Fifty years of Ping
First in new series celebrates its emergence from a California garage.
Posted: 9 January 2009
by Golfmagic special correspondent
The PING Story:
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The late Karsten Solheim with a store of gold-plated Ping putters commemorating every professional tournament victory
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The Ping brand of golf equipment celebrates 50 years of innovation in golf in 2009 - including concepts such as investment casting, heel-toe balance, perimeter club weighting, custom fitting, cavity back design and the famous Ping Anser putter.
Almost every modern golfing legend has used Ping equipment at some stage in their career and the Solheim family, the founders of the company, still retain their attachment to the brand, which has become iconic among amateur golfers the world over.
In this short series we trace the company's history and recall some of the key moments when the innovators took golf equipment to the next level.
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Kasrsten Solheim with the first Ping Anser putter in 1966.
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IT ALL STARTED in Redwood City, California, in a garage of owned by Karsten and Louise Solheim where Karsten, a frustrated golfer, set out to design a putter to improve his own golf game.
He ended up revolutionising the golf industry while making the game easier and more enjoyable for all who played it. His posthumous election into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 2001 finally sealed the Norwegian-born engineer's 40-year career that earned the Ping brand a reputation for innovation, quality and service.
Today, based in the Phoenix, Arizona, more than 1,000 workers leave their mark on Ping products every day under the leadership of Chairman and chief executive John A. Solheim, the youngest son of Karsten and Louise.
It remains family-owned in its quest to develop the highest quality equipment with John, who collected his first pay cheque from his dad at the age of 15, sharing his late father's passion and understanding for engineering and precise manufacturing techniques.
The task of leading product development is in the hands John’s eldest son, John Karsten Jr, who trailed his grandfather around the plant during breaks from school and witnessed the transition of product design process from hands on, keen-eyed craftsmanship into today’s 3D modeling and super-computer technology.
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Early drawings of the first Ping A1 putter in 1959
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John K Jr indeed gained an appreciation no textbook could ever provide and with that knowledge earned a mechanical engineering degree and Executive MBA which enabled him to assume his current role of vice-president of engineering leading a team more than 60 technicians and researchers at the plant.
What began as a quest by Karsten Solheim Sr to create a better putter to improve his own golf game, turned out to be the creation of one of the most successful companies in the history of golf.
“Never in my wildest dreams did I ever expect something like this,” Solheim often said, describing his meteoric career rise from shoemaker to mechanical engineer and the founding of Karsten Manufacturing Corporation making clubs that millions of golfers would use.
Solheim’s innovations can be found in virtually every putter on the market today, as well as in most popular sets of irons. It all started with his ringing P-I-NNNNNNNNNN-G putter that caught the fancy of golfers and first drew attention to his engineering genius.
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Protoype of the Ping A1 putter
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“It seems like only yesterday that Karsten came running into our kitchen and exclaimed, ‘I’ve got a name for my putter!’” recalls his widow Louise.
“I looked up and said, ‘that’s nice, honey,' but no bells rang. We ate our hamburgers and vegetables without any particular celebration,” she says.
The next day Solheim tried out his putter on a local practice green and as people walked by they remarked on the 'ping' sound it made. They also spotted that he was holing more than his fair share of putts, achieved by maximising its weight distribution by making both ends of the putter head heavier. With less weight in the middle of the putter, there was less twisting when the ball was struck off-centre on the putter face.
It was the world’s first heel-toe balanced putter changed the game of golf for ever.
On March 23, 1959, Solheim filed paperwork for his novel and improved putter head with the United States Patent Office but it was three years before he received Patent No. 3,042,405 for his 1-A putter.
Solheim had continued working by day as an engineer for General Electric and by night as a putter craftsman with sons Allan and John but when the pro tour came to town, Solheim spent endless hours encouraging top players to try his revolutionary putter.
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The first prototype of the Ping 69 cavity-back iron in 1961
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In 1961 after moving to Phoenix, Solheim developed his first cavity-back forged iron, the Ping 69 which Allan milled. They realised that by distributing the weight to the extremities of the club, it increased the size of the sweetspot.
In 1966, after attending the Los Angeles Open, Karsten returned home and declared: “Louise, I’ve got to find an answer to those other companies' putters.”
Soon, he had a design but needed a name so Louise suggested he called in 'the answer' but to drop the 'w' to make it shorter and easier to fit on the club head. So the 'Anser' putter would become the most popular in golf history and has since achieved more than 600 pro Tour wins among 2,400 pro wins by Ping putters worldwide.
Tell us on the forum about the Ping clubs - and especially putters - you own or have owned in the past.
Next time: The dawn of custom-fitting.
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Discuss this story
Ping were the ultimate in putters when I was a kid just started playing in the 80s. Top of the range were about £50. I could be wrong here, but I'm pretty certain that Seve's putter he was using when he was fist-pumping on the 18th at St Andrews was a Ping he had recently bought for £50 in a pro shop. I had several Ansers but the best was the Pal 2 which I believe was a long-headed version. Ping are also one of the original pioneers in custom fitting. Anyone with a Scotty Cameron should thank Ping for designing it about 30 years ago!!!
Posted: 09/01/2009 11:45
When I started playing golf again I ditched the blades that I learnt with and went with Ping eye2s (illegal version) they made an amazing difference and my h'cap went from 14 to 6 in one year. However you never knew when one of them would take off and go that extra 15 yds with no warning. My anser was always my "fallback" putter right up until last year, still in demand as it fetched £45 on ebay!!
Posted: 09/01/2009 12:02
I have a Ping Anser putter which I bought in 1980. It is currently in my substitutes bag at the moment. Apart from my lob & sand wedge the rest of my bag is Ping. I have Ping G10 driver, 3 wood & 2 rescue. I also have 3-PW i10 irons. I was custom fitted for these and they are brilliant
Posted: 09/01/2009 16:06
Had many from Ping over the years.. Eye2s, Zings but hated i3s! Got a G2 driver in the cupboard and an old pal putter which makes the odd appearance. made some great wedges too - I wish I still had my eye 2 copper lob wedge...I have one of the new versions, but miss the old one!
Posted: 09/01/2009 16:11
Fifty years of Ping
What's in your bag? Not PING!!! 
Posted: 09/01/2009 17:22
Not one Ping club in my bag. As a Scotty owner I am grateful to PING for designing a classic which has been ripped off by many. Golfing technology doesn't gradually evolve it seems to jump forward every now and then. PING alone stepped forward the putters and then followed that up with cavity backs and then again set the standard for fitting. So why have I never considered them when looking at new clubs ? I suppose I see the PING image as an old man's club. I may be wrong in this and it seems everyone who buys Pings irons would never go to another brand so they must be doing something right. That said I would love to get a 2nd hand set of Pings and get them set up for me. Maybe I have to get together a 2nd bag of equipment !
Posted: 09/01/2009 17:58
It was very much aesthetics for me, looking down on my eye2s I thought I should be chopping wood with them rather than trying to strike a ball. The new Pings, like the si59s?, look very nice and are a real shift from those wood choppers. Used to be in awe of a guy who had the berylium copper ones at the club when I was a kid, used to think "wow, he must be a Pro"
Posted: 09/01/2009 18:05
Ping G5 driver Ping G10 6-PW Ping Tour W 52 and 58 wedges never had a ping putter - very happy with my SC Futura and also have just bought a 2nd hand Yes Victoria 2 which is also excellent
Posted: 09/01/2009 20:38
Zing 303 Redwood fitted for me. Superb quality and balance IMO, it feels like part of me on the green, gives me loads of confidence. - Can't understand why my putting is still such sh*t*  .
Posted: 10/01/2009 14:23
Ping Tour WRX T grind wedges with Nippon 1150gh shafts in 50, 54 & 58 degree. Love them to bits during the summer, can be a love/hate relationship in the winter off soft fairways due to the grind taking most of the bounce away but i wouldn't swop them for the world at the moment. Never used any other ping kit, but was quite amused to see that my mates G10 irons didn't really differ in design from the i2's he replaced.
Posted: 10/01/2009 18:23
Complete bag of Ping equipment since middle of last year. Swapped i10s for the new S57 irons. G10 driver, fairway and hybrid. Tour W wedges 54 and 58. Didn't really like the i10s - too light but the S57s are in a different league absolutely fantastic irons. Won a bag from Bob for a review I did on the G2i Craz-e some years ago - don't know where the bag is but still use the putter in the summer. Great clubs.
Posted: 10/01/2009 20:21
I have a Ping Si3 380 driver - it works and it's reasonably attractive compared to most of todays offerings. Also the G2 fairways were awesome by all accounts. However, like Chris, I doubt if I could play Ping irons (Hmmmm! - maybe the iSi's in BeNi) ... but the Scottsdale Anser putter is an icon. So - all things being equal Si3 380 driver, G2 fairways, iSi irons in BeNi and a Scottsdale Anser would see me right 
Posted: 10/01/2009 21:26
I've used and still own a Craz-e G5i mallet putter, it was actually my first putter ever, and to begin with was the dogs, however this putter shaft used a ball bearing to interference fit the shaft into the putter head, well that soon worked loose and giving it to my local pro to repair didn't go according to plan either, so to cut a long story short, despite playing with extra weight, length and grips, I never got on with it after that. Shame as its a nice putter, but I use blade putters now, and have looked at the Ping Anser style putters so you never know what the future holds. 
Posted: 11/01/2009 10:40
I still have a Ping Half Yellow, half Orange ball, unfortunately is cracked down the middle .. =0( I've borrowed a Ping Zing and once owned a Ping Pal 2 which seemed to have an obscene amount of loft on it. I know use and Odyssey which looks exactly like the Zing ! Ping are King of Putters
Posted: 12/01/2009 09:15
Got my G5 irons about two years ago. I agree with all the comments about them not being pretty - but with every approach shot I nail to the heart of the green, I care less about that. I don't have any Ping putters, though I do have a clone of a G5i-Craz-E which worked pretty well for a year or so until I had a putting lesson. The pro told me the shaft wasn't aligned correctly, and since then I've had trouble trusting it - and of course trust is everything with a putter. Still haven't found anything as good to replace it  (but won't buy a replacement from that pro on principle)!
Posted: 12/01/2009 12:22
Used to have an Anser 2 putter - was great for long putts (nice feel), but I found it hard to align on shorter putts. It was also 35", I might have got on better with it if it was cut down to 33" like my subsequent putters. I gave it to my dad 3 years ago, and he putts like a demon with it - much to my regret. Until semi-recently, I also played with a Ping i3 driver steel-headed driver, as I tried and failed with a number of jumbo headed drivers until eventually (successfully) persevering with a Benross V12. I also had a wee shot a couple of years ago with my b-i-l's Ping wedge. Not sure which model, but it was niiiiice.
Posted: 12/01/2009 14:34
Ping G10 irons 4-pw Ping Tour W Wedges 52 and 58 degree Ping Rapture V2 17 degree hybrid Needed forgiving irons after falling out my my titleists!!
Posted: 12/01/2009 20:45
I acquired a Ping Anser putter for £10 from a friend in 1980 as it was surplus to his requirements. I have not used another putter since. After switching to the Ping Anser my putting has always been pretty good. It's the best £10 I've ever spent on a golf club.
Posted: 13/01/2009 23:28
I have played a Ping Eye 2 SW for the last 15 years and still wont be without it. I have a Ping Anser BeCu which i regripped last year and have used it on occasion when the greens are slow. Had a Ping Zing 2 one iron back in the day and always liked the look of a Zing putter but they refused to work in anger. You can never argue with the quality of Pings they are not always the prettiest though!
Posted: 18/01/2009 22:24
G10 draw 10.5 degree driver tfc shaft G10 18 degree hybrid tfc shaft G2 2 iron for windy days G2 4 - SW G2 CRA-ZE PUTTER Love em to death even when I'm playing rubbish. Cannot see myself going back to anything else. As for looks, my G2's look pretty much the same as when I bought them; which you could not say about some of my playing partners Big Bertha's and TM RAC's both of which look ready for the bin
Posted: 18/01/2009 23:29
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