How can I tell if a Titliest TS3 is counterfeit?

[clemsontiger1]

I bought a Titliest TS3 preowned from rockbottomgolf.com. I went out to hit it today, and man the sound just sounded louder than I remember it being. It made me start to think that maybe this thing is not a real Titliest. Is there a way of telling if my club is counterfeit? It has a serial number, but I am not sure of a way to tell for sure that this thing is legit. 

 

Thanks!

[Celebros]

I'd be very surprised if rockbottomgolf sold you a counterfeit club - they've been around quite a while and are a legit operation.

Edited January 20, 2021 by Celebros

[LeoLeo99]

I have an Epic Flash SZ and was surprised to read that people think it's really loud.  Mine isn't.  Except with a certain golf ball.  I forgot which one but it's really loud with that ball.  Where you using the same balls now as you were back when you hit it before?  Maybe some heads are louder than others.  

[greenwavegolfer]

Agree that if it's from Rock Bottom it's doubtful it's a fake but I suppose crazier things have happened. You could always post pics to the "Deal or No Deal" forum here and ask people to confirm. You can also call Titleist with the serial number and they may be able to confirm it. Also, when you say "louder than I remember" what were the situations you were hitting it in the past? Indoors vs outdoors can affect acoustics for sure and often so can the type of ball you're hitting with (for instance range balls sound way different than a ProV1). Also if one of the heads had any hotmelt in it that can change acoustics too. A sound alone wouldn't be enough to tell you it's fake as clearly there are any number of reasons to account for that, especially if performance seems to be OK and there's no other glaring cosmetic signs of not being authentic.

[clemsontiger1]

Sorry for the delay in responding. Covid has been rough and I had my bout with it. The reason I question it is that pink dot on the head. It appears to be something that goes inside the head, but yet when I look online I cannot see another TS3 where that object is there. Does anyone know what that is?

[qwertyb22]

That looks like the hotmelt port, usually filled with a black plastic.  Yours seems filled with pink - perhaps it has been hotmelted?  This would definitely change the sound.  The club looks authentic otherwise, at quick glance.

[puresurfr]

that looks like a rubber/plastic plug....it is used for inserting hot melt which helps weigh as well as mute the sound......however the factory normally uses a black plastic plug.....it appears that the previous owner had the head hot melted and the shop went with a pink plug...it does look kinda cool !

[getair23]

Have you checked to see if the weight is seated properly?