Golf Tips and Golf News

Regular readers may remember our report on the biggest eBay scam ever, which involved nearly 100,000 transactions involving fake golf clubs, golf clothing and general golfing accessories. Those of you who were as enraged as I will be pleased to hear that today, the people involved in the counterfeiting operation are facing jail sentences! Who says there’s no justice in the world? I think they should be given a chance to escape their sentence by playing a round using one of their counterfeit golf balls – the ones that exploded on impact!



At the centre of operations was Gary Bellchambers, who pleaded guilty to his role, as well as to the unauthorised use of trademarks relating to counterfeit Sony memory sticks and Qantas business class lounge invitation cards! It would seem Mr. Bellchambers is quite the entrepreneur! Or should I say, was quite entrepreneur, before being slung in jail. Also charged are Keith Thomas, Chris Moughton and Sharron Williams, as well as couple Roy and Kay Cottee, who were found guilty in December of conspiring to sell or distribute counterfeit goods.

The majority of the counterfeit golf clubs were made in China before being sold all around the world, as our previous post reported.

In recent news, millions of pounds of fake golf clubs and various other golfing accessories were sold by a council trading standards team between June 2003 and March 2008, using the online auction website eBay. This, the largest ever eBay conspiracy, consisted over 96 000 transactions and has landed four people in jail, having been found guilty of conspiring to sell counterfeit goods.

The team of conspirers purchases fake goods from Chinese factories and had them shipping to their own addresses in the UK, before selling them online to customers all over the world – from Ireland and Germany, to Brazil and New Zealand! It was only when pensioner Christine Manz complained to trading standards, after trying to get a refund for two clubs, that an investigation was launched into the fakers. This inquiry produced a variety of shocking evidence, including complaints of a spider’s nest in the variety of a club and golf balls that exploded when hit! When the council also uncovered large sums of money passing through the bank accounts of the suspects (£73,000 in 28 days), they clamped down on one of the biggest online counterfeiting operations ever known.

So, golf lovers – beware holiday season! If you’re buying golf clubs, golf clothing or any other kind of golf merchandise for loved one this Christmas, make sure you buy from a reputable online store!