Does anyone have any experience with clones? I'm considering the Adams IDEA clone set. Do you think clones are a good idea?

Please only respond if you have experience with clones, or know someone who has.

Thanks.

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Roadrasher:
[qb]Does anyone have any experience with clones? I'm considering the Adams IDEA clone set. Do you think clones are a good idea?

Please only respond if you have experience with clones, or know someone who has.

Thanks.[/qb][/QUOTE]If you've got the cash, find a good discount house and buy the ORIGINAL equipment. You can't go wrong if you like them.....Clones are for people who cannot afford to play with brand name stuff......Hope my opinion helps...

Rather than buying a knockoff with questionable qualities consider purchasing a good used set or maybe better going to a reputable custom clubmaker and having a set made for you, I have played everything from Ping to Callaway but enjoy my Snake Eyes irons from Golfsmith custom made for me the best. Check out custom club manufacturers on the net such as GolfSmith, Dynacraft, Golfworks, and Wishon Golf. Really first rate clubs available at great savings over the inflated costs of many OEM clubs.

I am using a set of Leyland LX2 irons that I built and they are a clone of the Callaway X-16 irons. I can't think of any reason to spend the extra money for the Callaway X-16's unless you are a snob and want to impress your playing partnew with a BRAND NAME. I gained 10 yards with each club and the accuracy and feel is excellent. If anyone out there likes the Callaway X-16 but not the price, I would recommend this set.If you want, I would be happy to build you a set for about half the price of the Callaway X-16's and include a gap wedge and sand wedge with the set if you want. I love my set and every one that has tried them, was impressed enough to want a set for themselves. DRIVE LONG AND PUTT STRAIGHT.

To Clone, or not to Clone.

I think that there are a few simple issues that should be considered.

1. Do I play golf with people I need to impress?

If I were in a business that had a fair amount of upper class associates that I needed to impress, for business reasons, then I would buy what seemed to be the most popular brand among them.

2. What is the cost benefit of clones vs. brands?

As far as what lies in that margin of cost between Clones and Brands. It is for the most part, especially on the entry-level range of product line up, marketing and advertising. On the high end of the product line you can often find designs that are poorly replicated in the clone world. Brands have a lot of expense associated with building their name. These are lumped into Marketing, Advertising, and Sponsorship.

If you have a technology that is patented and proven game improvement, or if there is something that is much more expensive in the manufacturing process then you have something that could possibly differentiate a product.

Imitating the design of a golf club head is not a hard thing to do. Unless it is forged they are all made with the same basic process. More so they are almost all made in the same factories overseas. With forgings it really does not matter what you buy they will be expensive.

I personally have bought a few sets of clones. I wanted to try out the various styles. I have some ping i3+ style and some Calloway Big Bertha style. I like the Calloway style the best and have spent less money on both sets of clones than I would have for one set of brands.

A few places to get more info

www.dynacraft.com
www.swingweight.com
www.gigagolf.com

Hope this helps,
Regards,
Brad

I bought a set of clones as my first set of clubs. They looked good but caused problems. The shafts were poor graphite and the heads were weighted all wrong.

I bought a set of Titleist 762 and my game improved immediately and continues to improve. You have to consider that some of the big names spend more on research than any of the clone manufacturers have for a total budget.

We need all the help we can get. I agree with earlier posts, find a discount golf shop and get fitted for a good set of clubs. You will be happier mentally and have the piece of mind knowing that your clubs are capable of much better golf than you are.