Consumers Warned About Fake Golf Equipment
BOSTON (CBS) - Counterfeit clubs, balls and equipment are rampant in the golf industry and even the most savvy players can fall for these fakes.
You too could be ripped off and even injured by these bogus knock-offs unless you know what to look out for.
We looked at two golf balls marked with the Titleist logo -- one real and one fake. You can't tell from the outside, but when you look inside, you can see. The counterfeit ball is mostly hollow and the real one has a solid purple core.
The counterfeit ball, seized by U.S. Customs agents, won't absorb a swift swing or roll down the green the way you'd expect.
"Counterfeiters want to make the product as cheaply as possible while still looking passable to you," said Therese Randazzo of U.S. Customs and Border Control.
WBZ-TV's Paula Ebben reports.
Added Michael Byrnes, an experienced golfer: "These guys are good. The differences are almost indistinguishable."
Byrnes got lured into buying fake clubs online.
He showed us one of his counterfeit clubs and compared it to a real one. The Titleist lettering is smaller on the fake than on an authentic club. And one of the "7's" on the counterfeit is thicker than on the real one.
The real test? Part of the club head is supposed to be made of Tungsten - a metal a magnet won't stick to. So by performing a simple magnet test, Byrnes confirmed he got clubs made not of Tungsten, but of steal.
The counterfeiters even make golf apparel, but there is a way to spot it. With the fake, the packaging inside the box is from China, and that's where most counterfeit equipment is made.
Golf balls, clubs and apparel are just some of the hundreds of items U.S. Customs seizes every year. And the numbers are going up.
In 2009, agents seized 519 counterfeit golf items. In 2010, that number jumped to 786.
"It's a problem that's very difficult to stop," said Randazzo.
So what's the damage to golfers who buy the fake stuff? It can actually be a safety issue.
We looked at one counterfeit club and the shaft had bent after one use. Experts say fake equipment like that can actually cause injuries.
Of course counterfeit equipment can chip away at your game. The swing weights are different and that will certainly impact a club's performance.
And if that's not bad enough, the knock-offs won't even save you money. In most cases a fake golf item is not much cheaper than the real thing.
