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All Golf Clubs made in China?

post #1 of 82
8/4/10 at 7:05am
Thread Starter 
Since nearly everything else is, are their any clubs made in the good old U S A? I'm in the market for a new set of Irons and I'm wondering if all of them are now made in China? Surely there must be some factories making them here.
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post #2 of 82
8/4/10 at 8:43am

Re: All Golf Clubs made in China?

What's wrong with china?

If the clubs were made in the U.S they'd be twice as expensive.
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post #3 of 82
8/4/10 at 9:14am

Re: All Golf Clubs made in China?

yeppp .... in many consumer goods China is more advanced in many ways above "made in the USA" and apart from that golfclubs would cost a small fortune if they were made in the west...... in fact it would not surprise me if a lot of the so called clones are being produced at the very same locations. In many industries I see the same products with a different logo, stamp or color, that are basicly the same.

I am not saying that all fraud copies come from "major" factories, but it wouldn't surprise me if some did. In a way many companies now suffering the most from counterfit clubs, brought the tech themselfs to the far east....... and still some companies keep on adding a serial number only to 6 or 7 iron of a complete set or even don't have serial numbers at all.
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post #4 of 82
8/4/10 at 11:57am

Re: All Golf Clubs made in China?

PING clubs are made in the USA (for the most part).

Many/most companies have the components forged/made in the USA but are assembled, tested etc. here.

My dad was a steelworker. American steel died because, among other reasons, it's become much cheaper to make steel in Asia. It's cheaper to make many goods in Asia. Thus, 95% of golf clubheads are made there, shafts, grips, most parts are made in the East.
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post #5 of 82
8/4/10 at 1:43pm

Re: All Golf Clubs made in China?

Not only is it because of the cheep slave labor, but they have little to no environmental regs. Ping steel irons are all made in the U.S. Their woods are made in China as well as the rapture irons due to their titanium face.
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post #6 of 82
8/4/10 at 2:09pm

Re: All Golf Clubs made in China?

If all clubs were made in the states, we'd all complain they're too expensive.

It's a good thing they;re made in China.....and Mexico now.

But as ohiolefty said, PING is American made for the most part. Hence the prices on their gear is generally more expensive.
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post #7 of 82
8/4/10 at 3:29pm

Re: All Golf Clubs made in China?

Originally Posted by ohiolefty View Post
PING clubs are made in the USA (for the most part).

Wrong, zero Ping clubs are made in the USA.
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post #8 of 82
8/4/10 at 3:48pm

Re: All Golf Clubs made in China?

Originally Posted by shades9323 View Post
Wrong, zero Ping clubs are made in the USA.
I think the only thing left at PING that's made in US are the Karsten series putters. Last irons that were made in US were the G10 and I10.
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post #9 of 82
8/5/10 at 1:28am

Re: All Golf Clubs made in China?

Originally Posted by Gerald View Post
yeppp ....
I am not saying that all fraud copies come from "major" factories, but it wouldn't surprise me if some did. In a way many companies now suffering the most from counterfit clubs, brought the tech themselfs to the far east.......
About 5 years ago, a marketing magazine had a cover story on the Plus and Minus of US firms using China for making its golf club components, and in some cases, assembly. The US firms did an economic analysis, and decided that their designs would get counterfeited in China rather quickly, but that overall they would make more net profit with lower cost-of-goods-sold from items fabricated/assembled in China.

Do we have anybody that works in golf merchandising that can give us an update on this story?
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post #10 of 82
8/5/10 at 1:33am

Re: All Golf Clubs made in China?

True Temper Shafts are made in the US. But most companies have their club heads forged or cast in China. Nikes are made in china unless you special order from the oven.
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post #11 of 82
8/5/10 at 1:55am

Re: All Golf Clubs made in China?

Originally Posted by James_Black View Post
What's wrong with china?

If the clubs were made in the U.S they'd be twice as expensive.
Why? There are poor slobs that get up every day, go to work, and make value meals ...and are paid very little. Is it beacuse the companies have to make a gazillon percent profit?
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post #12 of 82
8/5/10 at 3:30am

Re: All Golf Clubs made in China?

Originally Posted by HDon View Post
Why? There are poor slobs that get up every day, go to work, and make value meals ...and are paid very little. Is it beacuse the companies have to make a gazillon percent profit?
If you could make $100 dollars an hour instead of $20 would you do it?
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post #13 of 82
8/5/10 at 3:32am

Re: All Golf Clubs made in China?

Originally Posted by HDon View Post
... Is it beacuse the companies have to make a gazillon percent profit?
Two things encourage outsourcing of manufacturing:

* US government maintains a corporate tax rate of 38%. Only place higher is Japan, unless you're in Ohio or a couple of other states, where US plus state tax rate = higher than Japan. Cut the tax rate, and US firms would be more likely to increase operations in US.

* China can produce goods more cheaply than can the US. But, you get into quality issues. I won't buy any more appliances or clocks made in China, because they fall apart after a year, don't have clear user instructions, the warranty requires you to contact US wholesaler rather than retail outlet. If it's made in China and has moving parts, I'm cautious to buy it.
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post #14 of 82
8/5/10 at 12:55pm

Re: All Golf Clubs made in China?

Originally Posted by WUTiger View Post
* China can produce goods more cheaply than can the US. But, you get into quality issues. I won't buy any more appliances or clocks made in China, because they fall apart after a year, don't have clear user instructions, the warranty requires you to contact US wholesaler rather than retail outlet. If it's made in China and has moving parts, I'm cautious to buy it.
That is a companies quality control issue, not a "made in China" issue.
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post #15 of 82
8/5/10 at 4:00pm

Re: All Golf Clubs made in China?

You get what you paid for. You pay $10 for a Chinese made clock and expect them to last? Now, if you pay for a $600 chinese made iphone, you get quality.

Originally Posted by WUTiger View Post
Two things encourage outsourcing of manufacturing:

* US government maintains a corporate tax rate of 38%. Only place higher is Japan, unless you're in Ohio or a couple of other states, where US plus state tax rate = higher than Japan. Cut the tax rate, and US firms would be more likely to increase operations in US.

* China can produce goods more cheaply than can the US. But, you get into quality issues. I won't buy any more appliances or clocks made in China, because they fall apart after a year, don't have clear user instructions, the warranty requires you to contact US wholesaler rather than retail outlet. If it's made in China and has moving parts, I'm cautious to buy it.
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post #16 of 82
8/5/10 at 5:53pm

Re: All Golf Clubs made in China?

Originally Posted by WUTiger View Post
Two things encourage outsourcing of manufacturing:

* US government maintains a corporate tax rate of 38%. Only place higher is Japan, unless you're in Ohio or a couple of other states, where US plus state tax rate = higher than Japan. Cut the tax rate, and US firms would be more likely to increase operations in US.

* China can produce goods more cheaply than can the US. But, you get into quality issues. I won't buy any more appliances or clocks made in China, because they fall apart after a year, don't have clear user instructions, the warranty requires you to contact US wholesaler rather than retail outlet. If it's made in China and has moving parts, I'm cautious to buy it.
The listed tax rate is really not an accurate representation. Because of how US taxes are determined. with deductions, credits etc the US actually has one of the lowest effective and marginal tax rates in the world. The complexity of our tax code is sometimes a good thing and sometimes a negative. The lack of transparency when comparing taxes in different countries is one reason you can make arguments about taxation that do not hold up. I believe the real issue is how our tax code is manipulated by special interests, from every part of the political spectrum. I do not know if we are hurt by this because valid comparisons are almost impossible to properly research.
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post #17 of 82
8/5/10 at 7:07pm

Re: All Golf Clubs made in China?

I believe some of the smaller club makers such as Miura and Scratch get their materials from Japanese foundries. ex: Scratch golf http://www.scratchgolf.com/) shape and ground their clubs in the US. Scratch golf's original heads are from the Ishihara foundry in Japan.

footnote the Scratch 8620 wedges are manufactured in China.
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post #18 of 82
8/5/10 at 8:14pm

Re: All Golf Clubs made in China?

I just picked up a new Callaway driver. There was a sticker on the shaft saying that the parts were made in China and Vietnam, but assembled in the US. I imagine that most of the major companies are the same.
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