This Ping Redwood City Model 1A is in outstanding original condition, with its original dark patina, typical of early PING manganese bronze putters. There are no dings or nicks on the head and the original shaft is without flaw.  The original red Golf Pride Informer grip is all there, including the original trim at the base of the grip. The sole is stamped "9" which was Karsten's own head-weight indicator.

Karsten Solheim, with the able help of his teen-age son John, made this putter by hand in his Redwood City, California, garage.  Redwood City Ping 1A 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.

For more information on this 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 monumental roll it played in bringing heel/toe weighting into the world of golf. 

This club is bottom left in the group image that accompanies this lot.