Ping, Inc. (stylized as PING) is an American
sports equipment
Sports equipment, sporting equipment, also called sporting goods, are the tools, materials, apparel, and gear used to compete in a sport and varies depending on the sport. The equipment ranges from balls, nets, and protective gear like helmets. ...
manufacturing company based in
Phoenix, Arizona
Phoenix ( ; nv, Hoozdo; es, Fénix or , yuf-x-wal, Banyà:nyuwá) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities and towns in Arizona#List of cities and towns, most populous city of the U.S. state of Arizona, with 1 ...
. It focuses on
golf equipment
Golf equipment encompasses the various items that are used to play the sport of golf. Types of equipment include the golf ball, golf clubs, and devices that aid in the sport.
Equipment
Balls
Originally, golf balls were made of a hardwood, s ...
, producing
golf club
A golf club is a club used to hit a golf ball in a game of golf. Each club is composed of a shaft with a grip and a club head. Wood (golf), Woods are mainly used for long-distance fairway or tee shots; iron (golf), irons, the most versatile class ...
s and
golf bag
Golf equipment encompasses the various items that are used to play the sport of golf. Types of equipment include the golf ball, golf clubs, and devices that aid in the sport.
Equipment
Balls
Originally, golf balls were made of a hardwood, s ...
s. The company was founded by
Karsten Solheim
Karsten Solheim (September 15, 1911 – February 16, 2000) was an American golf club designer and businessman. He founded Karsten Manufacturing, a golf club maker better known by the name of PING, and the Solheim Cup, the premier international t ...
, following a career as an engineer at the
General Electric
General Electric Company (GE) is an American multinational conglomerate founded in 1892, and incorporated in New York state and headquartered in Boston. The company operated in sectors including healthcare, aviation, power, renewable energ ...
company. In 1959, he started making putters in his garage in
Redwood City
Redwood City is a city on the San Francisco Peninsula in Northern California's Bay Area, approximately south of San Francisco, and northwest of San Jose. Redwood City's history spans its earliest inhabitation by the Ohlone people to being a po ...
,
California
California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...
. In 1967, he resigned from his job at General Electric to develop the PING company.
History
Beginnings
Solheim began PING golf as a garage business in 1959. His frustration during the game of
golf
Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a course in as few strokes as possible.
Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standardized playing area, and coping wi ...
resulted from his difficulty
putting
The golf swing is the action by which players hit the ball in the sport of golf. The golf swing is a complex motion involving the whole body; the technicalities of the swing are known as golf stroke mechanics.
There are differing opinions on what ...
with the equipment of the era. The engineer from
General Electric
General Electric Company (GE) is an American multinational conglomerate founded in 1892, and incorporated in New York state and headquartered in Boston. The company operated in sectors including healthcare, aviation, power, renewable energ ...
invented a new putter in his garage known as the "PING 1A". Instead of attaching the shaft at the heel of the blade, he attached it in the center. He applied scientific principles to golf club design, which had previously been based largely on trial and error, transferring much of the weight of the club head to the perimeter.
The name "PING" came from the sound that Solheim heard as the metal struck the ball. Popular musician-golfer
Murray Arnold
Murray Arnold (March 4, 1938 – November 13, 2012) was an American basketball coach, best remembered for his college coaching career at Chattanooga, Western Kentucky and Stetson. He also spent two seasons from 1991 coaching the Perth Wild ...
shared in 1960 that the clubhead, on striking the ball, rings out with the 440 pitch used in tuning pianos. By the end of 1960, Solheim had 6 designs, intentionally muffled the "ping", and had made over 2,000 putters in his garage.
In 1961, the Solheims moved from
Redwood City, California
Redwood City is a city on the San Francisco Peninsula in Northern California's Bay Area, approximately south of San Francisco, and northwest of San Jose. Redwood City's history spans its earliest inhabitation by the Ohlone people to being a ...
to
Phoenix, Arizona
Phoenix ( ; nv, Hoozdo; es, Fénix or , yuf-x-wal, Banyà:nyuwá) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities and towns in Arizona#List of cities and towns, most populous city of the U.S. state of Arizona, with 1 ...
where the company would find a permanent home. Despite the increasing sales of the PING putter, Solheim continued to create his putters single-handedly in his garage after departing
General Electric
General Electric Company (GE) is an American multinational conglomerate founded in 1892, and incorporated in New York state and headquartered in Boston. The company operated in sectors including healthcare, aviation, power, renewable energ ...
.
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
The PGA Tour (stylized in all capital letters as PGA TOUR by its officials) is the organizer of professional golf tours in the United States and North America. It organizes most of the events on the flagship annual series of tournaments also k ...
victory while using a PING club came in 1962 at the
Cajun Classic Open Invitational by
John Barnum
John O. Barnum (October 6, 1911 – October 30, 1996) was an American professional golfer who played on the PGA Tour in the 1950s and 1960s.
Barnum is notable for two significant milestones in golf. He was the second golfer (after Jim Barnes ...
. Sales of the PING putters rose as the popularity steadily increased. The
Golf World Cup
The World Cup of Golf is a men's golf tournament contested by teams of two representing their country. Only one team is allowed from each country. The players are selected on the basis of the Official World Golf Ranking, although not all of the fi ...
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 ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
.
Later years
In 1966, 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". Additionally, without a W, Anser could be trademarked.
PING faced a major obstacle at the end of 1966 as the
USGA
The United States Golf Association (USGA) is the United States national association of golf courses, clubs and facilities and the governing body of golf for the U.S. and Mexico. Together with The R&A, the USGA produces and interprets the rules ...
, 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.
Acceptance came when
Julius Boros
Julius Nicholas Boros (March 3, 1920 – May 28, 1994) was an American professional golfer noted for his effortless-looking swing and strong record on difficult golf courses, particularly at the U.S. Open.
Early years
Born in Fairfield, Connecti ...
won the
PGA Tour
The PGA Tour (stylized in all capital letters as PGA TOUR by its officials) is the organizer of professional golf tours in the United States and North America. It organizes most of the events on the flagship annual series of tournaments also k ...
's
Phoenix Open
The Phoenix Open (branded as the WM Phoenix Open for sponsorship reasons) is a professional golf tournament on the PGA Tour, held in late January/early February at TPC Scottsdale in Scottsdale, Arizona.
The tournament was originally the Arizona ...
, using Solheim's "Anser" putter in early 1967. Later that year, Solheim resigned from G.E., moved his business from his garage to a factory and establish Karsten Manufacturing Corporation (KMC) makers of the Ping brand of clubs in
Phoenix, Arizona
Phoenix ( ; nv, Hoozdo; es, Fénix or , yuf-x-wal, Banyà:nyuwá) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities and towns in Arizona#List of cities and towns, most populous city of the U.S. state of Arizona, with 1 ...
. The
patent
A patent is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the legal right to exclude others from making, using, or selling an invention for a limited period of time in exchange for publishing an enabling disclosure of the invention."A p ...
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 Masters Tournament (usually referred to as simply The Masters, or the U.S. Masters outside North America) is one of the four major championships in professional golf. Scheduled for the first full week of April, the Masters is the first maj ...
. In 1969, Ping introduced irons based on the same principle of perimeter weighting, and these were quickly successful. The other golf equipment manufacturers soon followed Ping's innovations, which became industry standards. The last major innovation by PING during the 1960s came with K1 stainless cast steel iron set.
Legacy
During a
White House
The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in 1800. ...
meeting between
President
President most commonly refers to:
*President (corporate title)
*President (education), a leader of a college or university
*President (government title)
President may also refer to:
Automobiles
* Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...
Donald Trump
Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021.
Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pe ...
and
Norwegian Prime minister
The prime minister of Norway ( no, statsminister, which directly translates to "minister of state") is the head of government and chief executive of Norway. The prime minister and Cabinet (consisting of all the most senior government department ...
Erna Solberg
Erna Solberg (; born 24 February 1961) is a Norwegian politician and the current Leader of the Opposition. She served as the 35th prime minister of Norway from 2013 to 2021, and has been Leader of the Conservative Party since May 2004.
Solberg w ...
on January 10, 2018, Solberg gave Trump a Ping "Bergen" Putter as a gift as a symbol of the close ties between the nations, and the history of
Norwegian immigration to the United States. Born in Norway, Ping's founder
Karsten Solheim
Karsten Solheim (September 15, 1911 – February 16, 2000) was an American golf club designer and businessman. He founded Karsten Manufacturing, a golf club maker better known by the name of PING, and the Solheim Cup, the premier international t ...
was from Austrheim, outside
Bergen
Bergen (), historically Bjørgvin, is a city and municipality in Vestland county on the west coast of Norway. , its population is roughly 285,900. Bergen is the second-largest city in Norway. The municipality covers and is on the peninsula of ...
; as a toddler, he moved with his family to
Seattle
Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...
,
Washington
Washington commonly refers to:
* Washington (state), United States
* Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States
** A metonym for the federal government of the United States
** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...
.
Fitting innovation
Ping was the first manufacturer to offer high-quality cast clubs using
investment casting
Investment casting is an industrial process based on lost-wax casting, one of the oldest known metal-forming techniques. The term "lost-wax casting" can also refer to modern investment casting processes.
Investment casting has been used in var ...
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.
To make custom fitting more feasible, Ping manufactures some iron clubheads with a small notch in the clubhead. The notch allows the clubhead to be bent to the required specification without the danger of breaking the clubhead as was the problem for previous models.
Sponsorships
Ping has maintained endorsement deals with many
professional golfer
A professional golfer is somebody who receives payments or financial rewards in the sport of golf that are directly related to their skill or reputation. A person who earns money by teaching or playing golf is traditionally considered a "golf pr ...
s playing on the leading
tours
Tours ( , ) is one of the largest cities in the region of Centre-Val de Loire, France. It is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Indre-et-Loire. The Communes of France, commune of Tours had 136,463 ...
, including
Ángel Cabrera
Ángel Cabrera (; born 12 September 1969) is an Argentine professional golfer who has played on both the European Tour and PGA Tour. He is known affectionately as ''"El Pato"'' in Spanish ''("The Duck")'' for his waddling gait. He is a two-time ...
,
Louis Oosthuizen
Lodewicus Theodorus "Louis" Oosthuizen (; born 1982) is a South African professional golfer who won the 2010 Open Championship. He has finished runner-up in all four major championships: the 2012 Masters Tournament, the 2015 and 2021 U.S. Op ...
,
Bubba Watson,
Lee Westwood
Lee John Westwood (born 24 April 1973) is an English professional golfer. Noted for his consistency, Westwood is one of the few golfers who has won tournaments on five continents – Europe, North America, Asia, Africa and Oceania – including ...
and
Brooke Henderson
Brooke Mackenzie Henderson (born 10 September 1997) is a Canadian professional golfer on the LPGA Tour.
Henderson was named the Canadian Press female athlete of the year for 2015, 2017 and 2018. She won her first major at age 18 in 2016 at the ...
.
References
External links
*
{{Authority control
Golf equipment manufacturers
Sportswear brands
Sporting goods manufacturers of the United States
Sportswear
Manufacturing companies based in Phoenix, Arizona