If ever there were two catchphrases banded together in the underbelly of golf, they are “direct-to-consumer brand” and “cult following.”
Well, I don’t know about “never,” but you get the idea.
And if any DTC brand out there has the fastest-growing cult following, it’s Finland-based Turku Take a look. Since its inception in 2001, the brand has earned a reputation for its minimalist Scandinavian design and low prices.
Like many DTC startups, Takomo’s first offerings were ones to be reckoned with adjacent open mold clubs. These would be standard offerings from an Asian supplier with Takomo specific changes, additions and specifications.
And low prices.
But now it’s 2026 and Take a look is growing. Today, the company is launching three revamped, improved, renamed (one type) and recategorized (also different) iron kits, all with greater input from its in-house design team. Takomo still rocks its minimalist design vibe, but the company is leveraging its growing interior design prowess with a new manufacturing partner.
And the price? It’s not as low as it used to be (what is?), but the value remains stable.
Let’s take a look.
New Takomo MKII irons: Same thing, just different
again, kind of.
Let’s start by getting the nomenclature out of the way, as it represents Takomo reshuffling its deck a bit.
First, Takomo is replacing its original (and best-selling) game-improving iron, the Iron 101, with the new Iron 101 MKII. “MKII” represents the second generation of Takomo.
Did you understand? This is easy. Now for the hard part.
Takomo’s old iron 101T distance golfer set is being replaced with an improved set, Iron 201 MKII.
Note the subtle but distinct numerical shift with an alphabetic deletion. Now pay attention to the third iron, as there will be a test at the end.
Takomo’s old hollow-forged “Iron 201” rear is being completely replaced with Iron 201T MKII new off the ground. Additionally, Takomo is giving the 201T MKII its own newly christened club category: “player’s precision.”
The new 101 and 201 MKII are hollow body cast irons and look virtually identical to the irons they are replacing. When minimalist design is your calling card, this is inevitable.
“The simple answer is that it plays into our design philosophy,” Teemu Chief Product Officer Laine Takomo tells MyGolfspy. “When you keep things minimalist, you can’t expect a big change in patterns.”
Curveball is 201T MKII. It is also a hollow body club. It carries the same DNA as its MKII brethren although it is replacing a forged hollow back.
“There are definite visual similarities,” says Takomo chief marketing officer Sean McCullum. “We want to keep them tied together because one of the things players love about the Takomo brand is this clean, minimalist design aesthetic.”
What’s new, what’s different
Perhaps the biggest change in the new MKII series is the Takomo supplier. After going into business with a Chinese manufacturer, Takomo is now using a Taiwanese supplier with a factory in Vietnam. It’s the same partner the company chose for its latest driver and wedges.
“There’s no big, sexy, brand-new technology that we can put a fancy name and trademark on to run in ad campaigns,” says McCullum. “What we have done is change production partners to increase quality.”
“The casting process has been improved to remove impurities from the steel,” adds Laine. “The end product is much more consistent iron on iron and set to harden. It’s not something you’ll notice with the naked eye, but it’s a big deal for us because we don’t want to compromise on quality.”
Another change for Takomo is that all three iron groups now have variable face thicknesses in the mid and long irons.
“What we’re trying to achieve is a bigger sweet spot in the longer irons,” explains Laine. “The idea is to make the toe or heel strikes more forgiving and make the off-center strikes a little stronger.”
Since all three sets are hollow-bodied, sound and feel can be a concern. Takomo chose not to fill the cavity with foam or urethane, instead opting for strategically placed hot melt to dampen vibration.
“We don’t want to over-tech stuff just for the sake of putting it on,” adds Laine. “We want to keep it simple. Everything that’s in the head is there for a reason.”
Regarding the “player’s precision” iron…
The new 201T MKII is the most intriguing of the new trio. Takomo says it bridges the gap between a golfer’s hollow back and a golfer’s distance iron: longer and more forgiving than the former, more compact, and – hold on to your Cheerios, kids – weaker than the latter.
“Culturally in our workspace, almost everyone on the team here is against loft attacks,” says McCullum.
Torch and Pitchfork Nation won’t have much to say about the 201T MKII. You’d need a heart of stone to complain about a compact hollow body with a 47 degree wedge and a 34 degree 7 iron.
“There’s this empty space with a ton of golfers who are great ball strikers who don’t need a lot of work but still appreciate forgiveness,” McCullum says. “They can fit into a player’s distance iron, but are good enough to prefer a thinner sole, shorter blade and thinner topline, and they would like a LESS remote assistance.”
The new one Takomo 201T MKII it’s cut, sleeker and cleaner than the hollow-back forged 201 iron it’s replacing. The hollow body structure gives it a muscular blade look. The 4 through 7 irons have a tungsten bar on the bottom to lower the CG and add forgiveness. The 8 iron wedge has a lighter steel rod for a higher CG and more spin control.
“We wanted to make the head smaller and the sole thinner,” says Laine. “But we still wanted low CG for optimized ball flight and still get enough spin for a better player, even though it’s a hollow body.”
So, a compact golfer’s distance iron that spins? We can say right now that the Takomo 201T MKII won’t win any distance races. However, “tall and forgiving enough with descent angle and roll” might make it a unicorn.
Thinking final thoughts on the new Takomo irons
If Takomo were a mainstream OEM, changing the nomenclature the way it’s doing with the MKII series would completely freak out retailers. But being a DTC brand, Takomo doesn’t have that problem.
“Better to do it now than to wait until the next round of upgrades in three or four years,” says McCullum. “A little head scratching now is much better than massive confusion and re-education later.”
The nomenclature progression makes sense if you think about undergraduate grade levels. 101 is Introduction to Golf. 201 is Advanced golf while 301 would be Graduate golf. When selling online, these differences are important.
Despite its commitment to Scandinavian minimalism, Takomo saw fit to add at least a little cosmetic differentiation to the MKII series. 101 MKIIwith all the empty body feeling, it looks a lot like 201 MKII. To distinguish it, the 101 features a sand texture on the underside of the rear cushion. The 201 has been sandblasted on the top of the rear. 201T is not sandy at all.
“Now, when we discuss the club and the super subtle changes in appearance, we’ll be able to tell our customers what club they’re looking at,” explains Laine.
Again, when selling online, these differences are important.
As for where Takomo is going, these second-generation irons represent a milestone. Four years ago, Takomo was a startup. If we apply the crawl-walk-run analogy, Takomo has passed the crawling stage and is walking. The new iron launch shows that the company is starting to put some pep in its step.
“Our information database looks quite different now than it did four years ago,” Laine admits. “This will play into our future development.”
New Takomo MKII Grips: Specs, Price and Availability
All three Takomo MKII iron sets are cast, with faces made from thin 17-4 stainless steel. The new 101 MKII has changed little from the previous generation. Takomo has ditched the 4-iron and added a wedge iron as standard. The 201 and 201T both have 4 iron wedges.
At first, you can choose the KBS Tour or KBS Tour Lite as your Lamkin Crossline grip shaft. Takomo will add graphite options (it says “soon”) including the Mitsubishi MMT and True Temper Denali. Additionally, the company expects to finalize a deal with True Temper sometime this summer to add Dynamic Golf and Elevate shafts to its offering.
Like everyone else, Takomo is raising prices a bit this year, between $60 and $90 per set. The new one 101 iron MKII run $579 (5-GW) while 201 MKII it’s $649 (4-PW).
The new one 201T MKII iron kit it’s $679 (4-PW).
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