ASIA: Thousands of fake golf clubs seized in China
More than 20,000 counterfeit golf clubs were seized in a series of raids in China last month.
First reported by Golfweek, the US Golf Manufacturers Anti-Counterfeiting Working Group, along with police agencies in China, carried out six raids in the cities of Dongguan, Guangzhou, Longhui, Shanghai and Shaoyang.
Amongst the items seized were fakes versions of clubs from Callaway, PING, Scotty Cameron, TaylorMade, Titleist and XXIO. Club components and apparel items were also picked up.
Integrity threatened
In a release, Daryl Rocco, a senior paralegal for Callaway, said: “As golf continues to grow in popularity, counterfeiters are taking drastic measures to deceive the public and threaten the integrity of the game.
“The enforcement efforts driven by the Golf Group are growing steadily, and we’re thrilled authorities in China are sending the message that producing and selling fake golf equipment is unacceptable.”
The US Golf Manufacturers Anti-Counterfeiting Working Group consists of six of the most well-known golf companies in the world: Acushnet Company, whose brands are Titleist, FootJoy and Scotty Cameron; Callaway-Odyssey; Srixon and Cleveland Golf; PING; PXG; TaylorMade and Adams Golf.
Since its inception in 2004, the group’s efforts led to the shutdown of more than 1,500 websites and authorities have seized more than two million counterfeit golf products.
The largest-ever raid of counterfeit golf equipment was conducted in 2020, which saw an additional 120,000 pieces of fake golf equipment seized and 15 defendants detained and arrested.
Source: bunkered
