Sometimes The Answer Is The Anser

There is no other piece of golf equipment that gets romanticized like a putter. We don't just hold them, we embrace them and treat them with a gentle touch. We give them names when we love them, call them names when they fail us, and send them to time-out when we feel they've run out of the magic that made us pick them up in the first place.

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It's also why, just like a classic record, it's never a bad time to revisit something that you used to live and breathe, or in the case of those who missed the original release, experience it for the first time.

Now, I'm not specifically talking music here, and will admit that I probably took way too long to dive into the catalogues of Led Zeppelin, The Beatles (White Album appreciator here), and Nine Inch Nails. But, if there is one thing I have always loved and will continue to revisit in my golf game, it's a Ping Anser putter, in the same way it feels great to put on The Beastie Boys' Ill Communication.

In keeping with the musical parallels, the Ping Anser is to putters what The Beach Boys' Pet Sounds was to music. At the time, it was so wildly different that people really didn't know what to think about it, while history tells us it's one of the most revolutionary albums of all time.

PING founder Karsten Solheim was the Brian Wilson of club design, and in his head composed ideas to help make the game easier for himself and other golfers.

Before the Ping Anser, the two most popular putter types were heel-shafted blades and the close-to-center shafted bullseyes (at the time, center-shafted putters were actually against the rules). Then the Anser came along, and even though it took a little time, it wasn't long before others realized this was a monumental shift that would change putter design forever. Not to mention he also introduced cavity back irons.

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This is why, even if you love the current crop of pop musicians (I've been known to enjoy an Olivia Rodrigo or Harry Styles record), which in this case are the oversized zero-torque mallets, with grips the size of a burrito. It's equally important to take a moment to go back and experience the timeless albums that deserve to be revisited, even if they are, in the case of the Anser, a remastered version created using modern CNC machining.

Sure, it might not get the play that it used to at the highest level, but the Ping Anser (and Anser 2) is a classic that should always be respected, in both it's vinatge and modern form.

The most recent example being in Ping's PLD (Putting Lab Design) Anser, which also happens to come in more modern styles that add additional alignment geometry and boosted forgiveness; think the Anser D and Anser 2D or the 4D. It's like having one of your favourite songs remixed, you can still love the original but appreciate the way its different enough to change up the vibe.