My Golfing Passion...

27/7/12 Friday. As a golfer one of the enjoyable facets of the game is looking at, playing with and thinking about new golf equipment. Especially the clubs available, with such a large selection of different clubhead designs available all espousing technological improvements with their release.Perhaps it is a throwback to my teenage years when I enjoyed getting a tube of glue and putting together the various bits in the model aeroplane kits because today I enjoy making up club sets. Cobbling together old iron set sitting in their box and swapping shafts and club heads into different variations. This is easy to do no workshop required at all moving between the kitchen, lounge room and the dining table I can quickly put a set of irons together or regrip them.


Which bring me to the next point once all of the old clubs lying around have been taken apart, swapped over and put back to the original configuration, what do I do next? Having sparked up my interest and got into the experience of constructing my own version of a club more material is needed. When it comes to golf, my money is best spent on playing the game the rest is just a casual hobby that is additional fun. So the best alternative is to purchase the second and third tier golf equipment manufacturers components to make my own set.


Here is where I found the nasty side of golfing, the various opinions on major brands and the lesser know equipment manufacturers quality, performance and ethics. Some opinions I read were so unashamedly biased it appeared to be only lacking one thing and that was endorsement from an advertiser. It was this that made me committed to not supporting only major equipment suppliers, I do not accept extreme almost fanatical ranting against anything as it makes me want to know why an opponent is shouting over the voice of the target.


This one I found a reasonable and balanced review. Here a comparison trial was done between two golf clubs performance original and a clone,
http://www.mygolfspy.com/clone-golf-...vs-name-brand/
And another discussion piece http://www.livestrong.com/article/27...ne-golf-clubs/


From ValueGolf.com (a supplier of cloned equipment) is this description
“Clones are something very common in the world today – chances are you’ve seen or use some type of cloned product every day. Just a couple examples: Computers: Just about every computer out today is a clone of the original IBM. Remember the cost of the original IBM computers? Not cheap. So an alternative soon followed: less expensive components without the ridiculous mark up combined to make a computer of similar quality at a fraction of the cost. Some of those clone companies even progressed to be their own established brand names, like Dell. Some clone golf companies have become their own established brand too, Tour Edge, Nickent for example.“Compare to” products: No doubt at the grocery store you’ve seen a product that says “Compare to….(brand name)”. Cereal for example. I know personally, because my cholesterol is a little bit high, I started eating Kashi Heart To Heart brand. Not a bad tasting cereal, but expensive at $5.00 a box. Then I discovered Wegmans “Heart Essentials”, which in my opinion actually tasted better, and was half the cost. Guess what I buy now? The same principle applies to golf clubs.
Yes, there are many examples of cloning today, and golf clubs are no different. Many times clone golf clubs are even produced in the same exact factories as Taylor Made, Ping, Callaway and others. In reality there are not that many foundries in the world producing golf clubs, so naturally, they are producing name brand and clone clubs with the same exact materials. The goal of clone golf clubs is to provide quality golf clubs at a fraction of the cost of OEM (name brand).
Is there a such thing as an illegal knock off or an illegal clone golf club? Simply put, yes. If a company tries to intentionally fool or confuse a customer into thinking they bought the brand name, that is illegal. For example, ever hear of the Big Bursar? That was a popular illegal clone that attempted to look exactly like a Callaway Big Bertha, down to the shape, graphics, and ridiculous name. There are some clones like that out there, but thankfully, they are becoming more rare.”


Whilst I will always look at, trial, consider and purchase the so called First Tier golf equipment manufacturers products at the same time I will continue to purchase the lesser known golf equipment suppliers products as well. Thankyou for your time and attention. “Hit ‘em straight all”