PING Karsten Anser Putter Review

It sounds too good to be true—a classic putter made by a legendary company for under $100.

Indeed, with its new Karsten Series putters, PING Golf has released several of its beloved designs at a street price of just $89. So is there a catch, or do we truly have a steal on our hands?

Following is PutterZone.com’s PING Karsten Anser putter review.

The Storyline
No company has played the putting game like PING over the past 40+ years. PING putters have won more than 2,300 professional tournaments around the world since the 1960s.

Founder Karsten Solheim crafted his first putter in his garage in 1959, igniting a revolution in putter design. At the time, he worked for General Electric. It wasn’t until 1967 that he resigned from GE to start Karsten Manufacturing, the parent company of the PING brand, so named for the “ping” sound of the putter upon contact. That was the same year that Julius Boros helped cement PING’s credibility, winning the Phoenix Open with a PING Anser model putter.

According to the lore, Solheim initially sketched his "answer" on the sleeve of a vinyl record album. The putter featured a cavity-back design for heel-toe balance, as well as an offset hosel. At the suggestion of his wife, he removed the ‘w’ from "answer" so it would better fit on the club.

Today, the Anser is the most-copied design in the putter market, a testament to its enduring genius. PING was also a major force in iron design, and today offers a full range of clubs and accessories. The company remains a family affair, with Solheim's son running the show.

In late 2006, PING unveiled its Redwood Series putters ($249), its first foray into the high-end milled putter market. A year later, PING launched the Karsten Series, an affordable yin to the Redwood’s luxury yang. In addition to the Anser model, the Karsten Series includes other classic PING designs, such as the Piper and Zing.

According to PING: “For golfers preferring the performance of a steel face with an insert feel, the Karsten Series meets the criteria. An elastomer insert in the cavity provides enhanced feel while maintaining the solid response of a steel-faced putter. Weight savings from the new cavity shapes were redistributed to the perimeter to increase each putter's moment-of-inertia for added forgiveness.”

The View from PutterZone.com
I’ll never forget my father buying me a PING Anser in the late 1970s or very early 1980s (I can’t recall the exact year). I was over the moon. This was the ultimate putter at that time.

Playing the new Karsten Anser inspired me to dig that old Anser out of storage as a point of comparison. The new Karsten version is just a bit thicker, but otherwise looks identical in shape. Of course, there are points of difference, such as the older version’s darkened bronze finish, sound slot and lighter weight. But in terms of overall profile, the Karsten Anser is true to its roots.

The Karsten Anser is the real deal in matters of performance, too. While dozens of companies have produced countless iterations of the Anser, PING knows this design better than anyone else, enabling them to deliver the Anser’s classic playability at even the Karsten’s remarkable price.

I wouldn’t say that this putter has an “insert feel,” and that’s just fine with me. I don’t want my Anser to feel like an insert putter (ie: a face that isn’t metal). However, the elastomer insert behind the face (which doubles as a PING logo in the center of the cavity) does seem to add a bit of fullness the feel, which I find appealing. It’s still steely, but with a nice plumpness, too.

The color scheme of the putter is silver and black with accents of gold for a sleek, sophisticated look. The included head cover is equally sweet. Silver piping separates panels of black canvas and gray pleather, with the PING logo is embroidered in gold and white. There’s even a magnet sewn inside the top of the cover that gently grabs the putter for a cozy fit.

My only quibble is that the putter is a bit wordy. From head to shaft, grip to head cover, the words PING and Karsten appear a total of 15 times. Of course, some of these instances are minor (such as the little Karsten on the butt of the grip), but it’s still a tad indulgent.

Wordy or not, however, the Karsten Anser rises well above its price point in terms of performance and presentation. It seems like nothing is a deal these days—gasoline is going up, stocks are going down and money is tight for many folks. In that context, the Karsten Anser is a particularly welcome sight.

The Bottom Line
Rather than simply stooping to the under-$100 price point, PING raised the bar on it with the Karsten Series. The Karsten Anser delivers proven performance in an attractive package, making a serious value statement in the process. If you want bang for your putting buck without breaking the bank, you can’t go wrong with PING’s Karsten Series putters.

Ochoa's New Secret Weapon

Lorena Ochoa broke out a new putter over the weekend and promptly proceeded to crush the competition with it.

Ochoa’s new secret weapon is now out of the bag. It’s a PING Redwood Series ZB model putter, one of two new Redwood Series models that will be available to the public starting on April 1 for a street price of $250. As with other PING Redwood Series putters, the ZB model is precision-milled from 303 stainless steel.

At first glance from PutterZone.com’s vantage, the ZB looks quite stylish as well as ready for business.

The HSBC Women's Champions Tournament in Singapore was Ochoa’s first tournament using the ZB putter. She racked up 23 birdies over four rounds. Her 20-under-par total was 11 shots better than the runner-up and marked her largest margin of victory in 18 career wins.

Apparently, the new ZB fits Ochoa like an old shoe.

PING founder Karsten Solheim was a giant in the world of putting whose original designs, such as the famed Anser putter, are still widely copied today. PING has been a major force in the world of putting ever since, even as the company grew and expanded its offerings to include a variety of golf clubs and merchandise over the past 40 years. The company is now led by Karsten Solheim’s son John.

PING is on a now fresh roll with its putter offerings. The new Karsten series putters ($89) offer remarkable value, while the Redwood Series, which was introduced last year as PING’s first entry into the high-end milled putter market, is making serious waves on tour, as evidenced by Ochoa’s latest triumph.

British Open Exclusive: Hot Putters on Tour

Which PGA Tour players will wield which putters at this week’s British Open? What are the hottest flatsticks on the professional circuits at this moment? Everybody knows that Tiger Woods uses a trusty Scotty Cameron putter and that Phil Mickelson keeps two custom Odyssey putters in his stable. But what about other golf legends and rising stars? What’s working for them on the green?

PutterZone.com is no stranger to these questions. It’s only natural that recreational golfers want to know what works for the top players in the world, as it just might work for them as well.

So, with a little reconnaissance, PutterZone.com developed the following unprecedented dossier on who’s using what right now.

There are a few things you should know about this dossier. It is accurate and up to date, but only to the point that a pro golfer decides to switch putters, which can happen at any time. Also, where possible, I have taken care to specify if a putter is a prototype or has been highly customized. But you can bet that all of these putters have been customized in one way or another, in terms of loft, lie, length, weighting, etc. You’d be hard pressed to find a pro who pulls a putter right off the rack—and for the same reason you might consider having your putter professionally fit to your own physique and mechanics.

So, without further ado...

Several hot hands on the PGA Tour are playing Rossa Series putters by TaylorMade. David Toms has won nearly $2 million this year with a Rossa Imola 8 model in his bag. Sean O’Hair employs a Rossa Monza Corza AGSI model, while Kenny Perry favors the Rossa Inza model. The Anti-skid Groove System Insert (AGSI) on the latest Rossa putters is engineered to reduce backspin and promote forward spin earlier in the shot for enhanced distance control and accuracy.

Angel Cabrera used PING’s Redwood Anser model putter while outpacing Tiger Woods to win the recent 2007 U.S. Open—earning him a solid gold replica of the putter as part of PING’s gold putter program for tour victors (a regular win gets you gold-plated putter while a major victory earns you a solid gold putter). Other PGA Tour pros wielding the Redwood Anser putter include Lee Westwood. The new Redwood Series features three classic PING shapes, all crafted from precision-milled 303 stainless steel. The series name pays tribute to Redwood City, California, where founder Karsten Solheim created the first PING putter in his garage. Meanwhile, Chris DiMarco uses PING’s Anser IsoForce putter.

Boccieri Golf’s Heavy Putter continues to gain momentum on tour, and Troy Matteson has already won more than $1 million this year with one in his bag. Matteson’s current putter is a prototype Heavy Putter blade with a satin finish. Brad Fritsch is also playing the same prototype on the Nationwide Tour, while Ken Staton plays with the Heavy Putter A3 model. Heavy Putter’s tour prototypes may or may not be precursors to future models, but PutterZone.com has confirmed that Boccieri Golf plans to release new Heavy Putter models later this year. Stay tuned.

Yes! Golf’s C-Groove putters are proliferating on professional circuits worldwide. Since 2001, Retief Goosen has used an early version of the company’s Tracy model, with which he has won two U.S. Opens. Jerry Kelly has rapidly ascended to 24th on the PGA Tour money list with a Sophia model in hand. On the LPGA Tour, Juli Inkster uses a Marilyn model. The concentric C-Grooves on Yes! Putters are designed to send the ball on a truer topspin roll for enhanced directional and distance control.

Never Compromise’s Exchange Series #7 model (pictured here) is getting a serious workout on the PGA Tour, with Vijay Singh, Boo Weekley and Michael Putnam all wielding it (Singh frequently uses the belly version). The Exchange Series putters come with adjustable color-coded weights that fit into four ports. The putter head by itself weighs 320 grams. Both Singh and Putnam typically use two white 10-gram weights in the back ports for a total head weight of 340 grams. Weekley typically uses two of the white weights in front and two blue 15-gram weights in back for a total of 370 grams. The Exchange Series kit also comes with a pair of red five-gram weights.

Rife Putters is red hot right now, having released its acclaimed Island Series putters on the heels of its successful 2 Bar line. Justin Rose uses the Island Series Barbados model. Brian Gay, who is currently ranked 13th in putting average on the PGA Tour, employs Rife’s GR5 mid blade, which is similar to the current GR6 Aussie model. Peter Lonard uses the cool 2 Bar Scarab—alas, the Scarab is a prototype that is unavailable to the general public. The standard 2 Bar mallet, however, is widely available. Rife’s putters feature RollGroove technology, through which precisely milled face grooves are designed to impart a more consistent roll.

It’s no secret that Zach Johnson won the 2007 Masters and 2007 AT&T Classic with a SeeMore FGP model putter in hand. Meanwhile, Vaughn Taylor has ridden his SeeMore FGP to a ranking of 21st in PGA Tour putting average. Earlier this year, SeeMore released its new mSeries precision-milled putters, and the m1 model has seen a lot of action in the hands of Stuart Appleby, who has been hanging around the top of several leaderboards of late. SeeMore’s calling card is its RifleScope technology, through which a blackened shaft visually intersects and hides a red dot on the putter crown. Two parallel white sightlines frame the shaft and serve as an indicator that the golfer is in perfect position to make a consistent and reliable stroke.

Jesper Parnevik uses a V-Foil M7.5 K GT putter by MacGregor Golf. Meanwhile, Billy Mayfair is using a prototype of one of MacGregor’s new DCT putters with Face-Off technology. Designed by Bobby Grace, MacGregor’s DCT putters features Distance Control Technology (DCT), which transfers more energy to the ball on miss-hits for enhanced distance consistency. They also offers two interchangeable putter faces: a polymer face designed for faster greens and a titanium face for slower greens

Newcomer GEL Golf will make its major tournament debut at the British Open in the hands of David Gleeson of Australia, who will play with GEL’s Ruby model putter. In addition to fashionably bright color schemes, GEL putters incorporate a soft aluminum insert with a series of finely milled saw-like grooves engineered to start the ball rolling faster and straighter.

Heritage Award: Wilson Staff 8862 Putter

Wilson Staff’s 8862 model putter earns PutterZone.com’s Heritage Award for a putter that honors tradition in an age of radical putter design and technology.

This award is the latest in PutterZone.com’s 2007 Midyear Putter Awards, which began Monday with the Next Level Award, followed by the Comeback Award. Stay tuned for the Staying Power Award and Anticipation Award.

The Wilson Staff 8862 putter belongs to Wilson Staff’s new 88 Series, which features five models that embody time-honored shapes as well as newer modern designs. The 88 Series was launched earlier this year at a suggested retail price of $89.

What makes the 8862 special is its intentional visual connection to Wilson’s legendary 8802 model putter—an elegant flanged blade first made famous by Arnold Palmer and still imitated today. For example, you can see a lot of the 8802 in the Odyssey White Hot XG 9 used by Phil Mickelson and other tour pros.

The 8802 was designed by Wilson’s renowned clubmaker Robert Mandrella and was released in 1950 at a suggested retail price of $10. Arnold Palmer wasn’t the only one to sink some epic putts with the 8802. Ben Crenshaw found his 8802 on the rack at a municipal golf course and later used it to win the 1984 Masters. Crenshaw still puts his 8802 into play today. The original 8802 putters are now hot collectibles that command top dollar.

Wilson Staff’s new 8862 is a modern update of the original, with a milled face pattern designed to improve contact and promote truer ball roll. But technology really isn’t the selling point with the 8862—there’s nothing terribly technological about it. The selling point is its decades-proven design, as well as the opportunity to wield a flatstick that conjures memories of a simpler, but no less spectacular, era in both professional and recreational golf.

Well played, Wilson Staff.

Runners Up
MacGregor Golf’s new Response DCT Putter, which earned PutterZone.com’s Next Level Award earlier this week, honors the company’s first Response putter (though more in name than design). The original Response ZT 615, considered massive at the time, earned fame when it helped Jack Nicklaus win the 1986 Masters.

Ping’s new milled Redwood Series putters honor the company’s visionary founder, Karsten Solheim, who made his first Ping putter in his garage in Redwood City, California. The abbreviation of Redwood City to Redwood is a bit weird for a stainless steel putter (and for a Bay Area suburb), but it’s the thought that counts.

Ad Review: PING Redwood Series Putters

If you’re like me, you love opening the latest issue of Golf Digest and browsing the new golf equipment advertisements, your faced pressed against the glass of a virtual candy store, dreaming about what you might purchase next if your resources were unlimited, and if sticker shock wasn't an issue. But sticker shock is, in fact, partly a function of these very ads—after all, the cost of marketing is passed along to you, the consumer, and it’s not just the expensive advertising in Golf Digest or Golf Magazine (a mere half-page advertisement in Golf Digest’s back-of-the-book Shopping Guide costs more than $40,000), it’s the exorbitant player sponsorships and everything else in between.

So since we’re paying for these ads, we might as well review and critique them, right? After all, it’s our money they’re spending. Hence, PutterZone.com’s new Ad Review series. First up: PING’s Redwood Series Putters advertisement.

The headline of this full-page advertisement is “Made in 2006. Born in 1959.” We’ve already got a problem. I found this ad in a magazine published in 2007, yet they are bragging about the product being made in 2006. Are you drawn to last year’s products, no matter how late in the year they were introduced? It may not be a huge deterrent to many golfers, but it’s not something I would tout as a selling point, either. There’s a reason why Golf Digest’s “Hot List” is published in January instead of December.

Moving forward, the ad explains that Karsten Solheim built his first PING putter in his garage in Redwood City, California (for some reason, they use the postal abbreviation “CA,” which is weak) in 1959. It continues by describing Karsten as the creator of an “equipment revolution,” which I believe is a fair claim, and also as the creator of a company “committed to quality, performance and innovation.” In other words: “The new Redwood Series is a fitting tribute to his legacy.” That’s a nice line.

That’s also a lot of time spent not describing the features and benefits of a putter that will set you back $250.

Thankfully, the ad makes a quick transition, explaining that every putter head starts as a single block of 303 stainless steel prior to precision milling. The stated result is “a slightly heavier head for a solid feel and clean, flowing lines that inspire confidence.” Slightly heavier than what?

Personally, I feel a bit undersold by this ad. My guess is that they are appealing to the PING cultists who don’t mind paying a premium for the sentimentality factor. But why play the narrow field? I’m a bit of a PING cultist myself, but what in this ad compels me to take that next step, to log onto the web site or visit my golf shop to learn more? The milling? At $250, milling is practically a requirement as opposed to a unique selling point.

Further research reveals that the Redwood Series represents PING’s “first completely milled stainless steel putter line.” Now we’re talking. Why not make that a centerpiece, or at least a selling point, of the advertisement? The “first” of anything is bound to grab our attention, especially when it comes to an esteemed brand like PING. Sentimentality is great, but what have you done for me lately? PING had a pretty good answer, but for some reason they forgot to include it in this ad.

REPORT CARD
Positive: An attractive putter for a fitting tribute
Negative: A questionable prioritization of selling points
Final Grade: B-