Counterfeit Callaway - How do I recognize?

[lsh]

I picked up a driver yesterday. It says Callaway Golf X18 10º on the sole. The face has an X in the center. The back of the head says Fusion Technology. The grip says Calllaway Golf Big Bertha. The shaft say Callaway Golf system cw75 firm flex.

I ran a magnet around the head and it did not stick anywhere. Is this a real Callaway? IU have never heard of this particular model and can not find a reference to it anywhere on the internet.

Any input appreciated

 

Steve

[50jay]

pics of the club would help a lot

 

Jay

[CallawayMoe]

It is authentic. It came from Japan. Google Callaway Japan and there is a pic to compare. I have seen a few on Ebay. Moe

[lsh]

It is authentic. It came from Japan. Google Callaway Japan and there is a pic to compare. I have seen a few on Ebay. Moe

Moe

Thanks for the lead. I followed your suggestion and the club I have sure looks like the pictures of the Japan version. I won this at a charity event yesterday and a friend of mine won a Taylor made R7. He is interested in my Callaway and wants to buy it or trade me the R7 for it. Before I even consider something like that I want to verify its authenticity and determine its value. This is a friend of mine and I do not want to pass off something as authentic that isn't. Actually friend or not I wouldn't want to!

I can find no serial # on it. Should there be one???

Steve

[ubernaut]

The club in question is an X-18 CF. I hate to sound brash, but if you understood that there are multiple pages of threads in this forum, and a discreet search, you would have found the post with pictures i left the other day. Per chance, you happen to read this, a point of interest is that even though it is for distribution in Japan only, it does conform to the USGA COR threshold.

[CallawayMoe]

I hate to sound brash

 

You do sound brash. He was looking for a simple answer. Lighten up.

[lsh]

I did try to search and did not find the post you mentioned. Would you point me to it? I did check the USGA conforming and nonconforming list. There is a X-18 on both. The one I have does not have CF on the sole.

 

Steve

[markus1*]

I would say yours is USGA non-conforming. 99% sure...

[ubernaut]

Perhaps I was a bit hasty in making my assessment of your inquiry (even though there is way too much redundancy in the posts as of late) Nevertheless, no CF = no conform. The second gen x-18 has a carbon fiber crown similar to the ft-3, which was just released last month in japan. You want more info on your club. go to tourspecgolf.com.

 

~Dont let you hotdog stand.

[lsh]

I finally found your post. I had been using Callaway X18 as my search. Your post didn't use Callaway and it was listed as X-18. I quess you gotta ask the right questions.

My club is very similar to the picture you posted but as I said before it is not the CF model and the shaft in it is not one of the premium ones listed in your other post. It does have what appears to be a plate in the crown. Whether it's a carbon fiber crown I don't know, I haven't taken off the plastic wrap yet.

As I said earlier a magnet does not stick to it any where and I can not find a serial number. Does Callaway put serial numbers or other distinguishing marks on their heads?

[DemolitionMan]

All Cally Drivers (except some tour issue) have serial numbers on the back of the hosel.

 

See item #8

 

http://www.callawaygolf.com/en.cg.ContactUs.NineWays.html

[lsh]

There is no serial #. Upon closer inspection I noticed the writing on the toe of the club is misspelled. It reads CORRECT ADORLSS instead of CORRECT ADDRESS. I am afraid the club is counterfeit. Even though I didn't directly pay for it, I bought raffle tickets and my ticket was drawn, I am dissapointed.

[NikeTaylormade891]

yupp it is a lot like our x460 but it is from japan and it has a carbon top

[rge]

There are a lot of counterfeits and quasi-counterfeits being sold out of China. The practice of some of the chinese manufacturing companies that receive the outsource contract from the likes of Callaway or Cleveland Golf, etc.. is to make the heads or shafts but make enough "overruns" to market to unscrupulous sellers. For example, if the contract with Callaway is to make 5000 driver heads, they use the Callaway supplied jigs and dies to make 6000 heads or keep the heads that did not pass the quality control standards of Callaway and sell them at a later date. The fake drivers we sometimes end up buying in our search for a good deal, are the ones that may have not passed muster. Sometimes it is just a cosmetic flaw but sometimes there are significant problems like drastic weight differences. The sad thing is that China, along with Russia, probably has the largest resource of titanium. In which case, they can make the clubs out of similar material used. The "magnet" trick isn't always going to be a foolproof indicator of authenticity. Fortunately, many of these fake manufacturers aren't always too keen on the details so they end up mispelling text or using a wrong shaft type with a particular model.It's a good thing they don't all speak english. In the same token that one chinese character may look just like the next in our eyes. I have made it a minor mission on my part to try and spot the fakes. I have gotten pretty good at it when I have the real one and the fake one side by side.

[xxio]

The tough part is some of the real stuff doesn't have serial numbers. I picked up a demo club from Callaway. It didn't have SNs.

I have also held a counterfeit club that had SNs. My buddy emailed Callaway, the SN was for a 2 ball, when he was holding a GBBII 415 driver.

[xxio]

The tough part is some of the real stuff doesn't have serial numbers. I picked up a demo club from Callaway. It didn't have SNs.

I have also held a counterfeit club that had SNs. My buddy emailed Callaway, the SN was for a 2 ball, when he was holding a GBBII 415 driver.

[sandy]

I picked up a driver yesterday. It says Callaway Golf X18 10º on the sole. The face has an X in the center. The back of the head says Fusion Technology. The grip says Calllaway Golf Big Bertha. The shaft say Callaway Golf system cw75 firm flex.

I ran a magnet around the head and it did not stick anywhere. Is this a real Callaway? IU have never heard of this particular model and can not find a reference to it anywhere on the internet.

Any input appreciated

 

Steve

 

Buy it from a reputable dealer.