Putters are in PING’S DNA.

That’s the take of Dr. Paul Woods, the company’s Vice-President of Engineering. PING was founded in 1959 on Karsten Solheim’s concept that he could develop a putter that outperformed what was then on the market. It was six decades ago that Solheim created PING’S 1A putter and began revolutionizing the game. PING continues to innovate with putters to this day, recently launching the Sigma 2 putter with a shaft that can be adjusted to the player. But with PING broadening its reach into irons and drivers, where does the putter play into the company’s current makeup? Woods has thought a lot about that question.

“It is a discussion we have regularly,” he says. “There’s no question the putter market is smaller than irons and drivers. But it is our 60^th anniversary of being a putter company and it is still very near and dear to the Solheim family’s heart. If you look at how many times you hit each club in your bag, you’ll see that you use your putter almost as much as the rest of the clubs combined. It is pretty important when you consider that.”

For Rob Griffin, History Services Coordinator at PING, there’s no questioning the role of the putter at the company: “Everything in the company is based on how we initially designed putters. We’re an engineering company and it started with that putter.” 

So where did it all begin? PING’s initial foray into putters started in the late 1950s when Karsten Solheim, an engineer of some note, began to question his putting. A golfer for years who could break 80, Solheim felt his putting was the worst part of his game, and blamed some of that on his putter. His work as an engineer led him to think he could devise a better putter.

“I saw immediately that by using the simple laws of physics and mechanics, it would be possible to make something more efficient than a plain thin blade, and thus avoid such off-line putts,” he’s quoted as saying.

And the putter went ‘ping’

With that, Solheim commenced developing a putter that would be more forgiving. But beyond that, Solheim recognized that by moving weight to the outside of perimeter of the putter, it would make it more stable, and limit the twisting he experienced with his old putter. In many ways that led to a revolution in golf that is still central to equipment development to this day. He also liked the sound the new putter made—PING—and used it as the brand name for his new product. The only issue—no one really wanted them.

“He took the first 10 putters to pro shops, but no one bought them,” says Griffin. “They just didn’t sell.”

Solheim had problems with materials as well—the initial putters were too soft and prone to problems. One of the first putters Solheim sold was to Arnold Palmer, the most noted golf pro in the world at the time. But the face caved in on the soft brass putter, leaving Solheim to consider using other materials that would be more durable. He also bought the equipment that allowed him to build his own putters—stamping the name “PING Putters” on them and selling them for $17.50.

The challenge was the new putters were substantially different than anything on the market. The PGA Tour pros also thought they were ugly.

Still PING was making inroads with pros and consumers alike, though it wasn’t until the famed Anser putter debuted at the Phoenix Open in 1966 that PING’s fortunes rose quickly. With a new heel-to-toe weighting and neck/hosel design, the Anser quickly became one of the most popular putters in the world. Soon Jack Nicklaus and Gary Player were using PING putters.

Reconsidering the putter

Over the ensuing years, putters were always central to PING, but the company’s reach broadened significantly. Still, there are more than 3,000 gold putters in a vault at PING’s Arizona headquarters, each representing a win by a tour pro with one of the company’s flatsticks. Putters are central to the company, but their sales were long eclipsed by drivers and irons. Regardless, Woods thinks there’s a great opportunity to reconsider the role of the putter from both a practical and engineering perspective.

For instance, Woods says perhaps it’s time to think about how current players use their putters. Would a putt from a longer distance benefit from a different putter than a short putt? Would it make sense to have two putters in your bag, each aimed at specific putts you face in each round? It wouldn’t be the first time PING considered such a notion, Woods says, noting in the 1970s the company made a putter called “Zero” that used a different hosel and had characteristics that made it a hybrid of a putter and iron.

The future of PING putters

Late last year PING launched the Sigma 2, with its adjustable shaft aimed at assisting golfers when it comes to fitting themselves appropriately depending on putting style and height. For Woods, that’s just the start of new initiatives we’ll see from the company in the future. There’s an art and psychology to putting that are essential to the development of new models, he says. Sure there are technical characteristics that are important to building a great putter, but that’s only part of the equation.

 

“It is a lot about your eyes and how they perceive things,” he says. “What do you need to see when you stand over a putt? You have to find a way to get the golfer in their zone to make that putt. So how do we get you standing over a putt and relaxed? Can we do that through the design?”

In one way that’s a long way away from Karsten Solheim’s initial ideas about devising a new putter in the late 1950s. In another it fits with his philosophy—crafting putters that help you get the ball in the hole in the fewest number of strokes.

Woods agrees.

“We’re trying to figure out how design impact the psychology,” he says. “That’s an art and a science—it more than just mechanical engineering.”