Ping Golf Clubs Continue Growth In Popularity
By
The Golf Staff
When Karsten Solheim was having trouble with his putting game, he did what any good golfer might do and invented his own putter. Working in his garage, the engineer working with GE at the time founded his new toy on the heel-toe weight, which worked well for him, and when he hit the ball with his new putter, he liked the sound it made and Ping were born. Others liked the results they were getting on the greens using Solheim’s new Ping and he was kept busy making them in his garage. For the first few years, even as sales of his putter were climbing, he continued manufacturing them in his first shop. In 1961, he and his wife move to Phoenix, Arizona, which became the new home for Ping and continued working on designs of new clubs. He called his first set of clubs “69” because that was his idea of a good golf score. When Sports Illustrated talked about the musical putter, based on the sound it made when striking the ball, sales increased and when PGA professionals began using the putters in tour events in Japan, sales took off, making Ping one of the most sought-after putters on the market. New Putter Design Provides The Anser It was in 1966 that Solheim had an idea for a new putter design and using the sleeve of an old 78-RPM record sketched his idea. When his wife came up

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Named Rosie Jones 2011 U.S. Solheim Cup team captain.
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Named Roberta Bolduc USA captain for 2010 Women's World Amateur Team Championship; named Fred Ridley USA captain for 2010 Men's World Amateur Team Championship.

with the name of the new putter as being the “answer” to putting problems, he found it would not fit on the club so it was shortened to “Anser” and became what is now considered the standard for putters. The Answer was the only putter of the Ping to be accepted by the USGA committee rules and equipment committee would allow to be used in tournament play. Other putters, with a bend just below the grip, were claimed to give an unfair advantage to the golfer. However, the Anser’s low center of gravity and hollow back give a feeling of control and has been used during hundreds of tournament wins. Today, Ping are considered by many to be the premier choice in golf equipment and the most sought-after set on the market. It is also one of the most copied among the many knock-offs that appear on the market in the United States and many other countries.