Another great Ping Putter! Scottsdale 69BC croquet putters used a shaft that was
either straight or bent to varying degrees--and this one features a
dramatic 30-degree bend! The bend, made by hand, reclined the grip from
slight to almost horizontal. Different bending dies, for the various
diameters on a single shaft, were used to add more bends which increased
the amount the grip reclined. A number from 1-5 was often stamped on
the sole to indicate the number of bends the shaft received--and the
sole of this putter features a "3." The number "32" is also stamped on
the sole. This is Karsten's 32" length number that he used on his croquet putters.
These putters were produced for a few years in the mid 1960s, but when the
USGA announced in May of 1967 that croquet-style putters would soon be
non-conforming to the rules of golf, production stopped—at no great
loss to Ping because they did not sell many of these to begin with when
compared to their conventional models. Today, however, because of their
rarity and non-conforming nature, they are more desirable to collectors
than many other 1960s Scottsdale putters.
This outstanding club features its original 31" shaft,
"Ballnamic" shaft band, and "Golf Pride" grip which shows no use but has light cracking on its surface. The remaining gold
coating inside the back cavity is original to this particular putter.
For more info, see And The Putter Went Ping, p 70.