The U.S. Golf Manufacturers Anti-Counterfeiting Working Group – comprised of Acushnet Company, Callaway Golf, Cleveland Golf, Nike, PING, and TaylorMade-adidas Golf – heralded a record seizure of thousands of counterfeit golf products as a result of multiple raids in Shanghai and Shenzhen conducted by China's Enforcement Authorities at the end of December. The raid actions targeted both factory and retail outlets and resulted in the seizure of thousands of counterfeit golf products including clubs, bags, balls, gloves, and clothing.
In Shanghai, a joint enforcement action involving officials from the Department for Administration of Industry and Commerce and police officers from the Public Security Bureau raided two retailers of counterfeit golf clubs and equipment. The raid netted hundreds of counterfeit golf clubs including well known brands including Callaway, Cleveland, Nike, Odyssey, PING, TaylorMade, and Titleist.
In Shenzhen, petitioning by the US Golf Industry Group to the local Shenzhen government led to a two day operation involving raids against an assembly factory of counterfeit golf clubs and retailers of counterfeit golf equipment located in Shenzhen's infamous Lowu shopping mall — a notorious center for counterfeit products.
The raids organized by the Shenzhen Government Anti-Counterfeiting office of the Chinese government consisted of enforcement officers drawn from the PSB, AIC and Technical Standard Bureau. This was the first time that a joint task force was used in the Shenzhen operation against counterfeit golf products. It was estimated that over 1,000 counterfeit golf clubs and accessories were seized in the two day operation. The value of the fakes confiscated exceeded $500,000.
