Lot # 116: PING Anser 1966 Scottsdale Putter

Category: Golf Clubs

Starting Bid: $100.00

Bids: 22 (Bid History)

Time Left: Auction closed
Lot / Auction Closed




This lot is closed. Bidding is not allowed.

Item was in Auction "Golf Antiques - Hosted by Jeff Ellis",
which ran from 7/18/2024 6:25 PM to
7/28/2024 9:00 PM



This is a nice example of the putter that helped put Karsten Solheim on the map - big time. The head on this 1966 Ping Scottsdale Anser is clean. The 35 1/2" shaft is original.  The rubber grip is its original Golf Pride Informer pistol grip with its original gip collar. The top line is clean, with no sight lines cut in or repaired. This putter still provides the unmistakable feel and high performance that proved revolutionary over 50 years ago when it was introduced.

Designed by Karsten Solheim and made in his Paradise Valley, Arizona garage in 1966, the "Scottsdale" Anser changed the golf world forever. It gained popularity with lightning speed. After the Anser design patent expired, golf manufacturers let loose with a flood of knock-offs and copies to capitalize on the gigantic demand.  Even today, 56 years later, every major clubmaker continues to put new variations on Karsten's theme on the market.

When Karsten moved to Paradise Valley, a suburb of Phoenix in 1960, he set up a Post Office box in Scottsdale in order to differentiate his business address from another putter maker operating in Phoenix—John Reuter, Jr., the maker of the Bulls-Eye line.  Karsten marked all of his clubs with the Scottsdale address so anybody who saw another golfer using a PING putter would know where to write to place an order. in late 1966, Karsten moved from his garage to a small commercial building in Phoenix. He then changed the address on the back of the Anser to his new Phoenix address.

Today, the Anser stands as the most copied putter in the history of golf.

For more information on the Anser, see And The Putter Went Ping, Chapter 4.