The Counterfeit Problem

It’s estimated that as many as 2 million counterfeit golf clubs are produced each year. If you laid every fake club end-to-end they would stretch from Bethpage Black to Pebble Beach and back again. That’s more than 5000 miles. And that doesn’t even consider the millions of fake balls, bags, gloves, and apparel produced.

It’s a major problem.

The growth of the internet and auction sites has led to an increase in the sale of counterfeit products over the last decade. As a result, consumers mistakenly spend hundreds of millions of dollars every year on fakes. The efforts of the group have led to raids and seizures of millions of counterfeit clubs, but there is still considerable work left to do.

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Who we are

The U.S. Golf Manufacturers Anti-Counterfeiting Working Group is dedicated to stopping the production, distribution and sale of counterfeit or fake golf equipment across the globe. Formed in 2004, the group is made up of six of the largest golf manufacturers in the world: Acushnet Company, whose brands are Titleist, FootJoy, Vokey Design and Scotty Cameron; Callaway-Odyssey; Srixon, Cleveland Golf and XXIO; PING; PXG and TaylorMade Golf.

These manufacturers came together to protect the integrity of the game and to protect the consumers they’ve served for so many years.

The group works internationally with law enforcement and government agencies to identify and eliminate counterfeit operations while simultaneously working to raise consumer awareness of the issue.

This isn’t a brand issue; it’s an honesty issue, it’s a quality issue, and in some cases, it’s a safety issue. For the good of customers and for the good of the game, the group is committed to putting an end to these fakes — because fake clubs are for fake golfers.

“Earlier this year while looking to upgrade to a Scotty Cameron putter, I found a deal on Wish.com for a 2016 Scotty Cameron Select Newport 2 for a price of $80. I figured it was coming from somewhere that had an overstock left over from 2016 and the price was too good to pass up. When the putter finally arrived I noticed many things that didn’t look or feel right to me. Upon researching how to spot a fake I found that everything that could be wrong was wrong with this putter. I immediately contact Wish to let them know they have sold a counterfeit Cameron and within 10 minutes they had refunded my money and said there was no need to send the putter back. I learned my lesson and a month later I went to a Titleist authorized dealer and ordered a new Cameron putter. It was nice to get my money back, but to this day you can still buy that putter on Wish.com with who knows how many people are getting these fakes and not knowing. Thank you for doing what you do.“

-Kelly

“I recently purchased two single irons 3 and 4 that were supposedly legitimate from a website. After hitting them today I can safely say they aren’t the real deal. It’s so disappointing. I really want to buy a complete set but saw this as a chance to chip away at getting a whole set. I’m sick of these counterfeiters making money off of people like this.”

-Steve

“I purchased a set of irons online a year ago that were supposedly legitimate. I thought I got a great deal, but when they arrived and I opened the box, I instantly realized they were fake. It definitely wasn’t the best deal I thought it would be.”

-Ben

“My nephew was about to buy some clubs from an online store, but the website had no contact address or phone number. And when you clicked the email link, it defaulted to a different company email address. When I went to that website I was redirected to your site. Because of you guys my nephew didn’t get stuck with fake golf clubs. Keep up the good work! Thanks.”

-Michael

“A few years ago, I bought a driver from a website as a gift for my husband. At the time I thought I was getting a steal of a deal. When I got it in the mail I was so excited to give it to him and when I did he was ecstatic. But when he went to play in a small tournament, he swung the club and the head flew off! I was so disappointed that I had bought my husband a fake club and it still irritates me to this day. So I just wanted to say, thank you doing what you do and shutting down websites like the one I ordered from. You have saved so many people from this frustration!”

-S.L.

“I’ve been looking for a certain set of irons on various discount golf club websites and came across a website closed down by your group. I found it very helpful and it confirmed what was in the back of my mind; if it’s too good to be true then it probably is. Thanks for being on the lookout for these rogue sites. I’ll only buy from an authorized dealer now.”

-Paul