The earliest irons Karsten Solheim made—the PING 69, 68, and Anser irons—were forged, produced in exceptionally small quantities, and absolutely groundbreaking in the history of golf. Karsten believed in perimeter weighting, which was unheard of when these irons were made. The 68, 69, and Anser irons were his hand-made/assembled "prototype" irons, with their cavities milled out entirely by hand. They led the way to the mass-produced perimeter-weighted PING Model I irons which exploded into the golf world in 1969. The rest is history.
Only 100 sets of Model 68 irons were built. Fernquist & Johnson provided the heads which Karsten milled out in his garage in Paradise Valley, AZ. This set which consists of a 2 iron through PW and features more than just groundbreaking perimeter weighted heads. This set still has its original ballnamic shafts with the double bends at the base of each grip.
Breaking again with convention, Karsten purposely bent these shafts in this set at a slight angle—two ways—at the base of the grip. The grip end of the shaft was angled so the grip would lean back toward the golfer when addressing the ball and also tilt slightly away from the target. The net effect was to line up the centerline of the grip with the center of the golf ball at impact. In addition, Karsten figured out that bent shafts also reduced the torque of a golf club. in 1964, Karsten filed for a US patent for his shaft design, which was granted on Jan 20, 1967.
Overall, this is a brilliant set. The cavities on the back of the heads are all stamped “19,” the sequential weight number assigned to the heads after they were milled, so their weights would all match up. The original True Temper dynamic stiff shafts still have their original green Golf Pride Fine Line grips. The 2 iron is 39 1/2". This set includes the original “Tuned Balnamic” shaft bands. There is notable wear on two grips down near their collars. All grips with original collars. The Model 68, made in 1963, is the rarest of the early Ping Forged Iron models.