Collectors, check your WiFi speed and set your alarm.
The PLD Anser Patent 55 in copper – the third of four fully machined collector’s models being offered as part of a year-long celebration acknowledging the 55th anniversary of the Anser putter patent – is available exclusively through pingpld.com on Monday, Sept. 26, at 2 p.m. EDT. Only 55 of the precision-milled, handcrafted putters will be available via the website for $790 (limit one per customer).
“The celebration of the Anser patent’s 55th anniversary through our PLD program has been very exciting and rewarding,” said John A. Solheim, the executive chairman of Ping. “It’s generated renewed interest in the Anser story and shed deserving light on its game-changing role in putter engineering and the continued influence it has on putter designs today.”
“The first two versions of the PLD Anser Patent 55 [bronze and stainless steel] sold out in less than three minutes, so we’re encouraging those interested to be ready promptly when we make them available on Monday. Several golfers have acquired the first two versions, and we expect they’ll be ready on Monday to add to their collection in hopes of collecting all four.”
The website explains that a putter added to a shopping cart is not reserved until the buyer reaches the payment page, at which time there will be five minutes to complete the transaction or the putter will be returned to inventory. Buyers can get to the payment page faster by joining the Ping Nation and setting up an account prior to the putters being released. Checkout can also be completed as a guest, but the process may be slower.
Ping’s original Anser patent – granted to Karsten Solheim on March 21, 1967 – was a game-changer in putter design. More than 700 Anser victories are represented in Ping’s Gold Putter Vault, including the 1969 Masters won by George Archer, the first of 20 major victories for Ping’s most iconic design.
The Anser – with the “w” in the word answer excluded at the suggest of Solheim’s wife, Louise, so it would fit on the back of the putter – launched Ping on a new trajectory and forced the company to move from the family garage in Scottsdale, Arizona, to its current headquarters site on 50 acres north of Phoenix to keep production in line with demand. When its patent expired, its influence could be seen on the designs of competitive putters.
There will be only one more serialized release later this year. The final PLD Anser Patent 55 – gold plated and milled from stainless steel – will be available on December 12.