people coming up, very powerful, very eager to work, to fight and with a lot of talent. They have seen you win, and now they want to overcome those who they consider good players (as I hope they consider me). Without a doubt, we older players try to learn from them, just as they do from us.

MGW: Well, finally, as a Honma Ambassador, you have also become a brand prescriber. For what reasons and qualities would you recommend Honma to amateur golfers?

CB: Well, we have talked about the Tour World in my bag, which corresponds to the range of Honma for players at advanced level, with consistent good impacts. But Honma has its own range, as the Beres 06 Series, that covers many sets of golf clubs and components that can be assembled, for a wide range of amateur players.

In the end it is like someone having a Ferrari because he wants something different from the others. To begin with, it is a golf club that can’t be accessed by everyone. I would not say that playing Honma is a caprice, because the prices are more and more affordable. It is true that it’s a golf club that is made by hand, which has a number of luxury requirements that are not available to anyone, although now there are more people who choose it.

We already know that golfers are capricious and always want to have the best in their bag. Honma is the best and it is also offering a wide variety of models that favour amateurs in off-centre shots, allowing plenty of fails, improving trajectories, with very light and stable shafts, etc. handmade in a very reliable way and with the highest quality finish. A luxury not within the reach of everyone.

With Honma you have the guarantee that your golf clubs are personalized, as if they had been made just for you.

A few days from now, Carlos Balmaseda is embarking on the Asian adventure, with a bag full of enthusiasm, energy and vocation, along with the Honma golf clubs he carries inside.

What’s in Carlos Balmaseda’s golf bag?

• Driver: Honma TW 737 455 (10,5º, Vizard EX-A 65 Stiff)
• Fairway woods: Honma TW 737 #3 and #5 (15º and 18º, Vizard EX-A 65 Stiff)
• Driving Iron: Honma TW 737 U-II #3 (21º, Vizard IB95 Stiff)
• Irons: Honma TW 737 Vn (#3-#10, Dynamic Gold AMT S300)
• Wedges: Honma TW-W3 (50º/9º and 58º/8º, Dynamic Gold AMT S300)
• Putter: Honma TW-PT mallet (34”)
• Golf bag: Honma Tour CB-1701 (blue); Tour Stand CB-1702 (blue)
• Golf ball: Honma TW-G6

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