Titleist 917 Driver and Fairway wood Fake Counterfeit vs Real Genuine Comparison

[awhc]

I just want to share my experience in buying a fake/counterfeit Titleist 917 D2 Driver and 917 Fairway wood F2.

 

I bought it from Gumtree off a guy who listed a full bag of Titleist golf clubs. 917 Driver, 917 Fairway 3 and 5 wood, 716 AP2 3-PW, SM6 Wedges. He said he was going back to Canada so had to sell the clubs (I did speak to him on the phone and he had a Canadian accent). He had the full set for $AUD2200 including a ping golf bag posted. Seems about the right price.

 

The driver and fairway wood arrived and both looked very good. First shot I hit I noticed the driver was very loud and high pitched compared to the real one I hit at the range (was even louder than my 915).

 

Things that were hard to distinguish between fake and real Driver/Fairway wood

1. Exterior paint job was really good, paint looked the same colour on the crown.
    
   
2. All the elements on the bottom of the Driver was identical to the real one, even the kink at the very back of the club behind ‘Surefit CG’ word.
    
   
3. Triangle centre mark on the crown had the same silver streaks.
    
   
4. Leather cover was identical except on the real one the space between the ‘7’ and ‘D’ was slightly more.
    
   
5. Both Driver and Fairway wood had serial numbers laser etched.
    
   
6. Both shaft had hologram stickers.
   

 

Things that helped me identify the Driver was fake

1. Sound of the driver was extremely loud and high pitch.
    
   
2. Surefit CG weight screw does not fit flush and the edge of the hole is slightly curved.
    
   
3. Surefit CG weight looked cheap and paint/sticker was bubbly and peeling off.
    
   
4. Surefit CG weight draw/fade bias does not feel weighted onto one side.
    
   
5. Surefit CG weight draw/fade bias does not have + and – on either end, just a red dot like the neutral weight.
    
   
6. Even though it was a D2, the head looked like a D3 and the shape/height of the face was like a D3.
    
   
7. Surefit hosel on the head did not have a dot.
    
   
8. Active recoil channel streak is shorter and thicker at the sharp tail end at the start of the word ‘ACTIVE’.
    
   
9. Active recoil channel streak curve is not smooth at the end of the word ‘CHANNEL’.
    
   
10. Shaft had a hologram sticker in Chinese.
    

 

Things that helped me identify the Fairway wood was fake

1. Surefit weight also poor quality like the Driver weight.
    
   
2. Active recoil channel did not have a rubber insert it was just metal.
    
   
3. Bad Surefit hosel fitment.
    
   
4. Fairway wood head did not screw into my real 915 shaft. Fake Titleist clubs are known to have wrong screw thread and cannot screw into genuine clubs.
    
   
5. Shaft had a hologram sticker in Chinese.
   

I found some fake Titleist drivers on DHGate and Taobao.

https://www.dhgate.c.../403861126.html

https://item.taobao....id=547560211490

https://item.taobao....id=549645713949

https://shop70792496....63ff01086FEKTS

 

 

I went into a local shop and had the sales and club maker look at the club and they both thought it was real. Sometimes it shows people in-store are not as knowledgeable as we think.

 

Hopefully this thread will help you identify fake/counterfeit Titleist 917 Drivers and Fairway wood.

 

Also please note some genuine Titleist clubs do not have serial number (I saw a few had serial numbers and some without in-store). So don't be put off by a club without a serial number.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[jschwarb]

Sorry you got screwed but kudos for maybe saving someone else a lot of trouble. Helluva post.

[doublepar93]

Sorry for what happened, but some serious effort put into this post. Thanks for looking out for others.

[r7tp4me]

Just bought a 917 D2 on ebay second hand, will compare it to this when I get it, thank you!

[VNutz]

Dang. Well done and thank you from everybody here.

[KCCO]

That’s a pretty good knock-off, lots of work put into those woods. If not having an authentic to compare to, most who never used or owned a D3/D2 would most likely not catch, a wrx’er; another story. Wonder how much japan versions differ from what we get in states? (Not doubting at all, just wonder if those have minor differences)...GREAT POST! Thx!

[awhc]

That’s a pretty good knock-off, lots of work put into those woods. If not having an authentic to compare to, most who never used or owned a D3/D2 would most likely not catch, a wrx’er; another story. Wonder how much japan versions differ from what we get in states? (Not doubting at all, just wonder if those have minor differences)...GREAT POST! Thx!

 

Yeah the knock offs are getting really good, the exterior paint and channels were all the same, they probably got a real one and made a mould from it. I wouldn't have been able to tell unless I hit the 917 D2 in the shops before and know what it sounds like. The quality of the weight was also a give away.

[awhc]

Found some more fake/counterfeit clubs on Taobao.

 

https://item.taobao.com/item.htm?spm=a1z10.1-c.w4004-16266081807.3.38d54388RCRmf&id=547560211490

https://item.taobao.com/item.htm?spm=a1z10.1-c.w4004-16266081807.5.38d54388RCRmf&id=549645713949

https://shop70792496.taobao.com/?spm=2013.1.1000126.2.63ff01086FEKTS

[Rory4Pres]

It's scary how good that knock off is.

 

Thanks for posting, that was very educational. Sorry you got screwed. Hopefully 2018 brings you better luck.

[SubaruWRX]

Pretty thorough work. Damn. Well done.

[straightshot7]

That's a pretty legit fake.

[onetime19]

Pretty thorough work. Damn. Well done.

 

+1

[Jojodimaggio]

Performance will let you know it’s fake most of time. Although I hit a fake R9 that was money. Rare but they don’t perform usually. Thanks for the info man

[Judge440]

Thanks!

[Yanki01]

wow. this should be a pinned post. great info and that fake looks really good.

[awhc]

Performance will let you know it’s fake most of time. Although I hit a fake R9 that was money. Rare but they don’t perform usually. Thanks for the info man

 

Yeah I've hit a fake R9 that actually went decent too back in the day.

 

The fake 917 went alright when struck in the middle but off centre it was no good. But the sound was just completely different and was ear shattering.

[Medic]

Would contacting Titleist and asking about that serial number help to verify authenticity? Call in asking as if you were considering a purchase and wanted to confirm it is legit.

 

OP, incredible post. As others have said sorry you got hurt but this post has a lot of potential to save a bunch of members here some serious grief.

[Jagpilotohio]

This post is terrifying.

[alexdub]

Would contacting Titleist and asking about that serial number help to verify authenticity? Call in asking as if you were considering a purchase and wanted to confirm it is legit.

 

OP, incredible post. As others have said sorry you got hurt but this post has a lot of potential to save a bunch of members here some serious grief.

 

Serial numbers have been an ineffective way to gauge authenticity for quite some time now. With the level of effort that goes into making these fakes, printing an authentic serial number on a fake head is one of the easiest steps in the counterfeiting process.

[Jagpilotohio]

Would contacting Titleist and asking about that serial number help to verify authenticity? Call in asking as if you were considering a purchase and wanted to confirm it is legit.

 

OP, incredible post. As others have said sorry you got hurt but this post has a lot of potential to save a bunch of members here some serious grief.

 

Serial numbers have been an ineffective way to gauge authenticity for quite some time now. With the level of effort that goes into making these fakes, printing an authentic serial number on a fake head is one of the easiest steps in the counterfeiting process.

 

Absolutely. They get one real number and copy it 1000 times. The only way to figure it out would be for the manufacturers to track the same serial number appearing over and over again via customer requests for authentication and that simply is not going to happen.

[awhc]

Would contacting Titleist and asking about that serial number help to verify authenticity? Call in asking as if you were considering a purchase and wanted to confirm it is legit.

 

OP, incredible post. As others have said sorry you got hurt but this post has a lot of potential to save a bunch of members here some serious grief.

 

I made this post because Golf WRX and other forums has helped me identify and saved me from buying fake clubs, thought it is time to give back to the community.

 

I did email Titleist, here are their replies below.

 

 

This is their first reply below

 

"Thank you for your enquiry.

 

Unfortunately we don't keep records or verify clubs using the serial numbers.

 

This is due to the fact that they are easily duplicated by counterfeiters.

 

The only way we can verify whether a club is genuine or not is by physically inspecting it.

 

If you would like to have us do this please let us know and we can advise on the next steps.

 

Thanks again. "

 

 

Second reply after I requested the clubs to be inspected.

 

"Apologise, you will have to go back to where you may have purchased the clubs or a local golf retailer , your local golf club or Drummond Golf

They will organise through us for them to be picked up and inspected"

 

 

I then went to a local golf place and as mentioned in the post, the sales and club maker both thought it was real. They just looked at the exterior and didn't even bother to look at the weight. Then I asked if they had a genuine weight I could compare and it was night and day. Then I also compared it to one side by side in-store and found the difference between the active recoil channel streak, surefit hosel dot on head, surefit CG screw difference and the real fairway wood active recoil channel had a rubber insert.

 

 

Note: Some genuine Titleist clubs do not have serial number (I saw a few had serial numbers and some without in-store). So don't be put off by a club without a serial number.

[TheBIIgCat]

Wow, unreal how good of fake that it is.. Did Titleist verify that it was counterfeit?

[Yanki01]

Wow, unreal how good of fake that it is.. Did Titleist verify that it was counterfeit?

 

they won't verify unless you send it into them via a local Titleist retailer.

[brkuck]

Amazing how good the fake is. Sorry you got screwed, but thanks for posting this.

[Silicon Valley Dale]

Dang. I gamed a fake Scotty for years. I actually putted really well with it and had no clue it was a fake until I handled a real one that was the same model. It felt totally different which led me to looking into it more. My jaw hit the floor when I found out it was fake. So many years had passed so I had no chance of getting my money back. It really was a great fake since it performed like the real thing as well as looked like it. I had no idea that there was fake clubs back then.

 

I'd think there'd be zero chance a fake driver performs, otherwise everyone would be playing a fake and the fake manufacturers would go legit. A putter is pretty basic as far as tech goes. A driver would be hard to replicate in the performance department. A couple dead nut strikes that left you 90 yards behind expectations combined with your ear drums splitting should be enough to make that call. This was a great copy. I'm surprised you ever even found that out. I'd have probably wrote it off as a dead driver head and moved on. Good job keeping the rest of us mooks informed. Thanks

 

Well done on the detailing in this thread too. What the heck, I'm going to go back and hand out a "like" for you. I don't do it much but this post warrants it.