Dynacraft were clone heads but had a following. Wanna buy some clubs? I used Geek Drivers in Senior Long Drive Competitions, none of which I won, but it wasnt because of the Geek equipment, it was a faulty swinger (me) not the equipment. The 2nd tier often makes some of the mid-size golf companies that a lot of you play but they also make some of the top components and clones for companies like Golfsmith, Hireko and Diamondtour . Club fitting should never be a guessing game.We incorporate Trackman technology the finest launch monitor fitting capabilities to insure each customer receives the best equipment for their individual swing. I have seen a few really bad knockoffs. How is the overall health of golf these days? SEARCH ALL Used GOLF CLUBS FROM ALL BRANDS Take a look back at some of the old clubs and you will see theres nothing new. Having never played before i cant say too much but my mates whove played for years were impressed after trying them out. The real issue is what so called reputable companies charge for their equipment. With respect to backspin the numbers are incredibly close. The guys whose clones (similarly designed recreations of clubs from the big golf companies) rattle proudly in their bags, and there are the guys that wouldnt dream of playing something that wasnt made by a name EVERYBODY knows. Keep up the great work! I have seen a few really bad Adams, Callaway, Cobra, Nike, and Ping clubs. I bought a pickup truck bed worth of components from the estate of a mom/pop club builder. Counterfeits and Clones from the same cloth While not all their designs are clones, they do carry a large majority of clone heads (which is understandable as they started as a clone company). Our numbers suggest a clone offers more bang for the buck. Purchasing used golf clubs is a great way to ensure you have quality equipment in your golf bag at the right price. But not the component club heads. What condition are your used clubs? Tom Wishon was at Dynacraft before moving to Golfsmith. A different animal than what the test was. Cant find a reference when I Google it. Oh and I like their hybrid and fairway wood models. Reminds me of the guy from the PING fitting van yes, all our products are Made in the USA the you flip the club and it had a big sticker saying designed in the USA, head manufactured in China, assembled in who knows where. I would love to see this same thing done with a set of irons. It was promoted as a driver and fairway wood combination. Copyright 2023 1757 Golf Club All Rights Reserved. Guest Delete Before posting this article I re-confirmed with 3 foundries that they do indeed make them for both markets still. Id also love to see more articles on component manufacturers. Do you recall a clone called Arnies Own several years ago? He played 6 over par and was so accurate to the green and on the green. Think someone mentioned that here? Copyright 2022 MyGolfSpy I have purchased components from Golfsmith, Golfworks, Hireko and Diamond Tour Golf to name a few. Dave Tutelman preferred pinhawk heads over other single lengths due to their matching of his "progressive gapping" preference. Four years later, in March 2001, the U.S. District Court in Los Angeles ruled that R.J. Liou, Kent Graphtec and Trophy Sports, a separate company started by Jethro and his mother, Yeh-Chyn, in late 2000, had breached the settlement by continuing to sell Big Bursars. I recently played golf without my set while visiting my brother. http://www.diamondtour.com/golf-bags.html, http://www.pinemeadowgolf.com/golf-clubs/accessories/ It may be understandable that we as consumers can be fooled by Counterfeits/Copies (Illegal), but there is no way anyone of us could not identify a Clone/Knock-Off (Legal). I bought it and it was perfect. Fast forward to now and Dynacraft is Hireko complete with Jeff Summit, a go to guru on club building and perfotmance that worked Dynacraft with Tom Wishon. I cant say enough good things about the quality of the clubs I have purchased from Giga. What I will say is that I glued together a few of their sets for buddies and lofts, lies and head weights are not spot on. Since early 2000, that practice has become more and more limited as the most contracts between OEMs and Foundries, prevent the foundry from producing Clones. If you have a greater tolerance for the absence of feel, or unpleasant sound (and we know many do), then perhaps its time you stopped paying big bucks for name brand equipment, and started looking into a quality clone. The clone guys will tell you that the name brand stuff is overpriced and doesnt perform any better than the OEM stuff they were designed to look like. I for one would like to see more tests of component clubs similar to the Dynacraft Prophet Tour Iron test done a few months back. Women's MyGolfSpy (WMGS) General Discussion Forum, Lessons, Drills, Fitness and Training Aids, Suggestion Box - Reach out to the Forum Staff (Open for All Member Responses). This site is full of PGA Professionals, Company Reps, and the suggestion to use Clone/Knock Off clubs is disrespectful. Amazon.com: Single Length Golf Irons https://www.hirekogolf.com/golf-components/clubheads/golf-irons/pinhawk-vertex-dual-length-iron-clubhead.html. The average difference between the 2 clubs was just slightly more than .25 degrees, with the Burner producing the higher launch for 2 of our 3 testers. Nice little golf club maker. With a higher quality manufacturing process the clone design might actually work. Nearly all heads are made in China, but that isnt the point. Specifically TM P770. My DTG S2 Pros were both on spec. The real enemy here is the counterfiet club not the knock-off, in an age where we are all trying to bring more people to this wonderfully aggrevating game I think that the knock-offs help fill a price point and allow more people to afford to play the game. I trust GolfWorks regarding their club head model designs/quality and spec tolerances. An excerpt from Pssst . Might as well play with a half set. Go to eBay, or Diamond Tour. I understand the average iron costs less than $10 to make thats head shaft and grip. I wish you would have also tested the stock shaft on that clone driver. Im sorry but some of your facts are wrong. You can do lab tests forever, but if a club does not feel right for your swing, it doesnt matter how it did in tests. Unless its Oscar Peterson. They are good components and last as long as other components, I have bought. I called Hireko and spoke to the guy who makes the videos (tech line). Powered by Invision Community. I played a set of extremely cheap looking rental clubs. Lets connect the dots. Turner T7 that resembles a TaylorMade r7. My son is custom club maker and said that his best selling iron head. and components (i.e., Alpha, Hireko, Golfworks, Snake Eyes, Wishon, KZG, etc.). I need cheap clubs and their just as good. That is a ridiculous statement to make thatthe component industry has more firsts then the Majors!! still undecided on shaft. $249.99. But both models tested were 460cc titanium drivers. It just isnt very admirable. Speaking of non OEM brands, which of the following irons will be best quality for play- Maltby, Wishon,, Alpha, Kzg, Hireko, etc. Both I felt were manufactured from just poor quality materials all around (shaft, club head and grips). That was a great article, anything that can spark so much emotion and debate is a good thing. Sadly, thats ignorance on the consumers part. As for the clone argument, are those on the side of the big manufacturers going to stay on their side if we take this argument to off brand manufacturers who design and make some very good clubs but dont have the budget to promote like the giants? Material used is cheaper. Hed have the components assembled at his warehouse outside of Los Angeles and would distribute them to retailers all over the U.S. The golf business was so good between 1991 and 97, you could sell anything, Jethro says. Bottom Line: For some folks a clone will dodepends on what kind of player they are -or want to become.Ive used a Pinemeadow clone putter and holed just as many shots as I have with an Odyssey White Hot Two Ballmethinks the main problem with clones might be psychological as one wonders how much better the real thing isand of course clones have zero resale value if that becomes an issue later on down the road. It's rather nice, spins decently, good feel. I agree with some other posts. Given its what youre actually swinging. I did not hear of Pinhawk until the single length club movement gain in popularity (last ~10 years or so). In addition to his editorial responsibilities, he was instrumental in developing MyGolfSpy's data-driven testing methodologies and continues to sift through our data to find the insights that can help improve your game. Clone/Knock-Off Golf Clubs: Have cosmetic resemblance to true Manufacturer Clubs, but internally they are not the same. Pinhawks are a separate entity, and they are pretty good. 5,6,7@ one length and 8-gw @ a shorter length) a year ago. Then to follow it up with the only diff is that the Major OEMs have more money to B.S. In 1997 R.J. Liou reached a settlement with Callaway. No need to point that out and recommend starting a new thread for those who insist on making that there lifes mission. Keep them coming! These perform great. Ill start off by saying I have both OEM and clone clubs in my bag (I have the new Taylor Made R1 driver which I love that just replaced my old Taylor Made R7 and Ping 3 hybrid, and some older Ping woods). Further, if the same tip diameter shaft (likely .335) is used for both, the shim that wouldve been used for the Burner would not effect the performance in any way. The connections between CLones and Counterfeits have been made. HeIl, we may even have completely different views on what best means. There are better clone models of this driver, although we decided to go with a mid-tier model. Im talking pure clones not Bang, Geek, Krank, etc. Then if it is assembled, how well is it assembled. Length Adjustments We can make your clubs longer or shorter depending on your needs. Single Starting should also include lessons. On average the apex of each shot was justslightlyunder 2.5 yards higher with the Burner, which along with higher ball and club head speeds explains the difference in carry yardage between the clubs. About Hireko Golf I like both Hireko and GolfWorks but for different reasons. First I will answer the bottom line question "Do the clubs from Hireko stand up to Malt Always has been and always will be. While there may have been a foundry that produced both OEM and Clone, it isnt a general rule, as OEMs have strict contracts with the foundries they use, that prevents the practice. After all, there is no way on this green earth that a clone with an assembled price of less than $100 ($59 head only) could outperform a club from a popular golf company with an initial price tag of $300 right? 2nd Swing offers the largest selection of But the same thing can be said about some of the name brand models as well. I paired that up w a recoil pull and I love that club, it's my go-to for tee shots if driver isn't behaving. Summing up what I said, clones made me a lot of money but I couldnt sell them now due to pretty much zero qc on the part of the importers. Ive tried Hirekos Green Ghost and Blue Crush and DTGs FGS Nano and Id put them up against anything out there. WebUsed Golf Clubs. So, they go in that direction. GigaGolf offers True Temper shafts as their standard shaft and you can upgrade to different shafts and grips of your choosing. Can clone golf clubs perform as well as the higher priced name brand golf clubs?. Learn more about Roger. The one reason that the numbers have diminished is simply because there are less clone companies in existence compared to 5-8 years ago. While the TaylorMade Burner is a true glossy black, the Heated has what Id call a medium gloss gray. Why buy a clone when you can get very good used OEM or used component clubs from great firms like Wishon or KZG? that would be true in large part. All of the testers agreed that in terms of sound and feel, the clone is miles behind the real deal. I have a set of irons by Affinity. Single-length irons allow you to use the same ball position and setup for every club, giving you less to think about before swinging. You decide what you want. I switched to Dynacraft Prophet cavity backs and have not looked back. I cant say Ive chased the next new thing, only last year did I move the a 460 driver, of course I had to build three. I am/was a Dynacraft Class A clubmaker and a member of the old Dynacraft ProfessionalClubmakers Society. Because the ball position and club length are the same, you can use the same swing for every single-length iron, improving consistency and repeatability. Wishon was (and is) a design leader. Today is the ultimate test: Clone Golf Clubs (vs) Name Brand Golf Clubs. Steve Almo is among the most knowledgible individuals Ive ever met in the Golfing industry, and if I had to make a judgement on whose opinion was more accurate Id have to support Mr. Almo every time. If a component seller such as Diamond Tour wants to be fully legitimate, they need to invest fully in true component companies such as SMT, and abandon the practice of selling Clone clubs. The customs people thought my father was [the primary distributor of] King Snake, which in its heyday had something like 10% of the market, Jethro says, but a lot of people were importing that product. I have bought several other Hireko clubs and have been totally satisfied. Pasted as rich text. A lot of research goes into the wood and as Frank Thomas once said, a 3 yr old Wood is obsolete with the technology of today. I have been hitting fitted Giga Golf TRX slot irons. Paying full freight is worth it if the performance dictates. The later hurts the Golf Manufacturers and the integrity of their designs, thereby hurts all involved, Reps, Retailers, and yes ultimately the game of golf. Pinemeadows offers a lower end shaft as their standard, but you can upgrade too. For example it will look identical to the name brand model and even have the same name (ex: Taylormade R11 will be on both soles and look identical). (E.M. It may still happen, but it is less and less. In fact, I enjoyed better le from my 302s. I have used the big brands like TaylorMade, component brands like Golfsmith, and unbranded clone clubs. And some use the exact same molds. nice way to put down your own company. For those that are dead set against clonesyou should remember this.many name brand models are modeled after other companies designs as well. KZG couldnt afford them. Has anyone ever stolen an idea or proposal you have written? Cool. I started out 4 years ago with a Pinemeadow clone of the Callaway Big Bertha ironsthen moved up to the actual Big Berthas and did feel and see some difference in overall quality.however I did have trouble with one of the Callaway stock graphite shafts which flaked and split on my 8 iron.my feeling is that it would be difficult for me to determine the difference in large part because at the time I was so new to golf.-and perhaps I was feeling more confident with an OEM in my bag(FYI: I now play Nike long irons and Cleveland scoring clubs and love them! Just to finish it off, I also have DTGs S2 Pro 3h and 4h and Inazone CNC Shadow wedges. Some, like Frank Thomas (former USGA Tech. Clone Golf Clubs vs. Name Brand Golf Clubs
