PING has been making putters for a long time. I bet that a PING putter secured a PGA Tour win before many of us were even born.
For most of us, PING is a golf company that has always existed.
In many ways, PING is like the giant heritage oak tree at the end of my street. It was there when I moved into my house and it will probably still be there when I move away. I see that tree every day but because it is such a constant in my neighborhood, I rarely truly stop to admire the marvels of the tree.
Like that oak, PING started small, then grew into the expansive company that we see today.
Arguably, it all started with a putter and not the one you are thinking of.
Setting the tone
If you asked a hundred people to name the most influential PING putter, 99 percent of them would answer with “Anser.” That’s what I would likely say as well but I think there is an argument to be made that it all started with a different PING putter.
If we are to pinpoint the PING putter that really got the ball rolling, that would be the PING 1A.
In the late 1950s, Karsten Solheim was living in Redwood City, Calif., working full-time as an engineer for General Electric. On weekends and evenings, he was tinkering with what would be his first successful putter design, the PING 1A.
The 1A was revolutionary for a number of reasons. First of all, by anchoring the shaft to the floating torsion sole of the putter, the 1A generated more top spin than other putters of the time. The boxy PING 1A looked different and played differently than the predominantly heel-shafted putters being used at the time by professional and amateur golfers.
The 1A also produced a very distinct ringing tone at impact. If you have ever wondered where PING got their name, it was from the 1A, also known as the putter that went PING.
The PING Anser
In January 1966, Karsten Solheim was looking for a design that he could produce as an “answer” to the popular “Arnold Palmer-style putters”, the Wilson 8802 and 8813.
After watching the Los Angeles Open, Solheim rushed home and changed golf forever when he sketched out the rough design for the PING Anser on a record sleeve.
(Thankfully, the nostalgic resurgence of vinyl helps the young folk to know about records.)
Solheim applied for a patent for the Anser design in March 1966, dropping the “w” from the name so it would fit on the putter.
Around this time, PING putters were already being used by Tour players, perhaps most notably Jack Nicklaus who claimed three victories in 1966 with his PING Cushin. Solheim was generating buzz as a clubmaker on Tour but nowhere near what followed the Anser launch.
If one were to pinpoint when PING went from a small company to one of golf’s largest companies, it would likely be in August 1966 when Gary Player used a PING Anser to defeat the red-hot Nicklaus.
From that point forward, the Anser was the answer. In the past 50 years, no other golf club has been copied or counterfeited like the PING Anser. The place of the Anser in golf’s hierarchy and the frequency of other companies using the design once the patent expired are unparalleled.
So much so that it created its own category of Anser-style putters.
After developing the Anser, the Solheim family business exploded and PING’s Gold Vault became packed with more and more victorious golden putters.
Roll it forward 50 years
PING has a fascinating history and I am going to skip about 50 years of it right now. If you are interested in learning more about PING, I enthusiastically recommend reading And the putter went… PING, by Jeffery B. Ellis. I’ve shared just a few of PING’s historical tidbits and there are so many more amazing stories and anecdotes in that book.
(Make sure you check out the cool cat quoted on page 480.)
Anyway, I am going to shift focus to PING’s more recent history including what is going on at PING today.
PING: The MyGolfSpy years
During my 15-year tenure with MyGolfSpy, I’ve chronicled a number of PING’s more recent innovations. I want to touch on a few I think are particularly significant.
iPING app
Club fitting is a staple at PING. PING’s colored dot system was revolutionary and it simplified the club fitting process. PING provided golfers with a simple visual system for lie angles and also information about why having the correct lie angle makes a difference.
PING’s putter fitting system moved from the golf shop to your pocket when PING introduced the iPING app in 2011. With the iPING app, golfers could attach their iPhone to their putter with a plastic cradle and record putting stroke data.
Not only could the collected data identify areas of concern with the putting stroke but the iPING app also analyzed the data and suggested a putter that would fit the stroke data.
PING Ketsch
There was no way I was going to talk about the history of PING putters without including a blurb about the Ketsch. The Ketsch made me a believer that some putters are just better than others.
If you think the putter doesn’t influence performance, you are incorrect.
The PING Ketsch was one of the participants in the Most Wanted Mallet competition in 2014. PING released the novel-looking Ketsch mallet on their website with very limited promotion. When the test started, I considered the Ketsch as just one of the 24 mallets in the competition.
At the end of the test, I knew the Ketsch was special. Though our testing protocols have evolved significantly since that 2014 test, my guess is that no subsequent putter’s up-close accuracy has rivaled the accuracy of the Ketsch.
For the entire cohort of testers, the Ketsch sank 49 out of 50 five-foot putts. The Ketsch was a marvel.
The development of PING PLD
Another interesting PING creation, and one that brings us up to the current PING era, is PING’s Putting Lab Design (PLD) program. The PLD label covers all of PING’s milled putter offerings. This includes the stock milled offerings as well as the PLD Milled Plus and PLD Custom lines.
PING PLD Milled PLUS
If you are looking for a stock putter with some personal touches, the PLD Milled Plus program is for you. I tried out the PLD Milled Plus build process a while back and the ease of the build and the quality of the resulting putter were exceptional.
The PLD Milled Plus program lets you choose alignment schemes, customize paint fill and select laser-etched sole graphics. As with all PING putters, you can also order the putter with your personal loft/lie/length settings.
The PLD Milled Plus customization will cost you $100 above the retail PLD model but it allows you to put your personal spin on the putter including alignment schemes not available on retail models.
For some, like me, spending $100 for this option alone is well worth it.
PING PLD Custom
If you are looking for a truly custom putter, check out the PLD Custom program. This program includes a fitting session with the iPING app that you do on your own with the captured stroke data being sent to a PING fitter. Once they have your data, you meet with the fitter virtually to discuss not only what the data says about your best fitting putter but also what you want your putter to look like.
Unlike the PLD Milled Plus program where the number of options are finite, your PLD Custom will end up being a true 1-of-1 putter. You are the captain of your custom.
The process is expensive at $1,450 but the putter you receive will be spectacular and exactly what you need to make more putts.
With most putters priced around $400-500 these days, you’ll likely save money by using the PING PLD Custom program once rather than making multiple trial-and-error putter purchases at your local shop.
PING 2025 Scottsdale putters
On the non-milled side of things, PING continues to refine their cast putter recipe. This year’s Scottsdale line is characterized by two-tone aesthetics at address and a reformulated PEBAX insert.
Though Odyssey is probably the company many would associate with face inserts, PING has explored the functionality of inserts for decades. The refined formula and size of the insert in the new Scottsdale line represents PING’s latest recipe for assistive face technology.
Will PING get on the zero-torque bandwagon?
As of this moment, PING does not have a zero-torque putter on the market. They have produced toe-up putters with reduced torque in the past but torque is actually one of the features that PING intentionally incorporates into their putters.
PING’s Fit for Stroke fitting system connects the rotation of the putter with the swing path of the player. To (overly) simplify, the more arc your swing has, the more natural rotation you’ll need in your putter.
PING engineers explore torque in their putters rather than eliminate it. A prime example is Corey Conners’ new Ally Blue Onset 15 putter. At first glance, one could think that it is a zero-torque design but it is not. PING tour staff placed the shaft into the Ally Blue head at the spot that would best benefit Conners’ stroke.
They didn’t eliminate the torque. They made it fit the player.
PING continues to be engineering driven
From Karsten Solheim’s garage in the 1950s to the current PING factory in Phoenix, Arizona, the mission at PING has remained the same: to build better putters. Like that oak tree in my neighborhood, sometimes we take PING for granted because of their longevity and stability.
For their entire history, PING has focused on substance over style. They are driven to make the best golf gear possible and then they let the product speak for itself. Golfers buy PING products for their performance, not their promotion.
The oak tree doesn’t seek attention; it just continues doing its oak tree business.
Maybe PING should crow a little more about their successes, juicing up their media machine a bit. When one of their staff pro wins, PING could throw a wild party when the new gold putter enters the vault. They could come up with a catchy phrase like “Lock it up!” when John A. Solheim slams the vault door closed.
Then that phrase could quickly become the new “mashed potatoes” at events when PING staffers hole winning putts.
Never mind. That sounds like the most anti-PING scenario ever.
PING wants you to play their equipment because it works for you, not because it is fashionable to play PING equipment.
PING is still around because of their engineering-driven mentality. Next year will be the 60th anniversary of the PING Anser. Can you name another piece of golf equipment with similar longevity?
Sixty years from now, will people still be playing the putters of today? If there was a putter that would still be getting play in 2085, it would be the PING Anser.
Does PING have another Anser-level in the works? If anyone can engineer an icon a second time, it would be PING.
ArchieBunker
4 weeks ago
When Karsten Solheim was alive, he insisted that every part of a Ping club was made in the USA. I had a set with Fenwick graphite shafts back then, but when Fenwick went overseas, he dropped them as a supplier. When Karsten passed and his kids took over, things changed. Now they source components from China and other parts of Asia, although they still make a fair amount of stuff here in the USA.