Lot # 98: Ping Redwood City 1A No Model Putter

Category: PING

Starting Bid: $1,000.00

Bids: 3 (Bid History)

Time Left: Auction closed
Lot / Auction Closed




This lot is closed. Bidding is not allowed.

Item was in Auction "Spring 2023",
which ran from 4/5/2023 12:00 PM to
4/22/2023 8:00 PM



The condition of this Ping Redwood City 1A no model (the putter is a 1A but not stamped 1A) is pretty dang close to mint! It has a rich dark patina, typical of early PING manganese bronze putters, and shows no wear to the head or its original grip.

The heads on the Ping Redwood City 1A No Model putters were cast were before the RC 1A-stamped putters. The shaft in this 1A No Model is more in the center of the head when compared to the shaft in the 1A model.  On the 1A model, Karsten changed the location of the shaft's base, moving it slightly closer to the heel.  This particular 1A No Model has an original red Golf Pride Informer grip with its original red trim tape grip collar. 

Karsten Solheim, with the able help of his teen-age sons Allan and John, made this putter by hand in his Redwood City, California, garage.  Redwood City Ping putters are now iconic. They unleashed the creative genius of Karsten Solheim, the man who changed how the entire clubmaking world designed and produced golf clubs.  This putter is one of his earliest.

The number stamped on the sole, which appears to be ‘19”, is Karsten's weight stamp. The putter's 35 1/2" shaft is original. 

For more information on this iconic putter and the other Redwood City putters, the entire second chapter in And the Putter Went Ping, pages 26 through 53, tells the amazing story.  This chapter highlights in great detail the creative genius behind the 1A, how it came to be, and the pioneering roll it played in bringing heel/toe weighting into the world of golf. 


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