Club makers teed by fakes

Dave Brooks

Huntington Beach-based Cleveland Golf has joined forces with six

other golf companies to fight a proliferation of fake golf clubs

being sold on the Internet and at golf expos across the country.

About 60% of the world’s golf equipment is made in China,

according to a recent study by the U.S. Department of Commerce.

Counterfeiters in areas like Shanghai and the Guangdong Province

benefit from the proximity of the production, gathering access to

club-making technology and new product information.

China accounts for more than 75% of pirated products in all

industries, according to the International AntiCounterfeiting

Coalition, totaling more than $500 billion in siphoned profits. While

counterfeiting has always been a problem, the Internet and online

auction sites have made it easier to sell clubs without detection.

In response, Cleveland Golf and the others formed a specialized

task force to go after counterfeiters, who often sell the clubs on

the Internet.

“We’ve been cooperating with most of the other companies in the

industry,” Keith Patterson of Cleveland Golf said.

The companies -- Adams, Callaway, Cleveland, Cobra, Nike,

TaylorMade and Titleist -- have hired Orange County attorney Rob

Duncanson, and have been working with the government of China to

crack down on the fakes.

In December 2003, Cleveland Golf teamed with Guangdong Province

officials in one of the largest series of raids of its kind to crack

down on counterfeit golf equipment.

The investigation, coordinated between the Baker & McKenzie

investigative firm and the Chinese Technical Service Bureau closed

down several dozen facilities. Company President Greg Hopkins said

his group was successful because it partnered with others in the

industry.

“I believe we should try to resolve this problem as an industry,”

he said. “Counterfeit manufacturing undermines the integrity of all

our products.”

Further enforcement actions have been led by Callaway and Nike,

but U.S. Customs official Ed Galucio said those actions are often

just a drop in the bucket toward the larger problem.

“On the enforcement end, these companies are at a loss. When

you’re dealing with products being bootlegged on the other side of

the globe, it requires a major effort just to stop a few people,” he

said. “Any real curtailing of counterfeiting is going to take a

serious effort on the part of the (Technical Service Bureau) and an

education campaign at home.”

Cleveland and others have already launched an initiative to teach

consumers how to spot fake clubs. Callaway Golf has even launched a

pre-owned certification program, and is training pro-shop and

second-hand retail stores to spot fakes.

“A trained eye can tell the difference between knockoffs and

in-line clubs,” Sean Tenny of Huntington Beach’s Play it Again Sports

said. “Generally the logos are out of place and something just isn’t

correct.”