HomeGolf WorldNewsGeneralFake Golf Clubs - How to Differentiate
A Ping G25 Serial Number is required for all PING G25 Individual Irons. The Serial Number can be found by looking at the Hosel on your current PING G25 Irons.= Please place the serial number in the space provided. Your PING G25 Will be built with the exact specifications at your other PING G25 Irons. For irons, the serial number is on the hosel. For woods, the location of the serial number varies by model but usually is found near the numbers indicating the degree of loft. Contact the Ping. Note the serial number and distinguishing features of the club. Call Ping at (800) 4-PING-FIT (800-474-6434) and provide the details of the club and the manufacturer. Ping should be able to tell you if the club is a genuine Ping product. Purchase new Ping clubs only from authorized Ping retailers to ensure you get a proper set of Ping clubs.
Fake Golf Clubs - How to Differentiate
Posted by Admin31 Mar 2015
SERIAL REGISTRATION FOR INDIA
'If a deal is too good to be true, it IS too good to be true.'
The first thing you will notice about a fake club is the quality just isn’t the same as on the real thing. The shaft bands will be peeling up at the corners, the paint fill will not be in the lines, and the graphics will be just a little off with different colours. Below is a general list of common flaws in counterfeit golf clubs.
Where Is The Serial Number On Ping G15 Irons G410
>> | The grip will have a strong rubber odour like a swimming pool float or a bicycle tire. The grips logos may also not be aligned properly. |
>> | As stated above, generally the shaft bands will be peeling up and not necessarily on straight on every club. |
>> | The paint fill will be a different colour and sometimes will also be outside the lines. |
>> | Many of the shafts will feel flimsy or not as stiff as the flex stated on the shaft. |
>> | The serial numbers will be in a different font and not always in the same configuration as the real thing. (for example, serial number only on the 7 iron, but the real thing has a serial number on every iron). |
>> | The head covers are usually cheap looking with terrible stitching. Places where there is rubber on the real cover will have it stitched on the counterfeit cover. |
SERIAL NUMBER SPECIFICS
This section will be dedicated to the differences between the way companies put serial numbers on their clubs. It seems that most counterfeit clubs will have a much larger font on the serial numbers than what is on the authentic clubs. Also, some companies etch the serial numbers into the metal and some companies use a laser and it isn’t actually into the metal. Most counterfeit clubs have numbers laser-ed on and are not into the metal. This could of course change in the future.
Titleist
Titleist serial numbers are almost all etched into the metal itself. On Scotty Cameron putters it is etched into the shaft up near the grip usually between the bottom of the grip and the top of the shaft band. On the newer drivers and fairway woods, it is etched into the head on the sole instead of the hosel. On iron sets that are off the shelf, the serial number is on the 6 iron and on custom ordered sets, the serial number is on all irons. Most of the counterfeit Titleist clubs have used a laser to put the serial number on the club and it is smooth to the touch.
TaylorMade
TaylorMade serial numbers are normally put on with a laser and are smooth to the touch just like most counterfeit clubs. Normally, the counterfeit serial numbers are in a different font and specifically a larger font. On many of the newer Taylormade drivers and fairway woods, the real serial number will be very light coloured gray writing. Iron sets will have the serial number on either the 5 iron or the 7 iron and not on every club in the set. The exception to this is tour issue clubs which may have a serial number that begins with a T on every club.
Callaway
Callaway clubs normally have the serial numbers laser etched on and it is on one club for iron sets. There will also be a tiny 2D barcode next to the serial number. This holds true for Driver, Fairway woods, and Odyssey putters as well.
Cleveland / Srixon
Cleveland Golf have an Online Registration process for their products whereby a confirmation about the authenticity of the products is also sent back to the customers.
Ping
Ping clubs will be harder to tell because they have started using laser etching on their newer clubs. It used to be that all their serial numbers were actually etched into the metal. Just in the last couple of years they have started using the laser etching process like many other companies use. On iron sets, Ping puts the serial number on all clubs. On the newer drivers and fairway woods the serial numbers are on the sole of the club back toward the hosel.
Golf Clubs Serial Number Registration Chart for India | |||||
MANUFACTURER | TaylorMade | Titleist | Callaway | Cleveland / Srixon | Ping |
Online Registration | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Serial Number Confirmation | No | No | No | Yes | No |
As long as the big Golf club manufacturing companies outsource their work to China and the Chinese government doesn’t enforce intellectual property laws, the problem is only going to get worse. The other problem is that the longer they make counterfeits, the better they get at making them look like the real thing. The cost of making them is also coming down, so they are branching out and counterfeiting clubs that wouldn’t have been profitable a few years ago.
Callaway, Cleveland, Nike and Acushnet (parent company of the Titleist, Cobra and FootJoy brands) are among the companies who have suffered from the boom in fake clubs and although it's reckoned that 60 per-cent of the world's genuine golf clubs are made in China, millions of poor quality copies also originate from there.
Tell us on the forum if you've been duped by fake clubs or even that you've purchased counterfeits or clones and found them playable.
DISCUSS>>
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From a Facebook post to the PING page...
SKIP:
Be aware of fraudulent PING clubs. If you do buy used, do your homework first. This is the result of just surfing for a few minutes and doing a quick comparison of the serial number in a Google search. Serial numbers do not always prove the product is genuine. If you are shopping for used club, buy from an approved dealer or if not from a dealer, call PING and given them the serial number. They can give you the details of the club. Never buy a club from someone you don't know or trust.
Fraudulent PING G15 Driver
This is a
![Irons Irons](/uploads/1/1/9/8/119845551/577035422.jpg)
A counterfeit of a PING G15 Driver. Note the markings on the sole are not correct, nor is the alignment aid on the crown of the club. Also, note the serial number in the right-most image... 728672D3.
The serial number obtained from the photograph of the above mentioned driver in the Google search noted above pointed to this G10 driver recently sold on ebay in the UK. We don't know whether this one is a genuine PING driver or not either.
The ebay item number is: 270528488753
Details from the posting on ebayUK...
Item location:Havant, Hampshire, United Kingdom
PING G10 Driver.
10.5 deg.
TCF 129D reg flex shaft.
Excellent condition 9/10.
Used only 3 rounds in summer.
Complete with head cover.
As new.
Serial no 728672D3
A PING G10 driver sold on ebay's UK site. The serial number matches that of the fraudulent G15 driver noted and pictured above. One or both of these are fakes.
PING's response on Facebook:
Thanks for sharing that...it's a real issue out there. For all of you PING fans, protect yourself from online counterfeit scams. Read the warning information posted on our site at http://www.ping.com/clubs/counterfeits.aspx, and use the dealer locator tool to make sure you are dealing with an authorized PING retailer, http://www.ping.com/dealerlocator/default.aspx.
Skip's advice: Enjoy golf. Buy the real deal. If you don't want to or can't afford new equipment, try buying used equipment from a reputable dealer such as Callaway Golf Preowned. They have wonderful customer service and will not sell counterfeit merchandise, whether it be Callaway or other brands they also have available. Your best bet is to, however, take PING's advice and if you want PING clubs, buy from an approved PING retailer for complete peace of mind. Buying from unknown sources only leads to the age old saying, 'caveat emptor'... 'Let the buyer beware.'