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The Acushnet Company, parent company of Titleist, has sued Cam Golf, Inc., City Sports, Inc., Faber Brothers, Inc., GI Joe’s, Inc., and Kings of Golf, Inc. for selling counterfeit Titleist Pro V1 golf balls, the world’s best-selling golf ball and the preferred ball of professional players worldwide.<\/p>\n
Said Titleist in a press release, “These suits are the result of each of these entities either distributing allegedly counterfeit Titleist Pro V1 golf balls at wholesale or selling allegedly counterfeit Pro V1 golf balls in retail locations.”
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\nThe press release continued, “The suits against City Sports and GI Joes resulted from consumers who had purchased these products from various retail location and brought sales of counterfeit product to Acushnet’s attention. These samples were submitted to Acushnet, who confirmed that they and other samples subsequently obtained were counterfeit. City Sports and GI Joes are not authorized retailers of Titleist Pro V1 golf balls and purchase Titleist Pro V1 balls through the grey market and other unauthorized channels.”<\/p>\n
Finally, Cam Golf, Faber Brothers, and Kings of Golf (also known as KG Golf) are alleged to have supplied counterfeit golf balls to various retail locations around the country.<\/p>\n
I have personally visited Titleist’s ball-making plants in southeastern Massachusetts. Every Titleist and Pinnacle is made in the United States. Most grey-market golf balls come from China, a common source for anything ranging from grey-market DVDs and CDs to electronics, and sporting equipment.<\/p>\n
Simple word to the wise: if you buy anything you suspect as being counterfeit by any manufacturer – golf clubs, balls, bags, or clothes – contact the manufacturer. In many cases, they’ll ask you to send them the item in question and will replace the item with an authentic one or otherwise take care of you.<\/p>\n