You have seen the advertisements. The incredible prices are obvious. Undoubtedly, you have wondered about the incredible price. “Are they as good as the brand names?”These are golf club clones. They’re basically cheap imitations. Cheap as it gets for brand-new golf equipment.
However, are they just as good?
The Bottom Line
You are in a hurry (who isn’t?)These are my conclusion:
Irons.You can find a lot of my used equipment for sale on eBay. You can also bet that I play almost every interest that comes through my office. The prudent question is: What do I have in my bag for someone like me, who can access and play almost anything? Answer: I have the same inexpensive, graphite-shafted set of clone golf irons that Pinemeadow Golf gave me a few years ago. I kid you not.
Drivers & Fairway Woods.Although it is no longer in my bag the overall experience I had with Pinemeadow’s graphite-shafted driver was satisfactory; both performance and feel were good. Although the fairway woods I used (3-Wood, 5-Wood) performed equally well with graphite shafts as my driver, their feel was not what I preferred. It is likely that this was due to sound. The Pinemeadows had a different sound than I expected.
To be honest, they don’t do it all the time. These fairways performed exactly as they were expected. They performed well. In fact, I placed third in a tournament using only Pinemeadow fairways. I was dumb enough to forget my driver, and instead used the 3-Wood as my driver. It was actually a blessing in disguise, given how wild and inconsistent I am with my driver. The fairway woods worked and they still do – so I kept the two around to be backup clubs or loaner clubs.
It’s important that you note the fact these comments were made on “older” product. Pinemeadow may have new woods products that are better than I have. The current overwhelming positive comments and customer feedback on their site seems to support this – however, I don’t know enough about them personally.
Hybrids.Cloned hybrids and brand-name ones are not something I have much to say. They have yet to be used by me. I have a bag with a 7-Wood instead of the 3-Iron. This configuration has worked well enough to keep me from getting into hybrids. My chances are good that I’ll soon jump on to hybrids. I’m not able to say much beyond that, except that the quality of cloned hybrids is comparable with those offered by woods clone producers.
Wedges.While cloned wedges are not in my bag, I carry Titleist Vokeys as gifts. However I have tried them out and I love the Cleveland-styled ones. They are great clubs with incredible value; I highly recommend them.
Putters.It’s a habit of mine to switch between different shafts and to rotate money around. I find that a 343 shaft is more enjoyable than a 333, and vice versa. Or, a mallet simply feels better than a traditional knife. Clone clubs such as Pinemeadow allow me to have a lot of putters, which I am able to use in my game. These putters are not available to me otherwise. “quiver of putters”My friends and I call this “clone putter” because of the high prices that many brand names charge. You don’t necessarily have to build this type of putter set; however, the point is that the clone canters are cheap and well worth the effort.
Read on and learn a lot more about what I experienced specifically, particularly in the area of realizing the importance of choosing the right company to purchase clones from because, quite frankly boys and girls, sh*t happens sometimes.
It All BeganIt’s like going back to when the game was first introduced, just a few years ago. Being a novice, I was eager to get started and wanted to use a more advanced set of tools than what you would find in a department store. However, spending the large sums for Callaways or Titleists was not an option. Not when I didn’t know if I was going on to continue playing the game.
After doing some research online and clicking around, I decided to purchase a pair of Acer Sole undercutirons from Pinemeadow golf. Why? Looks. The Acers were very much like the Callaway Hawkeyes. The Acers looked professional, respected, and sexy, which is what I consider important. This was a far cry from the cheap cosmetics offered by many other clone builders. Pinemeadow still has the most beautiful selection of clones in this category.
While I was at it, I also picked up the 3-club set of Acer XDS 2+ Stainless Woods (Callaway Hawkeye VFT clones), which included a 10º driver, 3-Wood and 5-Wood, and the Pure Roll Series M-1 putter (a Never Compromise mallet clone). Grips and shafts made of Standard Pinemeadow graphite (steel to putter), as well as grips. Remember, I was just a beginner and didn’t know much about anything. So I decided to play simple, cheap, and safe. I’d still be there if it didn’t appeal to me.
The same quality? Problems?
Needless to mention, I have become addicted to golf and am doing my best to reduce my handicap. In addition to my involvement in golf-related businesses, I also sell golf equipment via eBay.
This means that not only do I know enough to judge the performance of my clone club, but I am also able to play regularly and test expensive equipment to make fair and decent comparisons.
My Pinemeadow irons remain in my golf bag even as I write this. Brand name irons are not something I dislike – in fact, I love them. For this reason, and others like it too, I do own some TaylorMades as well as a few Clevelands. AllTaylorMades and Clevelands are, of course, the exact models I own.
It is all about the people. I’m no worse or more skilled with TaylorMades, the Clevelands, and TaylorMades that I am with the Pinemeadows. Similar results apply to Callaways Titleists Hogans Hogans Mizunos and any brand of equipment. No matter what club I’m using, my game plays the same way at every level.
The obvious conclusion is: It is me and the clubs.
Given how satisfied I am with the performance of the clones, why would I bother to buy brand names clubs for 8X the price (or more)? But they don’t give me any more game benefits than the clones.
We could argue that there is an incremental benefit or advantage to using the brand name over the clones. But, then we have to consider whether it’s worth the additional cost. Yes, it’s important to keep an eye on cost-benefit ratios. Based on my experience, this incremental benefit is not possible for mid-handicappers or above.
What about better players? Are low handicappers or scratch players aware of any advantages to using brand equipment over cloned gear? It’s not something I can say. It seems like there are more to it than a handful of scratch players/low handicappers, judging by the feedback on Pinemeadow. “discovered”Cloning has many benefits.
However, I have had some issues with Pinemeadow’s products.
” Not long after I received my irons and woods, a few plastic ferrules popped loose. Nothing serious, easily fixed by pinprick drops of superglue. But…
” In just a few short months, my 5-Iron’s metal ferrule had not only broken off but also popped out of its socket. Just then, the thing split apart. After a couple of days, the ferrules for the 3- and 7Irons broke. (Back then, I was more inclined to play the odd number more often).
While I could probably have put them on again with some superglue, this seemed a bit strange to me. Pinemeadow received my email immediately. They responded immediately. RapidlyThe whole thing was shipped back to me At their expenseEven the ferrules were still in place at the clubs. They promised to fix them. However, I believe they shipped the clubs back eventually. Brand new replacement clubs It was much more fun than spending time disassembling and reassembling every club I had in order to replace some ferrules. With shrink wrap heads on, those clubs were brand new. This is not what I would do, but I will say it. “service”Then I found.
This was about a decade ago. Since then, the set has been hassle-free.
” After a round about a year after purchase, I noticed something new on the Acer XDS 2+ driver head: a very distinct dimple about a quarter of an inch or so in diameter on the toe. Must’ve happened on the 3rd, I thought, when I skied a drive. It apparently didn’t affect the club’s performance the rest of the round since it went unnoticed. My fault and not a Pinemeadow quality problem, I concluded.
But I did mention it in an email to Pinemeadow. I wanted to know whether this was common. I was told two things: (a) this was uncommon, and (b) I still had some time left under my original 1 year warranty, a benefit that had completely slipped my mind – only two days left, in fact – so I could send the club back to be replaced! Again, this replacement was made without it costing me a penny out-of-pocket, shipping and all! Now that was a pleasant surprise.
” To say I love Pinemeadow Golf is an understatement. However, They were too rigid for me.They felt cheap and I was unable to use them for a whole season.
This grip observation wasn’t just mine. Pinemeadow used to have a lot of complaints about these grips. Pinemeadow uses much more standard grips now that I do not see any complaints.
Pinemeadow should install the best brand-name grip upgrades they have. These benefits outweigh any disadvantages. negligible expenseYou can take this route.
Recommendations
Pinemeadow Golf should be obvious. Outstanding products and excellent prices. excellent service.
GigaGolf might be another option. While I don’t have a set, I played with one of my friends’ and was impressed by the quality of their work as well as their low price. It is worth a try.