All Clones Bad - Hard for me to believe.

[missin44]

Killed some time today and did a search regarding clone clubs. Seems 90% of the posts regarding clones were bad, basicly saying they were junk. First, I confirm I know very little about golf equipment, but I have a hard time believing all clones are junk. I'm sure there are a few out there that are, on the other hand my guess is thet there a a few being made that are the equal or at least 95% the equal of the real thing. I say this because it's not going to be any different than other high priced hobbies I have - fly fishing ($600 fishing rods, I own 6 rods) is a good example. I have 4 name brand $600 rods and 2 "lower end" rods under $200, all cast like a dream and all catch fish.

Anyway just the thoughts of a no nothing wanna be golfer.

[jackace]

Clones usually aren't horrible, but to the avid golfer the clones do not offer the same experience or quality that a good set of custom fit clubs will offer. Its kind of like you going to Wal-Mart and picking up the flying fishing special on the shelf. It will get the job done but you can REALLY tell a difference and the difference usually has an impact on how well you enjoy your recreational time with the activity.

[missin44]

Understand what you're saying, however I suspect he worst clones are better than anything you'll find at Wally World.

[jackace]

maybe so but finding a good clone is hard. The Quality Control is not there so the clubs play different from club to club sometimes. I have heard some horror stories, but then i have heard some good outcomes.

[total consciousness]

Friend of mine got some Titlelist clubs and four of them broke within a month. He also bought some ProVee balls and a couple of them exploded when he hit them. His Stevey Cameron putter had a weird galvanized steel shaft and it broke and almost impaled him one day.

[lamebums]

I'm not sure about cheaper clubs. I think that it's possible to get a good set of clubs on the cheap, but we're talking about some really serious hit and miss here.

The first real set of clubs I had was a pretty el cheapo set made by Northwestern that my father had bought for me at a K-mart ($120). I dented the driver during the first round, and returned it for another, slightly more expensive set ($150). I scored two dents on that driver within a week, and returned that one too. I instead got a Wilson set ($200), and those clubs actually lasted me for years. The driver died early last summer, in fact, all of the clubs started falling apart last year. It was primarily due to a bad swing more than anything else, but considering I'd had them for 7-8 years, it wasn't bad at all.

I'd needed new clubs, anyway... since when I grew, the clubs got shorter, and I started hitting more toppers.

When the Wilson driver died (the head inexplicably fell off, of it's own accord, as I held it out on the 10th tee), I bought a cheap Acuity driver from Dick's. My buddies and I jokingly called it the "Big Dog" and then poked fun at me because my drives went less than 200 yards - I was the big dog who hit a golf ball like a little puppy.

I got lots of dents on that before the year was out...after which, I moved up to more expensive, well-known brand-names and such. No problems since then.

[Cleveland Gunmetal]

As far as clones go I personally wouldn't ever get them. Are they all bad? Well, "bad" is a relative term but nah, I bet some of them are just fine. The problem is you have no idea which one's are okay and which one's are complete garbage. It really is hit or miss and I think it's more miss than hit. I haven't heard too many people give positive reviews on clones. Bottom line is I think you get what you pay for. Instead of buying a new set of clones I'd look for a used set of good irons. Probably end up paying the same price and you would get a name brand set of irons, perhaps a few years old that you know will be good quality. At one of our local golf stores they get used sets in all the time, and actually have a lot right now at very affordable prices.

[allin]

The real issue is with the term "clones". Copies of others work are a form of theft. There are reputable companies, Golfsmith, Maltby, Tour Edge etc. who offer good equipment at modest prices. Of course there are lots of smaller or newer companies that don't get premium pricing but make very good equipment. True clone companies are not acting ethically. Do you want to risk your hard earned cash with a comany you know you can't trust? There are always great deals on discontinued lines or equipment which has had minor changes for a new year if you want new equipment. Changes year to year, especially in irons is less than the marketing would make you believe.

[MilnerJ]

the only clone i'd ever tried is the "White Shot Twin Ball".... hahaha, it looked cheap and felt even worse

[puttmaster]

Its all what the person can do with the club. When I was a broke college kid i bought some callaway knock offs. It didnt matter so me what I was hitting because I learned how to play those particular irons. You could strap a rock to a stick and use it as a club and get better with each shot. The only thing that clones will not do is cost you a lot of money. Clubs are a status symbol for 95% of the golfers. I see so many chops at my club that have $2000 in their bag and a handicapp that matches my putts per round (i dont one putt every green). So take it for what its worth. If your strapped for cash....get some clones.

[Gregoire]

I have new irons ordered in but for the past 2 seasons have been using Nike Slingshot clones. They've treated me great, but I've been needing to switch due to improvement of my game, I have begun to balloon my short irons and cannot work the ball as easily as i'd like. If you are a mid-high handicapper, look into the Turbo Power clubs. Excellent value. www.golfclubsandmore.com sells them i believe.

[Cleveland Gunmetal]

Correct me if I'm wrong but I always thought clones and knock offs were different.

Knock offs - product looks "similar" to a leading companies product but advertises as being different, ie "King Snake" a knock off of King Cobra.

Clones - Copies of leading companies equipment and advertised as authentic.

Again, if it were me I wouldn't get either and take the same amount of cash and buy a decent used set. However, for someone beginning and low on cash I'd rather get knock offs than clones. As someone else said, companies that make clones cannot be trusted and should be punished by the law.

[iacas]

Correct me if I'm wrong but I always thought clones and knock offs were different.

Really, I think there are three areas.

Knock-Offs - Cheap, low-quality, meant to look exactly like the club. "Great Bargain"s on eBay because the Callaway FT-5 you just think you bought is not an actual Callaway. These sell by tricking people into thinking they're getting the real thing - or something as good as the real thing. Clones - Clubs made by third parties and made to look somewhat like popular name-brand clubs, but which aren't. For example, "Big Bubba" irons which look just like Big Bertha, etc. These usually aren't great quality (and certainly aren't the quality of their namesake), but they're not as bad as knock-offs either. These sell because they should perform almost as well as the real thing and they aren't illegal like knockoffs. For example, http://www.pinemeadowgolf.com/golf-c...excel.hlp.html . Components - These are clubs made by smaller manufacturers like Snake Eyes, etc. that might do their own thing or might meld a bunch of the technologies used by the bigger companies. These clubs are usually pretty good, and really, this is just a way of separating the "big" companies from the smaller ones like Snake Eyes, Lynx post-2000, Alpha, etc. So, yeah, two areas actually if you just look at the top two, four if you consider all of them. The fourth being "Big Name Companies" like Titleist, TaylorMade, etc.

[Thrdroc]

I would try to stick with Components as said by iacas .

I played a set of Confidence clubs for about 7-8 years which i just updated because they were way to short. There weren't bad clubs at all. Actual 2 years after i bought them, the company that was making them was bought up by Cleveland so they must have been doing something right.

[AndyinSF]

I have Turbo Power wide soles I got on eBay when I was just getting back into the game. After playing 10 rounds I can't stand them and can't wait to get a players set.

[Dent]

These werent clone clubs, but my friend got a set of top flight clubs, and when he hit the 3 iron, he indented the face of the club, it looked like a total muck it was just squished wayyy in. Also his driver had a defect where the face wasnt flat, it was noticeably rounded. so the sides were deeper than the face was.

[Guardian5]

Greetings,

My question is about Pinemeadow golf clubs. On their website they refer to themselves as 'clones,' but not in the definition that iacas provides. Would they fall under component clubs then?

They make a conforming driver (Doublewall 9.5, 10.5) so the USGA knows the company exists. It seems like the USGA could dampen questionable companies by having course/club management emphasize the conforming equipment lists.

I'm brand new to golf. So I'm still trying to wrap my head around all the (mis?) information available to golfers.

[Snake]

I have some Pinemeadow clubs. I don't consider them clones because they don't claim to be the name brands they are based on. They say "Compare to Taylor Made R7s" or "Compare to Ping G5s" but they have their own model name and are slightly different. In terms of quality, they are good - nothing at all wrong with them. Having said that, the clubs I'm using now do feel better, especially the irons. Could be a mental thing, but regardless, the Mizunos and Clevelands seem better to me.