Clone Golf Clubs - Are They a Good Buy?
The first thing that you will notice about clone golf clubs is that they cost approximately 1/3 of the price of the name brand clubs. The hard dollar consideration is 0 to 00 for a full set of name brand clubs, compared to 0 to 0 for clones. For the average golfer, with an average income, that is a very significant consideration. Why the big difference in pricing? It is mostly due to the millions of dollars that the brand name companies spend on advertising and professional player endorsements. They have to recover those costs and the end result is that their products must be sold at much higher prices. They also want to keep their retailers happy so they allow large profit margins, near 50%, and allow very limited deviation from the suggested retail price.
An in-depth look at the differences between clone golf clubs and those of the name brands must also include an examination of the manufacturing sources. Manufacturing of golf club heads has moved out of the USA because of the lower cost of production in China and Mexico. Presently, there are no club heads manufactured in the US. In fact, there are foundries in China that produce both name brand club heads and clones. The assembly of golf clubs is a little different story. There is some assembly being done in the US but mainly by the clone producers because it allows greater flexibility in the custom options being offered. In general, the clone club producers offer an easier, broader, route to customized clubs than their name brand competitors. They offer many more options in shafts, grips and custom fitting services that are difficult to get in the name brands.
So what about club performance? There is a logical conclusion to that question. If the club head designs are similar, the manufacturing sources the same, and the clubs heads are fitted with similar shafts and grips, clones are surely capable of performing as well as the name brand clubs. Occasionally, you will see evidence of it when a touring professional carries an "off-brand" club in his bag. And further, he uses it because it works for him. It happens infrequently because most pros are being paid to play the big name clubs.
The physical difference between clone golf clubs and big name brand clubs is extremely small, but the price difference between the two is huge. If you have not yet been totally brainwashed by the nonstop media hype and advertising surrounding the big club names, you can save a lot of money by purchasing clone clubs and you will play just as well as you would with any other brand.
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