Karsten Solheim was the most influencial clubmaker in the history of the game. It was Karsten who literally re-invented the golf club when he devised and engineered perimeter weighted irons, woods, and putters in the 1960s.  Every perimeter-weighted iron in every bag today is the result of Karsten and the effectiveness of his Ping perimeter-weighted irons. Clubmakers in the 1970s and thereafter had to jump on the wagon he was driving or be left behind.

Offered here is a set of 1967 forged, cavity back Anser irons—one of the earliest sets of perimeter irons in the history of golf and hand built by Karsten and his sons Allan and John. While working in his garage in 1961, Karsten made 200 sets of his Model 69 irons, which had two small cavities in the back.  While working in his garage in 1963, he produced 100 sets of Model 68 irons, which had a single large cavity in the back.  Then after moving into a small little shop in 1967, Karsten produced 300 sets of his Anser irons which have an even larger cavity than is found on his Anser 68 irons. 

This matching set of Anser irons consists of a 2 through sand wedge. There is also a 1-ron in the lot, but it is an add-on that was found by the current owner.  It is marked "21" in the back cavity.  The rest of the numbered irons are marked "130" in their cavities. The hosel of the 1-iron is shorter than the hosels of the other clubs because the original hosel was cut down by Allan Solheim, to lighten the weight of the head.  (The "why was that done?" is all explained in And The Putter Went Ping, as is so much more about these clubs.)  The original black chrome shaft of the 1-iron is also a half-an-inch shorter than the existing 2-iron in this set. 

The grips, shafts, and Ping "Tuned" shaft labels of the 2-PW & SW all match up. The PW and SW do not bear any cavity numbers, which was normal as they were ususally left un-stamped. This set was used, but shows little bag wear. At some point in their history, these irons were beautifully detailed with paint in the sole writing and rear cavity. This is a wonderful set of historic irons.