Ping Golf Items, Best on the Course and ebay

Today, Ping is one of the few remaining large American golf manufacturing companies. It is based in Phoenix, Arizona now, but it was started in a garage in Redwood City, California in 1959, by a General Electric engineer named Karsten Solheim.He quit G.E. in 1967 to work full-time developing the Ping Company.

It was one of golf's better known frustrations that prompted him to make his first golf club, a putter. He just couldn't make a putt with any of the putters he could get his hands on, (golf equipment was a lot different in 1959), so he decided to make his own. He invented his first putter in his garage and called it the 1A. The club's construction caused it to make a 'ping' sound when it hit the ball. There's a story that after some practice putts with the new club he ran into the kitchen telling his wife he had an idea for a name for it, regardless of how, it quickly became known as the Ping 1A. Cute way to pick a company name.

Karsten's new putter design really was an innovation. At the time, golf clubs had what's called a "Blade" design, meaning the weight of the club was distributed evenly behind the club face. Karsten moved the distribution of the weight to the bottom of the club. This left a thinner club face to hit the ball, and a heavier bottom to carry the momentum of the club forward with less twisting action. And it worked! He had just introduced the concept of "perimeter" weighting to golf. Because the thinner putter club face had less weight behind it, it produced a very recognizable sound when it hit the ball. Ping!

Karsten's new putter design was getting some play, and he was making sales, but it was a review in Sports Illustrated magazine that called it the "musical" putter, because of the sound it made, and a few Pro Golfer endorsements that really started the company on it's rise to success.

He continued to tinker with his "heel to toe" perimeter weight design, and in 1969 he designed a set of irons with his new weighting concept. Additionally he milled a cavity behind the club face to give it more "forgiveness". Another story says he named his new irons "69" because he thought that was a good score for a round of golf.

His new concept of cavity-back, heel-to-toe perimeter weighting made his clubs much more "forgiving" for the golfer. Your swing could be a "little off", or you might not get that "just right" clubface contact, and you could still produce a decent golf shot. With the old "blade" club design, either of these mistakes were disastrous for your shot, and has caused 'many a thrown club'.

Karsten's company got another great boost when John Barnum won a PGA Tour event at The Cajun Classic in 1962 using a Ping Club. Golf Tournaments are usually won by only a shot or two, so pro golfers are always looking for anything that can help their game. His new clubface design did help, and Karsten Solheim's Ping golf clubs were beginning to revolutionize the golf industry

In 1966 Karsten added another great club to the Ping arsenal when he developed what would turn out to be the winningest putter in golf. The Ping Anser. Continuing with his 'heel to toe' weight distribution, he added the 'milled cavity back' concept from his '69' irons, and came up with a new putter that resisted the twisting action of a off-center hit, and the large 'sweet spot' of a cavity back club. It was a winning combination, and over 500 wins later, most of the golf world still looks at as the leader.

Some models of the Ping Anser have sold for as much as $600.00, (the Scotsdale patent pend. mod.), but that market has been saturated the last few years and you can get the same model now for around $200.00. Most other Anser putters now resell in the $50 - $75 range. Note: one big value factor is whether the club is marked 'Pat. Pending'. The Anser was so popular, and so plentiful, that club designations like, the Pat. Pending, Scotsdale, or Newport markings, became determining factors of rareity. And of course the more rare, the higher the resale value.

Continuing with the company's philosophy of developing game-improving, miss-shot forgiveness, the company's line of drivers more than meets those goals.

The newest G10 uses a new 'crown' pattern that uses internal weight distribution to make this driver a combination of the best of both worlds. The premium performance standards of a Ping club, and the traditional 'forgiving' design features make Ping drivers a great addition to any golfer's bag.



Although it's not the 'newest and hottest' club on the market, Ping's Rapture V2 Driver (and Fairway woods) have long been recognized as the 'most forgiving' long-clubs in golf today. Like the Ansr putter, some new club designs just 'get it right', and even though newer, and maybe better models will come out, clubs like the Rapture V2 never lose their appeal to golfers striving for their best game.


Keep your eyes open and you can find some great deals on these on ebay.

Take your pick, whether you are a fully Ping-equipped player, just got your first Ping club, or want to dress like the pros, Ping branded golf apparel is a hot seller on ebay. It is also the place to get some great bargains! It could be a great deal on a new-with-tags item, or a proudly-,maintained 'experienced' item, either choice can be found in ebay auctions. Take a look at some of these deals.

A really bright and exciting place to shop. A lot like ebay in it's product types and variety, but it's not an auction site, it's buy-now eCommerce. (Just like a regular store).
eCrater is a large and growing site that is also eCommerce, and not auctions. So you don't have to wait for those great deals. They're already there!.

Hey, as long as you're here...why not check out my 'Info' Blog - The Cat's Meow Village Finder. See the history of CMV pieces, and the real buildings some are modeled after.

Another great publishing platform. Appletreedeals on Hubpages has some different articles. Check them out.

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Another great publishing effort... The ebay Seller's Tips & Reviews. A blog for the ebay world
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Appletreedeals is the eCommerce ID for G.A. Anderson

You can see more of his articles on Hubpages, and here on Squidoo.

He also writes on his outdoor tent camping site - Campingwithgus.com, and top new toys site - Newhottoyschristmas.com

For antiques and collectibles visit Appletreedeals.com.

Or visit his very Politically Incorrect personal Blog at GA Anderson Online.