PING: a world-famous golfing brand

PING is an American golfing brand that’s based in Phoenix, Arizona and was founded by Karsten Solheim in 1959. Just like so many other successful global brands, it started life as a humble garage business. Solheim was working as an engineer at General Electric, and decided to set up what would now be known as a ‘side hustle’ making putters in his garage in California. Using his background in scientific engineering, he invented and prototyped a new putter called the PING 1A, which intentionally transferred a lot of the weight of the clubhead to the perimeter (because the shaft was attached to the centre of the blade, rather than the heel).

By the end of 1960, he had made 2,000 putters by hand. Sales were obviously going well, because in 1967 he left his job to give PING his full attention.

That was a smart move, because decades later, PING continues to top the charts (only recently, Forbes crowned the PING G430 Max the best driver of 2023). While still focusing on putters (always appearing in our annual top 10 second hand putter lists), Solheim also went on to develop his first set of irons, called “69” - the score he considered to be good for a round of golf.

PING went from strength to strength, and 1962 saw its first PGA tour victory when John Barnum won the Cajun Classic Open Invitational using PING clubs. Sales of PING putters exploded, and the brand enjoyed growing global attention.

These days, PING has endorsement deals with many of the most famous professional golfers on the scene, including Bubba Watson and Lee Westwood. PING golf clubs can often be seen in the hands of other famous names at celebrity pro-ams around the world.