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Clone Clubs, cheap alternative or waste of time?

SuperStroke
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Big_E

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I'm an 18 year old getting into golf, im looking into getting a new set of irons and wedges but i have a relatively low budget as i will be starting at the university of washington next year.

I've been to multiple golf stores and a custom golf club maker, and the custom club maker has the best deals, but he only sells clubs he makes, which use clone heads. specifically, I am interested in integra x-2 extreme irons which are x-22 clones and clones of r-7 hybrids.

My question for you all is are clones a decent choice for a total beginner, or should i save up for a brand name set?
 
I think there are plenty of cheaper sets out there that are name brands without having to go with clones.
 
A clone set will probably work for you for a while.

But you may be able to get a great deal on a used set. In fact, it will be even cheaper. For example, instead of getting an x-22 clone, you can get great deals for x-20s or x-18s. And you can pick up used Taylor rescue hybrids for next to nothing. As for drivers, there are so many you can find used for cheap. The only issue is you need to know which ones to get and make sure they fit you and your swing.
 
E-

You will get a variety of opinions, but my feeling is that clone clubs are fine for a brand new golfer. Brand name clubs are, generally speaking, pretty darn expensive. And considering that you aren't sure yet whether you are even going to stick with the game, there is no reason to spend upwards of $1,000 on a brand new bag of clubs that, ultimately may not suit your game. Of course, the quality of the clone makes a difference. While clones won't be as high of a quality as brand names, some are very serviceable. I don't know about Integra, but someone else might.

Having said that, because of the economy, there are some great deals on both new and used clubs right now.

Some people will also tell you to get a club fitting. But my feeling is that a full fitting is premature for someone just learning to swing a club. Getting measured (static fitting) is a good idea in case you need longer or shorter clubs, but a full swing fitting (dynamic fitting) won't be very useful because your swing will be all over the place until you have some experience and some lessons.

Some questions:

What is your price range? (Some people here might know of some great deals.)

How tall are you?

What is your wrist to floor measurement?
 
The price i got quoted on those clones was about 400 for 2,3,4 hybrids 5-9,pw,aw,sw x-2's.

I'm a solid 6'5'' 230 and i believe the static fitting said my floor to wrist was 38.5. the custom shop, tom wells golf (their website said well known, but their located about 20 minutes from my house, so i went in person) said id be plus 1.5 inches and 1 degree upright.

I got to test out the clubs because they had one of the irons and one of the hybrids in my length, just not upright, and i loved them. much better then the daiwas from the 80s that were my grandpas.
 
Good call Harry.

E, ok, now I understand your user name! That's a pretty good deal and that's a good setup for a beginner. It's going to be hard to beat that with older models or used clubs due to your specific requirements. I say go for it, get started practicing and playing, then figure out what you want/need for your next set as needed.
 
You might want to double-check that wrist-to-floor measurement. 38.5" is a little on the long side. And only 1* upright for 6'5" and 38.5" seems a tad flat. However, I am NOT a club fitter.

If you like the clubs, then $400 for a complete bag is a perfectly acceptable deal. But be advised that there are cheaper beginner sets out there. I know Costco carries Jack Nicklaus's "Golden Bear" line, but I don't know whether it comes in a +1.

Some stores have "house brands" like Precise at Pro Golf Discount. A complete set can be had for around $200.

Another option is http://callawaygolfpreowned.com/default.aspx and the clearance center in particular:
http://callawaygolfpreowned.com/clearancecenter.aspx?intcid=37
 
IMO, the qualityand performance of clones isnt the same as with namebrand clubs. For years I played with cheap, no-name clone clubs and they worked OK, but after I started playing namebrand clubs I could tell there was a pretty big difference both in quality and in performance.
 
i've measured at home and when i was there and im a 38.5" i guess i just have short arms for my height haha. according to ping's fitter, i should be 3* upright but the shop said id only need 1*, so im going with the shop since they would be building the clubs. ill look around but im ordering them for my birthday so tomorrow would be the day id have to decide. I can hit my 8 iron about 150 so my swing speed isnt slow, i just have flaws in my swing and consistantancy problems.

Bake- thanks for your input, this would just be until i get more serious, if i do. At this point im taking a lesson or two from some family friends who are very good golfers, but by no means pros. and even if i dont get serious now, i could be later in life. so im trying to make the best deal for right now

Thanks everyone for being so helpful!
 
One of my drivers is kind of a Taylor Made knockoff (the TRX Max from GigaGolf with three weights in the bottom). It was actually the first driver I was able to hit worth a carp.
 
Never buy clones as they are ripping off other manufacturers designs. Cheaper clubs on the other hand are fine. Everyone starts out with something less expensive at one point. But the clones and copies of Taylor Made, Ping, Callaways etc are just plain and simple stealing. I was playing with a friend once and using his knockoffs as I didnt have my clubs with me. I broke 2 of his irons that day on solid hits. They literally broke in half. Never to this day have seen something so weird but I cant imagine a good name brand EVER doing that.
 
Smallville- encouraging as my hybrids are clone r7's.
Kevin- i hope that doesnt happen to me, but if so, then ill learn my lesson.
 
E - I don't know anything about clubs so I can't offer any advice, but I think Kevin's story is purely anecdotal. Buy what you can afford - as Harry said, you're a brand new golfer. When you've played more and are no longer a student - you'll be in a position to spend more.
 
FWIW:
I don't have a problem with clones or knockoffs. The counterfeit clubs is the problem.

In my opinion, knockoffs is like my woods that are similar to the TaylorMade r7 but don't look exactly like it and don't try to copy the name. Clones look close to the same as brand name equipment but have a name like Big Brother or Big Bubba, etc. Counterfeits look just like the real thing and have the same name.
 
I have to go with smalls on this one too. He appears to be very wise from his posts. i think im going to order my clubs tomorrow and im looking forward to getting them for my birthday, possibly earlier!
 
Big_E said:
I have to go with smalls on this one too. He appears to be very wise from his posts. i think im going to order my clubs tomorrow and im looking forward to getting them for my birthday, possibly earlier!
Click to expand...

I'm not so wise, E! Just cheap! hehehe (I mentioned this to someone else earlier tonight, but I will to whatever I can to spend as little as possible!)
 
I hear ya! i feel like im getting the best deal i can so im going with it. hopefully my cousin will stay working at peutz(a local golf superstore) for a year or two, so when i want to upgrade, i can get a brand set for almost cost :egyptian:
 
If you are in Seattle....

your clubs are on craiglslist right now.... :) X20 tours

craigslist is great for clubs, provding you can weed out the liars, fakers and robbers!!

I got my irons off of CL, got a great deal.
 
i couldn't find the x20 tours but the x20 i found ended up being a smaller set than i wanted or not as good of a deal.
 
True clones are the exact same club you'd buy from whatever name brand manufacturer they're meant to mimic. That's because in many cases (though not all cases), once a manufacturer has run off as many units as they planned for in a given model year, the foundries that actually produce these units for the manufacturer hold the rights to the castings or forgings (usually castings).

Because of this, they are free to produce additional units using these these dies or molds as well as the same metals and alloys as were used for the manufacturer's units. The only difference is that the foundries can't use the trade names, graphics, fonts and usually the exact colors of the manufacturer to whom they were originally contracted. This is a common practice and these clones are essentially the identical club that was made for the name brand manufacturer save for the cosmetics. Not all manufacturers do this, but many (if not most) do.

Knockoffs, are often well made products that are designed to look like brand name products but do not attempt to either pass themselves off as such and are not exact copies. Knockoffs vary in quality from excellent to poor and are essentially a sort of "B" market - a market that (just like any other product market) offers good, bad and mediocre products. Knockoffs are not trying to make anyone believe that they're buying an exact copy of a name brand product, but rather offer products designed in the "spirit" or "trend" of a current market. For example, a knockoff driver may have very similar colors and graphics to that of a name brand driver (such as the black, yellow and silver of a Nike driver) and they may arrange those graphics in a similar way, but they are not advertising them as Nike drivers nor do they generally make claims that they are "just like" Nike drivers. They market them as their own design and if they happen to look like an SQ, then that's just a "coincidence".

Counterfeits, on the other hand, are imitations of name brand clubs that are designed to look exactly like the name brand club they're mimicking right down to the graphics and often there is no discernible cosmetic difference or perhaps a single letter in a name might be substituted to help defend against fraud charges. Counterfeits are often made from common or otherwise cheap materials as opposed to clones which use the same materials and manufacturing processes as the name brand manufacturer. Counterfeits are often poorly constructed and are made for the sole purpose of defrauding someone and collecting large sums of money for what would otherwise be regarded as junk.


-JP
 
JP- thank you for the knowledge on the difference.

on a tangent, leaving to order them. ill post some pictures when i get them!
 
Big_E said:
Bake- thanks for your input, this would just be until i get more serious, if i do. At this point im taking a lesson or two from some family friends who are very good golfers, but by no means pros. and even if i dont get serious now, i could be later in life. so im trying to make the best deal for right now
Click to expand...
Personally, Id buy used namebrand clubs on Ebay before I bought new knockoffs.
 
You can pick up used name brand clubs for a fraction of their original cost so why play clones? Just my opinion for what it's worth.
 
One other market that bears mentioning is the "Aftermarket", or the "Component" or "Alternative" market.

These are clubs made by Golfsmith, Golfworks, KZG, Nakashima, Bobby Jones and others which are top quality, original designs complete with all of the R&D and testing put into them as any so-called "Top Name" manufacturer.

I myself swear by Golfsmith (Snake Eyes) and Golfworks (Maltby) products as these, for me, have proven to be better than any clubs I've tried made by top shelf manufacturers. For example, I used to play a set of Snake Eyes 600B forged irons which I purchased after much comparison to name brand clubs. I had narrowed my search to a toss up between the 600B's and a set of Mizuno MP-33's and the Snake Eyes won out, not because of price, but because they performed better than the Mizuno's.

I also have a Maltby (Golfworks) driver that has to be the prettiest metal driver ever built with a titanium head that is pear-shaped and looks just like a large version of a classic persimmon driver. It is only 350cc's in volume, but it currently hold the record for the longest drive I've ever hit (341 yds.) and that was with a Dynamic Gold X-100 steel shaft to boot!

Most aftermarket clubs are sold as components and the consumer actually assembles the clubs themselves, though most (if not all) of these companies now offer completely assembled sets for an additional cost. These clubs are not clones or knockoffs and they're certainly not counterfeits. They are stand-alone products designed for club builders or club building enthusiasts and they are "the real deal" when it comes to performance and technology.

I have since graduated from my Snake Eyes 600B's to a set of 600C's, which are the cavity back versions of the former and they, just like the B's, are top quality and play fantastically well. After having had nothing but favorable experiences with the aftermarket world, I honestly can't see myself buying a "name brand" set of clubs again. I still buy from the majors. I like my R7 TP driver and my Nike fairway woods, but I chose them with an eye towards the aftermarket as well and just so happened that they won. But just as some prefer Callaway to MacGregor, I just happened to prefer these over others.

That's the way it is in a free market.


-JP
 
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