Well, I won't get into the USGA. First off
Most think they aredealing direct with the foundry. They are not. In most cases it's a middleman. Nothing wrong with that except they get paid on what you order so sometimes they switch foundries on you without telling you as the new foundry will give them a larger cut. Also, in 90% of the cases where some Schmuck says, "same foundry as Callaway, TM. etc.....BS!
Inasmuch as original design if they didn't pay for entire tooling to their specs it's not Original. And spme mentioned above on most of their heads....foundry design with some changes. 80% of all Bang...original. 100% of Geek original. Nothing the matter with open tooling but don't take credit for it like most do. A couple of changes to open tooling doesn't mean you designed it. But instead of me going over a bunch of points like this, and there are tons more. Let's get to the question asked.
No....Clones are not as good as the real deal. Why? Because you're selliing price. You are also dealing with lesser foundries in most cases and most will do anything to increase thief profit margin. I was most probably the only one in the component industry that sent heads to a metallurgist to make sure what I was getting was what I was paying for and telling you the truth about the materials, etc. Do clones I.e. Knockoffs play OK? Yes they serve a purpose and some play exceptional. But, in truth, it's all about price on all levels. Sure, legit dist. would love to sell you top notch clone product but they can't as it would be impossible to keep the price down. There are good clone foundries and bad clone foundries. The easiest way to tell, performance aside, is first and formost specs then font, paint job and paint fill.
Sorry....but my eyes are going. I could go on forever on this subject. Hold questions for tomorrow And think OMG.GOLF coming Spring 2017. T-Shirts available starting this Monday to you guys for Christmas gifts!