Lot # 90: Ping Model 68 Iron Set (1963) And Ping Wood Set (1962)

Category: Golf Clubs

Starting Bid: $4,000.00

Bids: 0 (Bid History)

Time Left: Auction closed
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This lot is closed. Bidding is not allowed.

Item was in Auction "Inaugural Auction",
which ran from 3/6/2019 12:00 PM to
3/23/2019 8:00 PM



Karsten Solheim’s Ping club designs changed the game of golf.   It was Karsten who brought cavity back, perimeter-weighted clubs to the masses.  The PING wood and iron set offered here were among the first perimeter weighted woods and irons in the history of the game.

In 1962/1963 Karsten and his sons John and Allan built this set of laminated Ping woods (1, 3, 4) and Model 68 forged irons (2 thru PW) in the garage of their Paradise Valley, AZ home.  Allan, a professional machinest, milled out the cavities on the back of every iron head.  Karsten, John, and Allan, removed the sole plates of the woods and reweighted each head—removing any existing lead in the center of the head before drilling new holes, angled into the toe and back, and filling the holes with new lead.  

It is believed that only 100 sets of Model 68 irons were built.  In this set, the 3 thru 9 irons are stamped “50” in the back cavity. The 2 iron, which matches up with the rest of the set in shaft type and length, is stamped “45” in the cavity. The only other differences between the 2-iron and the rest of the set is the 2-iron has a True Temper Dynamic shaft band and a line-rite grip. The rest of the set has Ping "Tuned " shaft bands and chevron grips. The wedge is not stamped with a number, which was normal.  The 3 thru PW have chevron grips that appear original.  The shafts are straight at the grip.

The number of Ping wood sets Karsten produced was less than the Ping 68 iron sets. The shaft of each wood is straight at the grip and has the Ping “Tuned” shaft band and a chevron grip that matches the irons.  The polyurethane clear coat on each of the laminated wood heads has chipped off in a few places at the toe.  

Both woods and irons show very little use and are truly historic. They were hand-built by three of the most important clubmakers in the history of the game.

And The Putter Went Ping. p 66-67.

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