Did I buy a fake?

[madcityscott]

I bought a Ping Rapture hybrid off a guy on Craigslist but now I'm worried I bought a counterfeit. For one thing, it just feels dead, even on flush hits. Secondly, it doesn't have a serial number on the hosel. It was only $30 (possibly another clue!) so I'm not going to be heartbroken if it's not legit.

[FHopper]

Not all clubs have serial numbers. Have you researched this at ping.com to see if hybrids have #s?.

[Cussin hacker]

No S/N is not a good sign. I'd say fake.

[Shanks A Million]

I had heard, although I can't back it up, that early Ping G10s felt lifeless. I guess they fixed them, because I never heard about it again.

[LBlack14]

No S/N is not a good sign. I'd say fake.

So NOT true.

[madcityscott]

I took a second look and my 45-year old eyes had missed the (tiny) serial number. I've got an email into Ping to see if it's legit.

[pxc]

Will knowing it's real make it feel any less dead?

[madcityscott]

Will knowing it's real make it feel any less dead?

Ping got back to me and it's a real club. I guess I'm a little surprised because the Rapture irons I've hit have felt so alive. Hybrids are just different animals, I guess.

[Cussin hacker]

So NOT true.

How so? I think Ping has S/N's on all of their clubs. Other makers don't always do that. He found a S/N anyway, but still has a dead club. 30$ mistake....I've made plenty of them myself.

[Shanks A Million]

Ping got back to me and it's a real club. I guess I'm a little surprised because the Rapture irons I've hit have felt so alive. Hybrids are just different animals, I guess.

I think it was true what I heard then, the early G-10 and Raptures were lifeless. It could have just been a production run, but I heard a vendor talking about how he was pulling the G-10s and putting the G-5s back out because no one was buying the G-10s.

[patriot07]

For what it's worth, a good serial number isn't 100% confirmation of a real club. All a counterfeit manufacturer has to do is buy one club and make 1,000 with the same serial number. The only way to know for sure if a club is real is to buy it new from an authorized retailer.

And for the most part, the lack of a serial number would be a strike against it. Sure, some clubs don't have serial numbers, but most legit ones do and plenty of fake ones don't, so you're certainly looking at an increased risk of a club being fake. But the OP found his, so this is a bit off topic...

[Dub]

$30....I'd be more concerned that it was stolen.