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How do feel about clone golf clubs


bogey_golf

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Ive really liked the Acer XS Pro heads. Thin top line, reasonable offset. Theyre slightly harsh on off center hits, but no more than forged. Ive played them for about 4 years, and theyve held up well.

 

I built my son a set with these. His golf coach hit them and says they're not bad at all (for a cast head). I'd buy again.

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Ive really liked the Acer XS Pro heads. Thin top line, reasonable offset. Theyre slightly harsh on off center hits, but no more than forged. Ive played them for about 4 years, and theyve held up well.

 

I built my son a set with these. His golf coach hit them and says they're not bad at all (for a cast head). I'd buy again.

 

Yes, especially when you can build a really nice set for under $200.

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Ive really liked the Acer XS Pro heads. Thin top line, reasonable offset. Theyre slightly harsh on off center hits, but no more than forged. Ive played them for about 4 years, and theyve held up well.

 

I built my son a set with these. His golf coach hit them and says they're not bad at all (for a cast head). I'd buy again.

 

Yes, especially when you can build a really nice set for under $200.

 

Yes, and the tour blades are in their own league with minimal offset and thin too line. Something you rarely ever see with component heads.

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Nike VR Pro Combo 3-PW XP115
Nike VR 54/58/62 XP115
Nike MC04w 
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To some, whatever is in the bag probably won't make much of a difference, to the others, there is a big difference between the OEM and the Clones.

OEM usually have tighter spec and use better material, and will out perform the clones if the user could tell the difference. My past experience was the OEM drivers usually were much longer than the clones. Iron or wedge made from single metal probably won't have noticeable difference but, the clones usually have spec all over the place. The spec ( loft and lie ) usually were off by as much as 10-20%. Not a big deal if someone could double check and adjust to spec.

You get what you pay for.

 

The worst is getting a cheap copy of counterfeit, piece of crap, even worse, a used copy of counterfeit.

 

 

I think someone that worked at 2ndswing or Golf Galaxy told me once as much as 25-50 percent of clubs you buy on line are counterfeits. He was probably just trying to scare me to just buying clubs out of his store but there are allegedly a lot of counterfeits out there (which are totally different than clone clubs, as someone pointed out earlier)

 

I would think a lot more than 30%. Some are not exactly "counterfeit", if the golf club roll off the same assembly line previously used to produce the OEM components.

See, lot of the general contractors sub their contracted volume to many other smaller lines to fulfill the contracted volume. Where in the land of no patent protection.

These will look and feel like the real thing, except for maybe sometimes the material will be a little different and the QC is not really present.

I was also told there are buyers from the States and the E.U. whom gets a large quantity of the components then assembled at home state to make a huge margin of profit.

Some of these are so close to the real golf club, even the authorized retailer could not tell the real from the "after market"

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  • 3 years later...

I have a set of clones and I can't tell the difference between them and the OEM brands I had in the past or my friend's Calloway Maverick's that he bought at the same time.

 

I wanted to build my own set but I didn't know how then, so I got a full set of Taylor Made clones for about $320 or so, which included a Driver, 3W, 5W, 4 Hybrid, 5-PW and a putter. And I got to have the guy put a 1" longer shaft in, so they were closer to custom that my buddy got when he bought his Calloway Mavericks. 

 

So far, I can't tell the difference between these clones than the Taylor made, Calloway, or other OEM name brand irons.  Irons are just a hunk of metal. I don't buy the supposed tech innovations the OEM's advertise that screams "hype" to me.  I mean things they advertise on their new models like "speed channels", speed foam, turbo channels, explosive this or explosive that, ultra forgiving, super duper long hitting, etc.  There haven't been that much tech in golf club design in the last few decades.  Ping invented the cavity back club, Taylor Made invented metal woods. Is there really anything new and earth shattering since then?

 

Drivers may be a little different as they are expensive and use more expensive metals, but I hit my cheap clone Driver farther than my buddy hits his expensive Calloway.  And I used to be a loyal Ping Man for years. I'd rather buy clones for cheap and customize them the way I want. Ever since my Ping days where I was fitted in a white dot when I got my Ping Eye 2's then into a Maroon Dot when I got my Eye III Blades, I wouldn't buy anything that wasn't fitted to me the way that Ping did it.  I never trusted off the rack stuff that is an inch too short for me or 3 degrees to flat for me.  If I come across a cheap set of original Bertha's or X22 Steelheads, I'd happily buy them. They have a better MPF rating than Calloway's current models do. 

 

My Golf Spy should do a clone vs. OEM test like they do with golf balls and see what the results are. I have a feeling a lot of clone models would beat some of the well known brands. 

 

 

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Clones, knock-offs and house brand heads come from China and Taiwan and for the most part are made in the same factories as name brands. Many are perfectly good clubs. Counterfeits are a different story. If the price seems too good to be true it is.

Quote

Is there really anything new and earth shattering since then?

Game improvement clubs with extreme MOI. The Clevelands I have now are decidedly better than any clubs I've had in the past, both brand names and house brands I made myself, going back to the heyday of Golfsmith. That's not to say that the clone/knock-off/house brand market can't produce GI clubs, they've already started, Acer XDS being one example, imitation being the sincerest form of flattery.

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Cleveland Launcher Halo Hybrids 16, 19, 22 degree

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Cleveland CBX 2 Wedge 60 degree

All with graphite shafts, JumboMax Ultra Lite size S

Taylor Made Daddy Long Legs putter, Winn Dri-Tac Jumbo Lite Pistol Putter Grip

Callaway Supersoft

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On 12/7/2016 at 10:03 PM, Shipwreck said:

 

God no. KZG are legit and their forged irons are phenomenal!

At a golf show some years a back I was displaying some club heads I used. People would come by, pick up a KZG or a Harvey Penick or a Bob Toski head and ask me what they were copies off. If not a known name, peoples first thought is they are copies.

 

To me "clones" fall in to two categories. Follows in design means they may look like others but they have their own brand name. As an example: a lot of 420CC, black driver heads look alike at a distance. Copies try and use a similar name like Big Bursar, King Snake, etc. Counterfeits are just that.

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