Ping Golf today introduced two new Anser putters that celebrate the company’s legendary Anser design handcrafted decades earlier by founder Karsten Solheim. The new TR 1966 Anser and Anser 2 arrive as Ping is celebrating the iconic Anser model’s 50th birthday.
Ping’s TR1966 Anser
In developing the new putters, Ping said its engineers relied on 3D scans of the original Anser and Anser 2 to analyze the subtle contours and radius details that Karsten personally shaped into the designs using his mill and hand files. Each of the new models is engineered with that same attention to detail and performance that has made the Anser the winningest model in golf history.
The putters, available in March at a suggested retail price of $162.50 each, will be on display at this week’s PGA Merchandise Show in Orlando.
Ping Chairman & CEO John Solheim, who helped his father build the original Anser model in the family’s Scottsdale, Ariz., garage as a teenager, said the goal was to “strike a balance’’ between advancing the game’s best putter technology and giving golfers a sense of the Anser’s history.
“Karsten’s groundbreaking Anser design was genius because of how well it performed and how different it was. Golfers had never seen anything like it. He hand-shaped every detail of it until it was perfect in his mind,’’ Solheim said. “The Anser changed putter design forever, and it still influences putter manufacturers worldwide 50 years later because of its unparalleled success and popularity.”
The new putters get their names from Ping True-Roll (TR) face technology. The precision-milled face design, according to Solheim, provides unmatched ball-speed consistency, the key to holing more putts and reducing three-putts.
Like the original, the new Anser model includes a sound slot in the sole and appeals to golfers who prefer no alignment line, more rounded heel and toe contours, and a slightly thicker top line. It offers a manganese bronze PVD finish.
The Anser 2, distinguished by a stainless steel blast finish, has a single white alignment line on the flange that simplifies aiming. Its heel and toe contours are less rounded than those of the Anser and its top rail is narrower.
