In
1966, Karsten Solheim introduced the PING Anser putter and it literally
revolutionized the world of putters. It took the market by storm and
after Karsten's patent on the putter expired, other manufacturers began
to produce and sell copies as soon at they could. In the years since,
every major club manufacturer has produced a wide variety of copies.
This Ping Anser offered here is a 1967 Phoenix 85029 Dalehead model,
produced for Slazenger in the UK, endorsed by Jack Nicklaus and marked
"Jack Nicklaus / Slazenger" In early 1967, Karsten
Solheim entered into an agreement with Mark McCormick, the agent for
Jack Nicklaus and Gary Player, that allowed Slazenger of England to sell
PING putters bearing the endorsement of Nicklaus. This agreement
lasted approximately three years. ATPWP p 92-94, 100. There is what appears to be a bit of white paint in the "SL" of Slazenger.
This head on this 35 1/2" putter is made from the same mold used to
produced the initial "K-model" (Karsten's work) Ansers that bore a
"Scottsdale" address and had a rocker sole (the A-models [Allens's
modification] were produced at the same time but had a flat sole). When
making his first Karsten Co. Ansers, Karsten changed only the mold's
address plate, to show that he had renamed his business "Karsten Co. and
moved his manufacturing location to Phoenix. Consequently, the back of
this head is marked "Karsten Co." with a Phoenix address. These Karsten
Co. duplicates of the Scottsdale Anser—the metal and head shapes are
identical—were in high demand and used across the years by many notable
PGA Tour players. The first 58 ever shot on a professional golf tour was
accomplished by Stephen Jaeger on July 28, 2016, who used—you guessed
it—a 1967 Karsten Co. Dalehead Anser.
In excellent condition, this putter does not show much bag wear and
has a nice dark patina. it still has its original black Golf Pride Informer with its grip collar. The original
shaft, which still has a portion of its original Slazenger Ping shaft band,
measure 8 1/2" to the first step. "Other Patent Pend" in the bottom of the cavity has been neatly removed. As a point of reference, PING did not
produce any Nicklaus Ansers with the Scottsdale address. This Nicklaus
Karsten Co is the best Nicklaus Anser a collector can acquire.