Fake X14s?

[SHiiBBZ]

Hi all,

I'm a relatively new golfer and have been using a cheap set of Dunlop clubs while I learnt. They actually do the job, but I feel as if I am at the stage of my golf 'career' where I need to upgrade!

A guy that I know has just bought a brand new set, so has offered me his Callaway X-14's which he has had for 10 years. He told me to try them out before I committed, so I did that. I took them down the range last week and the first thing I noticed was the lack of distance. Although I'm not a consistent hitter, if I hit my 4 iron clean off the tee I can generally reach 170. The 4i of these Callaways, I was struggling to hit 120. At this point I put this down to me being a noob/the clubs being new to me/slightly longer.

I've been taking lessons, so took them along to my last lesson. I didn't tell him any of my concerns, but asked him if he thought £100 for them (including bag, driver and woods) was a good deal (they are quite old X14s). He then looked at them and took one of the clubs away to ask one of the other pros something.

He then hit a couple and also only hit the 4i about 150. He commented about the length of the clubs he did hit. He hit the driver and had no concerns, he thinks that's real, but he thinks the irons might be fake. I'll post a couple of pictures later when I get to my car, but the things he commented on were;

- (Forgive my ignorance, I don't know what it's called) but the bit opposite the clubhead (on the back) have a 'plastic' bit stuck on which says Callaway Steelheads etc. On one of the clubs, this 'sticker' had come off. My pro said Callaway wouldn't have that.

-The grips say Big Bertha, but the clubs are Steelheads. The Big Bertha grips on on the steelheads are actually in a different font to the driver (or at least looks slightly different).

- The distance I'm hitting them. Although I wasn't hitting really short shots (besides the 4i), I definitely feel as if I get more distance with my Dunlops which seems very odd. Does the age of the club come into it? These 'Callaway's' are 10 years old, whereas my Dunlops are quite new.

Like I said I will post pictures shortly, but I'd like to gauge your wise opinions.

My pro suggested I get custom fitted PGA EZ3 irons - does anyone have any experience of these? He did say don't get the D or W with these EZ3s though! They are £139 custom fitted by the guy who has been doing my lessons.

 

[rob_golf1]

Interesting article. I suppose the only way to find out if they are real etc, would be to send them off to Callaway for inspection.

There isn't anything better than custom fitting IMO, so I'd pop down to your local Direct Golf or American Golf and get fitted up for some irons. With Xmas coming up you'll get some good deals around. I got my current irons, (just before Xmas two years back), Nike VRS for £199, custom fitted. Even now, two years on, they sell for £279.

 

[CMAC]

age of the irons is irrelevant for distance- mine are over 15 yrs old and I'll hit them the same distance as any modern club with the same loft- however a modern club will have more 'tech' so more 'forgiving' on my mis-hits.

A pro hitting a 4 iron 150yds says somethings wrong, might be the shaft lengths are too short but if you want affirmation your pro could contact Callaway directly (or his rep) or you could and they will ascertain their validity.

 

[pendodave]

This is a complicated issue.

First off, advice from someone who is going to profit from the outcome should always be taken with a pinch of salt.

Secondly, comparing irons in this way can be really tricky. Iron lofts and shaft lengths may be quite different. Typically clubs nowadays have longer shafts and stronger lofts, so it seems like the new clubs go further.

Thirdly, I had a dunlop club a long way back. The shaft was very soft. Because I had a slowish swing speed it helped by generating a bit of loft and release at impact. Callaways sometimes used to have 'uniflex' shafts which played the firm side of regular. In something like a four iron, that can make them much harder to get off the deck.

Fourth, 4 irons are hard to hit !

fifth, bits do fall off clubs after 10 years or so.

Anyway, even if they are not fakes, they may not be the club for you. Someone (Faldo?) once said that if you don't hit a club well in 3 shots, go and find one that you do. There's no point in getting the x14s (which are decent and are often recommended to newish golfers) if you can't hit them. Get something that you can - there's loads out there from the major companies and there'll be one with your name on it.

Never heard of PGA EZ3 irons either. The thing is, they may look cheap, but if no-one else has heard of them, the only way to move them on will be via oxfam.

Hope that helps, and good luck

 

[SHiiBBZ]

This is a complicated issue.

First off, advice from someone who is going to profit from the outcome should always be taken with a pinch of salt.

Secondly, comparing irons in this way can be really tricky. Iron lofts and shaft lengths may be quite different. Typically clubs nowadays have longer shafts and stronger lofts, so it seems like the new clubs go further.

Thirdly, I had a dunlop club a long way back. The shaft was very soft. Because I had a slowish swing speed it helped by generating a bit of loft and release at impact. Callaways sometimes used to have 'uniflex' shafts which played the firm side of regular. In something like a four iron, that can make them much harder to get off the deck.

Fourth, 4 irons are hard to hit !

fifth, bits do fall off clubs after 10 years or so.

Anyway, even if they are not fakes, they may not be the club for you. Someone (Faldo?) once said that if you don't hit a club well in 3 shots, go and find one that you do. There's no point in getting the x14s (which are decent and are often recommended to newish golfers) if you can't hit them. Get something that you can - there's loads out there from the major companies and there'll be one with your name on it.

Never heard of PGA EZ3 irons either. The thing is, they may look cheap, but if no-one else has heard of them, the only way to move them on will be via oxfam.

Hope that helps, and good luck

Very helpful thank you. The pro does not earn any commission on the PGAs. He's already told me that - whether he's lying or not is another question. But I get on really well with him, so would be disappointed if he was just saying that to get me to buy them. What draws me to them is tha £139 for custom fitted clubs seems good to me. http://pgacollection.co.uk/

That actually brings me on to my next point, when I first took them down the range - I saw him and he walked past and had a very quick look at them and he said yes get them! It was only after him hitting them and on further inspection did he think they were fake.

I have started getting better with these X14s (real or fake!) but have only played round the par 3 9 hole course. At the moment I am favouring the PGAs. Mainly because I'm 6ft 2 so custom fitted seems a good idea.

 

[Ethan]

They may or may not be fakes, but I don't think any of the evidence submitted suggests a problem. The clubs are now pretty old, and stickers/decals do come off clubs even when much younger. Grips wear and they have presumably been regripped, and perhaps the shop only had BB grips, or the player preferred the feel of those. Finally, the fact you can't hit them only proves you can't hit them. They are rather different than the Dunlops, so no surprise there.

In terms of component quality and construction, the X14s are considerably better than the PGA collection. Don't buy them. If you are concerned about the X14s, walk away, but find another second hand set of a decent brand.

 

[brendy]

The callaways can lose the rear stickers due to repeated abuse/dampness, back in the day, mine did. The serial number should be on the 8i.

 

[HomerJSimpson]

I had a set of X14's in the day and very short by forum yardages but my 7 iron still went 140 yards or so. The simple answer would be if you aren't happy then don't buy them

 

[Evesdad]

Friend of mine bought some of eBay a few years ago which turned out to be fake, it was when the head flew off down the fairway we stated to wonder!! Could be a batch of them knocking about still. They should have a serial number on them that callaway could confirm?

 

[ArnoldArmChewer]

If my memory is still intact weren't EZ irons around in the 80's, I seem to remember they were cheap hideously bad Ping eye 2 'copies'