From The Scotsman: Golf industry struggles against counterfeiters
Excerpt: As the world’s top golfers compete this weekend in the 134th Open Championship, the industry finds itself facing a growing challenge posed by a flood of cheap, Chinese-made counterfeit golf equipment.
Counterfeits were cited as the final straw by John Letters, Scotland’s most famous golf club manufacturer which collapsed on the eve of the Open and was placed into the hands of a receiver…
…But a spokesman said that the counterfeit golf clubs emerging from China recently had been a significant factor in its decision to call in the receiver…
…The counterfeit clubs are being sold to customers around the world mainly on the internet. They look like genuine products from top golf club equipment makers like Callaway, Nike, Wilson and TaylorMade.
Complete sets are being offered for sale for a few hundred dollars on internet sites such as eBay. Chinese counterfeiters have raised the art of copying to such a level that six leading golf equipment manufacturers have hired detectives to trace the fakers in the hope that they can eventually force the closure of their illegal manufacturing operations.