Ping (golf)
Encyclopedia
PING is an American brand of high-quality golf equipment, as well as one of the largest of the remaining American manufacturers of golf clubs, based in Phoenix, Arizona
, founded by Karsten Solheim
, who was an engineer at the General Electric
company. In 1959, he started making his own putters in his garage in Redwood City, California
. In 1967, because of increasing demand for his putters, he resigned his job at General Electric in order to fully develop the PING company. Currently, PING produces clubs in every equipment category: drivers, fairway woods, hybrids, irons, wedges and putters.
. Solheim's frustration during the game of golf
resulted from his difficulty putting with the putters of the era. The engineer from General Electric
invented a new putter in his garage known as the "PING 1A".
The name "PING" came from the sound that Solheim heard as the metal struck the ball. The 1A and other PING putters to come would revolutionize the putter market with newly found "heel-toe" weighting.
The success Karsten Solheim found in 1959 with the invention of the 1A would set PING on a road to be one of the great innovators in the rich history of golf technology. The PING 1A's sales and hype would peak as Sports Illustrated
named the PING 1A the "musical" putter for the sweet sound emitted.
In 1961, the Solheims moved from Redwood City, California
to Phoenix, Arizona
where the company would find a permanent home. Despite the increasing sales of the PING putter, Karsten Solheim continued to create his putters single-handedly in his garage after departing General Electric
.
In the same year, he invented his first set of irons which he named "69", which he considered to be a good round of golf. Solheim continued to experiment with the effects of good heel-toe weighting in his irons and also milled a cavity into the steel back of the irons for added forgiveness.
The first PGA Tour
victory while using a PING club came in 1962 at the Cajun Classic Open Invitational
by John Barnum
. Sales of the PING putters rose as the popularity steadily increased. The Golf World Cup of 1965 brought even greater sales of the garage-made PING putters as many of the top players used the PING putters during the televised event in Japan
.
In 1966, possibly the greatest event of the PING Corporation's history occurred as Karsten Solheim had an idea for a new putter flash in his mind. As he was unable to find a piece of paper, the design for his new putter was sketched on the dust cover of a 78 RPM record. After Solheim had finalized the design, he was still in need for a name. Solheim's wife Louise suggested the name "Answer" for the new putter as it "was an answer for the vexing problems in putting". As the name "Answer" would be too long to fit on the putter, the name was shortened to just "Anser".
The Anser would go on to be the most influential putter in golf while setting the standard for what is considered to be the "conventional" putter and racking up 500 professional golf wins and becoming the "winningest" putter in history. The cavity back and low center of gravity provided superior feel for golfers of all abilities.
PING faced a major golf obstacle at the end of 1966 as the USGA, golf's governing body for rules and equipment, outlawed all PING putters other than the Anser for tournament and handicap play. The decision came as the other PING models had a special bend in the shaft located under the grip which was thought to give players a special advantage in the putting stroke.
In 1967, Karsten Solheim resigned his position at General Electric
and moved his business from his garage to a factory calling his company the Karsten Manufacturing Corporation (KMC). The factory was still located in his new hometown of Phoenix, Arizona
. The patent
for the PING Anser putter came on March 21, 1967. The first major championship to be won using a PING putter came in 1969 at the Masters. The last major innovation by PING during the 1960s came with K1 stainless cast steel iron set.
Fitting adjustments to the clubhead involve changing the loft and lie. Lie fitting is done to accommodate a player's height and swing style (flat or upright). Changes to the lie (to ensure that the sole of the club lies flat on the ground) can only be done about 1.5 degrees for cast stainless clubs and 3 degrees for forged clubs.
While many amateurs feel they should wait to be fitted until they have a reasonable game, many pros (when asked what advice they would give amateurs) suggest that club fitting will benefit weekend golfers dramatically and should be done as soon as possible. Tiger Woods was quoted saying this in a Golf Digest magazine in 2010.
Ping was also the first to offer factory fitting, via a variety of clubheads in different lies and offsets. Beginning about 1980 Ping began offering their fitting program based on a checklist of the player's physical characteristics, common problems and distances.
The 2011 checklist at the Ping website contained approximately 100 data inputs and was part of a 5-step fitting process covering everything from driver to putter.
Ping is so intent on custom fitting that it began manufacturing some iron clubheads with a small notch in the clubhead. The notch allows the bending tool used in fitting to better hold and affix to the clubhead.
Photo copyright Ping Golf, Inc.
As a result, for golfers buying new clubs Ping clubs may offer a "best possible game" scenario. For golfers buying used Ping clubs, they should have them refitted unless both buyer and seller are of a similar age, height, weight, have a similar swing plane, etc. Failure to use a properly fitted Ping club may result the "worst possible game" scenario.
Mark Calcavecchia
Daniel Chopra
Chris DiMarco
Bill Lunde
Jeff Maggert
Hunter Mahan
Nick O'Hern
Martin Piller
Alex Prugh
Ted Purdy
Chris Riley Heath Slocum
Joey Snyder III
Chris Stroud
Daniel Summerhays
Kevin Sutherland
Chris Tidland
Kirk Triplett
Bubba Watson
Mark Wilson
Gary Boyd
Jonathan Caldwell Alejandro Cañizares
Rhys Davies
Peter Fowler
Grégory Havret
Miguel Ángel Jiménez
Shiv Kapur
Gary Lockerbie
Gareth Maybin
Louis Oosthuizen
Anthony Snobeck
Lee Westwood
Fairways
Rescues/Hybrids
Irons
Wedges
Putters
Each series of putter is based around the same basic styles, which include the Anser, Zing, Craz-E, ½ Craz-E, B60, D66, Wack-E, ½ Wack-E (with exceptions coming in the Scottsdale Series)
Women's
Phoenix, Arizona
Phoenix is the capital, and largest city, of the U.S. state of Arizona, as well as the sixth most populated city in the United States. Phoenix is home to 1,445,632 people according to the official 2010 U.S. Census Bureau data...
, founded by Karsten Solheim
Karsten Solheim
Karsten Solheim was a Norwegian-born American golf club designer and businessman. He founded Karsten Manufacturing, a leading golf club maker better known by its brand name of PING, and the Solheim Cup, the premier international team competition in women's golf.-Early life:Solheim was born in...
, who was an engineer at the General Electric
General Electric
General Electric Company , or GE, is an American multinational conglomerate corporation incorporated in Schenectady, New York and headquartered in Fairfield, Connecticut, United States...
company. In 1959, he started making his own putters in his garage in Redwood City, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
. In 1967, because of increasing demand for his putters, he resigned his job at General Electric in order to fully develop the PING company. Currently, PING produces clubs in every equipment category: drivers, fairway woods, hybrids, irons, wedges and putters.
Beginnings
PING golf started as a garage business by company founder Karsten SolheimKarsten Solheim
Karsten Solheim was a Norwegian-born American golf club designer and businessman. He founded Karsten Manufacturing, a leading golf club maker better known by its brand name of PING, and the Solheim Cup, the premier international team competition in women's golf.-Early life:Solheim was born in...
. Solheim's frustration during the game of golf
Golf
Golf is a precision club and ball sport, in which competing players use many types of clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a golf course using the fewest number of strokes....
resulted from his difficulty putting with the putters of the era. The engineer from General Electric
General Electric
General Electric Company , or GE, is an American multinational conglomerate corporation incorporated in Schenectady, New York and headquartered in Fairfield, Connecticut, United States...
invented a new putter in his garage known as the "PING 1A".
The name "PING" came from the sound that Solheim heard as the metal struck the ball. The 1A and other PING putters to come would revolutionize the putter market with newly found "heel-toe" weighting.
The success Karsten Solheim found in 1959 with the invention of the 1A would set PING on a road to be one of the great innovators in the rich history of golf technology. The PING 1A's sales and hype would peak as Sports Illustrated
Sports Illustrated
Sports Illustrated is an American sports media company owned by media conglomerate Time Warner. Its self titled magazine has over 3.5 million subscribers and is read by 23 million adults each week, including over 18 million men. It was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the...
named the PING 1A the "musical" putter for the sweet sound emitted.
In 1961, the Solheims moved from Redwood City, California
Redwood City, California
Redwood City is a California charter city located on the San Francisco Peninsula in Northern California, approximately 27 miles south of San Francisco, and 24 miles north of San Jose. Redwood City's history spans from its earliest inhabitation by the Ohlone people, to its tradition as a port for...
to Phoenix, Arizona
Phoenix, Arizona
Phoenix is the capital, and largest city, of the U.S. state of Arizona, as well as the sixth most populated city in the United States. Phoenix is home to 1,445,632 people according to the official 2010 U.S. Census Bureau data...
where the company would find a permanent home. Despite the increasing sales of the PING putter, Karsten Solheim continued to create his putters single-handedly in his garage after departing General Electric
General Electric
General Electric Company , or GE, is an American multinational conglomerate corporation incorporated in Schenectady, New York and headquartered in Fairfield, Connecticut, United States...
.
In the same year, he invented his first set of irons which he named "69", which he considered to be a good round of golf. Solheim continued to experiment with the effects of good heel-toe weighting in his irons and also milled a cavity into the steel back of the irons for added forgiveness.
The first PGA Tour
PGA Tour
The PGA Tour is the organizer of the main men's professional golf tours in the United States and North America...
victory while using a PING club came in 1962 at the Cajun Classic Open Invitational
Cajun Classic Open Invitational
The Cajun Classic Open Invitational was a golf tournament on the PGA Tour usually played in late November in the late 1950s and 1960s. It was played at the Oakbourne Country Club in Lafayette, Louisiana. It was first played as the Lafayette Open Invitational in 1958...
by John Barnum
John Barnum
John O. Barnum was an American professional golfer who played on the PGA Tour in the 1950s and 1960s....
. Sales of the PING putters rose as the popularity steadily increased. The Golf World Cup of 1965 brought even greater sales of the garage-made PING putters as many of the top players used the PING putters during the televised event in Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
.
In 1966, possibly the greatest event of the PING Corporation's history occurred as Karsten Solheim had an idea for a new putter flash in his mind. As he was unable to find a piece of paper, the design for his new putter was sketched on the dust cover of a 78 RPM record. After Solheim had finalized the design, he was still in need for a name. Solheim's wife Louise suggested the name "Answer" for the new putter as it "was an answer for the vexing problems in putting". As the name "Answer" would be too long to fit on the putter, the name was shortened to just "Anser".
The Anser would go on to be the most influential putter in golf while setting the standard for what is considered to be the "conventional" putter and racking up 500 professional golf wins and becoming the "winningest" putter in history. The cavity back and low center of gravity provided superior feel for golfers of all abilities.
PING faced a major golf obstacle at the end of 1966 as the USGA, golf's governing body for rules and equipment, outlawed all PING putters other than the Anser for tournament and handicap play. The decision came as the other PING models had a special bend in the shaft located under the grip which was thought to give players a special advantage in the putting stroke.
In 1967, Karsten Solheim resigned his position at General Electric
General Electric
General Electric Company , or GE, is an American multinational conglomerate corporation incorporated in Schenectady, New York and headquartered in Fairfield, Connecticut, United States...
and moved his business from his garage to a factory calling his company the Karsten Manufacturing Corporation (KMC). The factory was still located in his new hometown of Phoenix, Arizona
Phoenix, Arizona
Phoenix is the capital, and largest city, of the U.S. state of Arizona, as well as the sixth most populated city in the United States. Phoenix is home to 1,445,632 people according to the official 2010 U.S. Census Bureau data...
. The patent
Patent
A patent is a form of intellectual property. It consists of a set of exclusive rights granted by a sovereign state to an inventor or their assignee for a limited period of time in exchange for the public disclosure of an invention....
for the PING Anser putter came on March 21, 1967. The first major championship to be won using a PING putter came in 1969 at the Masters. The last major innovation by PING during the 1960s came with K1 stainless cast steel iron set.
Fitting
In the days of wooden golf shafts club pros acted as fitters and would reduce the diameter of clubshafts (using sandpaper) to give the appropriate shaft "kick" based on a player's swing speed. Shaft size at the grip and grip coverings were also modified to reflect the size of a player's hands and to change "release". It's generally agreed that smaller grips result in a faster release (clubhead closing) and larger ones slower release.Fitting adjustments to the clubhead involve changing the loft and lie. Lie fitting is done to accommodate a player's height and swing style (flat or upright). Changes to the lie (to ensure that the sole of the club lies flat on the ground) can only be done about 1.5 degrees for cast stainless clubs and 3 degrees for forged clubs.
While many amateurs feel they should wait to be fitted until they have a reasonable game, many pros (when asked what advice they would give amateurs) suggest that club fitting will benefit weekend golfers dramatically and should be done as soon as possible. Tiger Woods was quoted saying this in a Golf Digest magazine in 2010.
Ping Fitting Innovation
Ping was the first manufacturer to offer high quality cast clubs, which both reduced costs, allowed better quality control for high tech features and set the stage for manufactured fitting.Ping was also the first to offer factory fitting, via a variety of clubheads in different lies and offsets. Beginning about 1980 Ping began offering their fitting program based on a checklist of the player's physical characteristics, common problems and distances.
The 2011 checklist at the Ping website contained approximately 100 data inputs and was part of a 5-step fitting process covering everything from driver to putter.
Ping is so intent on custom fitting that it began manufacturing some iron clubheads with a small notch in the clubhead. The notch allows the bending tool used in fitting to better hold and affix to the clubhead.
Photo copyright Ping Golf, Inc.
Fitting Advantages/Disadvantages
In 2011 Ping was offering a total of 12 iron clubhead alternatives (identified by color codes).As a result, for golfers buying new clubs Ping clubs may offer a "best possible game" scenario. For golfers buying used Ping clubs, they should have them refitted unless both buyer and seller are of a similar age, height, weight, have a similar swing plane, etc. Failure to use a properly fitted Ping club may result the "worst possible game" scenario.
PGA Tour
Ángel CabreraAngel Cabrera
Ángel Cabrera is an Argentine professional golfer who plays on both the European Tour and PGA Tour. He is known affectionately as "El Pato" in Spanish or in English as "The duck" for his waddling gait. He is a former U.S. Open champion and Masters champion. He is the first Argentine to win either...
Mark Calcavecchia
Mark Calcavecchia
Mark John Calcavecchia is an American professional golfer and a former PGA Tour member. During his professional career, he has won thirteen PGA Tour events, including the 1989 Open Championship. Calcavecchia currently plays on the Champions Tour.-Early years:Calcavecchia was born in Laurel,...
Daniel Chopra
Daniel Chopra
Daniel Samir Chopra is a Swedish professional golfer.Chopra was born in Stockholm, Sweden. He represents Sweden and his mother was Swedish, but his father was Indian and Daniel moved to India at age seven where he was raised by his grandparents. He won the All-India Junior Golf Championship at age...
Chris DiMarco
Chris DiMarco
Christian Dean DiMarco is an American professional golfer who plays on the PGA Tour. DiMarco has won seven tournaments as a pro, including three PGA Tour events.-Early years:...
Bill Lunde
Bill Lunde
William Jeremiah Lunde is an American professional golfer who currently plays on the PGA Tour.Lunde was born in San Diego, California. He played at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas and was part of the 1998 team that won the NCAA Championship. He turned professional in 1998.Lunde played on the...
Jeff Maggert
Jeff Maggert
Jeffrey Allan Maggert is an American professional golfer.Maggert was born in Columbia, Missouri and was raised on a golf course in The Woodlands, Texas, where he attended McCullough High School. He attended Texas A&M University, where he was an All-American member of the golf team.Maggert turned...
Hunter Mahan
Hunter Mahan
Hunter Myles Mahan is an American professional golfer who plays on the PGA Tour.-Amateur career:Mahan was born in Orange, California. He had a successful amateur career, winning the 1999 5A Texas State High School Golf Championship while attending McKinney High School and the 1999 U.S. Junior...
Nick O'Hern
Nick O'Hern
Nicholas Simon O'Hern is an Australian professional golfer.O'Hern has played on both of the world's premier professional golf tours, the European Tour, and the United States based PGA Tour...
Martin Piller
Martin Piller
Martin Piller is an American professional golfer.Piller was born in Dallas, Texas and grew up in Duncanville, Texas. He graduated from Texas A&M University. He turned professional in 2008 and won his first start as a pro at the Texas State Open.Piller has played on the Nationwide Tour since 2009...
Alex Prugh
Alex Prugh
Alexander Prugh is an American professional golfer who has played on the Nationwide Tour and the PGA Tour.-Early years:...
Ted Purdy
Ted Purdy
Theodore Townsend Purdy is an American professional golfer.Purdy was born in Phoenix, Arizona. He graduated from Brophy College Preparatory in 1992. He went to the University of Arizona as a finance major and was inducted into its Sports Hall of Fame in 2005. He has won one PGA Tour tournament,...
Chris Riley Heath Slocum
Heath Slocum
Tyler Heath Slocum is an American professional golfer who currently plays on the PGA Tour.-Early years:Slocum was born in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. He attended St. Anthony of Padua Catholic School in Bunkie, Louisiana from 1986 until 1987 . Slocum learned the game of golf from his father, Jack...
Joey Snyder III
Chris Stroud
Chris Stroud
Chris Stroud is an American professional golfer who currently plays on the PGA Tour.Stroud was born in Nederland, Texas. He played collegiately at Lamar University and was a two-time All-American. As an amateur, he won the 2003 North and South Amateur and played on the 2004 Palmer Cup...
Daniel Summerhays
Daniel Summerhays
Daniel Summerhays is an American professional golfer. His brother Boyd Summerhays currently plays on the Nationwide Tour. He is the nephew of Champions Tour player Bruce Summerhays and cousin of former LPGA Tour golfer Carrie Roberts....
Kevin Sutherland
Kevin Sutherland
Kevin John Sutherland is an American professional golfer.Sutherland was born in Sacramento, California and graduated from Christian Brothers High School. He attended Fresno State University and made the golf team as a walk-on freshman...
Chris Tidland
Chris Tidland
Christopher Lee Tidland is an American professional golfer who currently plays on the Nationwide Tour.Tidland was born in Torrance, California. He attended Oklahoma State University, and graduated in 1995 with a management degree...
Kirk Triplett
Kirk Triplett
Kirk Alan Triplett is an American professional golfer, currently playing on the PGA Tour and the Nationwide Tour.Triplett was born in Moses Lake, Washington, and grew up in Pullman. He graduated from Pullman High School in 1980 and accepted a golf scholarship to the University of Nevada in Reno,...
Bubba Watson
Bubba Watson
Gerry "Bubba" Watson is an American professional golfer. Watson is one of the few left-handed golfers on tour and is known for his tremendous length. The longest driver on the PGA Tour, in 2007 he had an average drive of 315.2 yards and is capable of generating a ball speed of 194 mph, being...
Mark Wilson
Mark Wilson (golfer)
Mark Joseph Wilson is an American professional golfer who plays on the PGA Tour.Wilson was born in Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin and currently resides in Elmhurst, Illinois.-Professional career:...
European Tour
Antti AhokasAntti Ahokas
Antti Juhani Ahokas is a Finnish professional golfer.Ahokas was born in Lappeenranta. After winning the Finnish Amateur Stroke Play Championship in 2005, he moved to the United States to attend the University of Minnesota, but left after just three months to return to Europe and further his...
Gary Boyd
Gary Boyd (golfer)
Gary Stuart Boyd is an English professional golfer who currently plays on the European Tour.Boyd was born in Banbury, England. He turned professional in 2007....
Jonathan Caldwell Alejandro Cañizares
Alejandro Cañizares
José Alejandro Cañizares Gómez is a Spanish professional golfer.Cañizares was born in Madrid, and is the son of five-time European Tour winner and four-time European Ryder Cup team member José Maria Cañizares. He attended college in the United States, where he won the 2003 NCAA men's golf...
Rhys Davies
Rhys Davies (golfer)
Rhys Davies is a Welsh professional golfer.Davies was born in Edinburgh, Scotland but has lived in Wales for the majority of his life. He played collegiate golf in the United States at East Tennessee State University where he won ten times...
Peter Fowler
Peter Fowler
Peter Randall Fowler is an Australian golfer.Fowler was born in Hornsby, New South Wales. He turned professional in 1977 and won the Australian Open in 1983. He has spent a large part of his career playing on the European Tour, where he made the top one hundred on the Order of Merit every year...
Grégory Havret
Gregory Havret
Grégory Havret is a French professional golfer.Havret won the French Amateur Championship three years in a row from 1997 to 1999, and in 1999 he won the European Amateur. He also won a minor professional tournament as an amateur, the 1998 Omnium National.Havret turned professional in 1999 and won...
Miguel Ángel Jiménez
Miguel Angel Jiménez
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Shiv Kapur
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Gary Lockerbie
Gary Lockerbie
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Gareth Maybin
Gareth Maybin
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Louis Oosthuizen
Louis Oosthuizen
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Anthony Snobeck
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Lee Westwood
Lee Westwood
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Current products
Drivers- K15, G20, G15, i15, G10, G5, G2, Ping Eye, Ping Eye 2, Ping Zing
- Rapture V2
Fairways
- K15, G20, G15, i15
- Rapture V2
Rescues/Hybrids
- K15, G20, G15, i15
- Rapture V2
Irons
- K15, G20, G15, G10, G5
- i15, i10, i5
- Rapture V2
- S56, S57
- ANSER (Ping's first forged iron set)
Wedges
- TOUR S, Tour W
- iWedge
- Eye2 XG
Putters
- Scottsdale Series
- Karsten Series
- i Series
- iWi (with movable weights)
- Redwood Series
- IN Series
- Sydney Series
- Anser Milled Series
Each series of putter is based around the same basic styles, which include the Anser, Zing, Craz-E, ½ Craz-E, B60, D66, Wack-E, ½ Wack-E (with exceptions coming in the Scottsdale Series)
Women's
- Faith Driver, Fairway, Irons
- Rhapsody Driver, Fairway, Rescue/Hybrid, Irons
- Rapture V2 Driver, Fairway, Rescue/Hybrid, Irons