148 - Fake Update...

In February I wrote about a guy called Gary Bellchambers who, along with a couple of other people, was responsible for the biggest counterfeiting scam ever uncovered on eBay. Bellchambers and his gang were responsible for over 96,000 golf related transactions through the auction site between June 2003 and March 2008.

The whole enterprise came to a halt after a pensioner reported Bellchambers to the Trading Standards Institute after not receiving a full refund for some tat he had tried to sell to her. The TSI then leapt into action and started Operation Augusta to try and catch Bellchambers and his cronies in the act.

The operation was a success and seven people were arrested. Bellchambers (below) was jailed for four years and three months with his bookkeeper Keith Thomas getting 16 months after they admitting conspiracy to sell or distribute fake goods. A third man, Roy Cottee received 12 months after being found guilty of the same charge with four others receiving suspended sentences.

Bill Adams, Havering Council principle trading standards officer, said: "We are pleased that this gang have got what they deserved.

They made millions of pounds from their operation, selling tens of thousands of fake clubs to people all over the world. Each customer was ripped off by up to £100 per club.

"I've been an investigator for 35 years and never heard of such a massive counterfeiting operation - it was of a scale that has never been seen before."

As I said when I first posted about this, I had a picture of a Del Boy Trotter character, a lovable rogue selling hooky gear from a shed but the truth of the matter is that Bellchambers and his team brought more than six tons of golf equipment into the United Kingdom from Asia before selling it for a massive profit.

Here is another thing, because they have brought so much second rate rubbish into the country it is almost certain that there will still be an awful lot of it doing the rounds on eBay. Keep that in mind the next time you see that ‘too good to miss’ Odyssey Two-Ball putter or TaylorMade R7 driver.

121 - A Touch Of Menace...

The regular reader of this little blog will know that I’m a sucker for technology, if the technology looks good too then I’m in, hook, line and sinker. Needless to say I adore the Odyssey Sabertooth putter. Design and materials technology combined with extraordinary looks and real world performance means it is an absolute peach. But now Odyssey have added a touch of menace to the mix.

The original Sabertooth burst onto the golfing scene a couple of years ago and was an instant hit. The design was not to everyone’s taste with the ‘Pringle Jumper set’ having a good old moan because it wasn’t a traditional, ‘Anser’ putter (conveniently forgetting that the Anser putter was a radical design too when it first arrived) but new golfers loved it.

The press were keen to heap praise on the radical new putter too and it received a lot of plaudits for its ease of use, feel and ability to produce consistent results. Odyssey has a reputation for creating some of the very best putters and the stunning Sabertooth was another example of the company producing the goods again.

Not wanting to rest on its laurels, but not wanting to reinvent the wheel either, Odyssey has brought out a new Sabertooth this year. Although the distinctive shape has remained it is now menacing gunmetal grey with black and white accents.

The ‘fangs’ are still tungsten to help shift the weight wide to promote a straight putt but are black instead of maroon on the old model.

The face insert has also had a makeover and is now white instead of maroon but the change isn’t just cosmetic. The new Sabertooth has Odyssey’s White Ice insert which is apparently slightly firmer than the old model to produce a better feel on softer balls which are being used more and more. The distinctive inner fangs remain to help with alignment at address.

The new White Ice Sabertooth retails at £129 but I’ve already found it at nearer the £100 mark on some of the online retailers, for that price it is an absolute bargain. I’ve used the old Sabertooth and all that design really does work. The fangs do promote a straight swing, the mini fangs ensure the ball is correctly aligned and the insert makes the putt feel buttery.

Like I said at the beginning, I’m a sucker for technology and the Sabertooth is dripping with it. It is a bit of a Marmite putter though; you either love it or hate it which could put players off – not me, I think it is stunning, especially in this new stealth colour scheme. If I didn’t have a beautiful Mizuno Bettinardi putter already I’d be seriously tempted.

119 - Shake The Fake...

I was reading an article in Golf Whine Monthly recently about the biggest counterfeiting scam in eBay history which saw thousands of fake clubs sold for millions of pounds. Initially I had a picture of a Del Boy Trotter character, a lovable rogue selling hooky gear from a shed but then it dawned on me that I should be very angry at this modern day Fagin.

I, like a lot of you out there I suspect, buy a fair bit of my golfing paraphernalia via eBay as it often throws up the best price. I don’t mind that the gear doesn’t come with a full warranty, that there is virtually zero after sales and that there is a good chance the equipment isn’t brand new. What I do mind is being ripped off by being sent fake goods knocked up in an Asian factory for a few quid when I have paid for the genuine article.

A guy called Gary Bellchambers from Rainham in Essex set up a number of eBay accounts selling the likes of Odyssey Two-Ball putters, Cleveland irons and TaylorMade R7 drivers. He would buy the fake kit from China for as little as £3 before hawking it on eBay for up to £100 (which was still a bit cheaper than the shops but not too much). The pricing was very clever as it didn’t raise suspicion with the buyer for being too cheap yet still had that delicious smell of a genuine bargain.

Over five years his team was responsible for over 96,000 golf related transactions on eBay but it all come to a juddering halt in March 2008 after a little old lady complained to Trading Standards after she didn’t get a refund on a shoddy fake she had been sent.

Normally Bellchambers would refund customers instantly to stop them escalating the complaint but in this case he was out of the country and couldn’t respond.

Trading Standards launched ‘Operation Augusta’ and raided a number of homes seizing computers and 2,500 fake clubs. Computer forensics found emails between the team with detailed lists of which customer had bought what equipment, common complaints for returned goods and how flaws in the golf gear needed to be addressed to prevent the operation being caught out.

Bellchambers was charged with the rather catchy crime of ‘conspiracy to sell or distribute golf clubs and accessories bearing signs likely to be mistaken for registered trademarks contrary to Sec 1(1) of the Criminal Law Act 1977’ and is due to be sentenced any day now. If convicted he and his co-conspirators could face up to 10 years in prison.

Golf by its very nature drives us to strive for constant improvement. The big manufacturers play on this and are relentlessly producing equipment that promises to give us tiny advantages over our fellow hackers but with money tight we are all on the lookout for a bargain. Bellchambers and his crew exploited this situation and merrily ripped off thousands. Loveable rogue? Don’t make me laugh.

27 - Lucky And The Klingon Putter...

After our round at Bootle the other week Lucky decided his putter needed to go. Apparently the mallet that came with his set is too heavy meaning that it is his putter’s fault he hilariously hit the ball so hard on the green that he had to chip back on. It wasn’t his lack of talent, no way; it was all down to that evil putter.

Being Lucky he selected his next putter with care. He jotted down a wish list, decided on a budget, did thorough research including trying a variety of different makes and models at his local Pro Shop before committing to his next purchase. Who am I kidding? He did an online quiz and then hotfooted it to eBay to see how little he could pay for it!

He did the quiz on the Odyssey website which asked him all kinds of questions about what type of Odyssey putter he preferred then Odyssey used all their years of experience in the putter business to suggest what they thought would be best for him. Unsurprisingly they suggested an Odyssey. They reckoned an Odyssey Sabretooth (right) would suit him down to the ground…or an Odyssey White Hot XG…or an Odyssey Dual Force 2. Those guys are good.

In the end he settled on the Odyssey Sabretooth as it was their first suggestion. It had nothing to do with it looking like a Klingon Battlecruiser at all and any suggestions of the type would be wide of the mark. Lucky is not one to be swayed by cosmetic flippantly, he would never, for instance, buy a set of clubs because the woods that come with them “look like a Beluga whale”!

To be fair, it does get a lot of decent reviews in the mags and it does looks great (an important factor I’m sure all you serious players out there will agree). We are going to try and play a round again soon so I’ll have a few putts with it to see if it really makes that much difference. Actually I want a Titleist Scotty Cameron beast but it cost £200 fucking quid…for a putter! Not happening. Why is it that Titleist does so many objects of desire?