Ping Anser Putter
In January of 1966, Karsten Solheim designed the Ping Anser Putter after the idea came to him in a flash, as inspiration has a tendency to do. Solheim drew the design on the dust jacket of a 78 rpm record.
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The design of the Ping Anser putter was the first of its kind. It featured an offset hosel, which provided golfers with an unobstructed view of the face. The cavity-back putter also had a low center of gravity as well as lines parallel to the face. These lines help a golfer in squaring the putter.
Because he clearly had designed a putter that was going to be revolutionary, he needed a name for it. Solheim’s wife, the former Louise Crozier, suggested that they name it Answer because it was the answer to an especially vexing problem, which was putting.
Solheim approved of his wife’s suggestion but thought that the name would be too long to fit on the putter. They had a looming deadline to get the design to the engraver, but then Mrs. Solheim had the idea to leave out the letter W, thus naming it Anser instead of Answer. They did so, and the Ping Anser putter went on to become the “winningest” or most successful putter design in golf, racking up more than five hundred PGA Tour wins.
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The innovations that had been introduced in the Ping Anser putter can be found in almost every putter on the market. This makes it not just the most popular design but also the most imitated. Ping also makes sets of irons that carry the Anser name.
Karsten series putters from Ping can offer the performance of a steel face with an insert feel, and this series includes the Ping Anser putter and Anser 2 putter models. The Anser 2 model is also part of the Scottsdale series, which has inserts made of thermoplastic elastomer.
Another notable Ping series with more than one Anser putter included is the i-Series, which has the Anser and Anser 4 models. The iN putter series counts the proven shape of the Anser V2 model among its advantages for golfers. The iWi series’ and the i-Series’ Anser putter models earned gold honors from Golf Digest in its annual Hot List issue in February 2009, while Ping was celebrating its fiftieth anniversary that year.
Ping is one of the most recognizable brands in golf because of its many contributions to the world of putters. It is not really such an exaggeration to say that Karsten Solheim and his Ping Anser putter changed putting forever.
