GOLFING MEMORABILIA: Gary Moranlooks at the Ping putter which guided its inventor, Karsten Solheim, to the World Golf Hall of Fame

IN APRIL, 1959, two golf professionals gave their opinion of a new putter in the Redwood City Tribune. "It isn't just a quirk thing, it's scientifically and mechanically sound," said Al Maus from Los Altos Golf and Country Club.

"I think he's really got something there," added Bud Ward of the Peninsula Club. "It's the easiest thing to line up with I've ever seen. The ping might drive opponents a little crazy but that's what sells golf clubs . . . gimmicks."

The club in question was a Ping 1-A putter and it had just been produced in the garage of his Redwood, California home by Karsten Solheim, a Norwegian-born engineer who was a latecomer to golf but who became an industry icon and member of the World Golf Hall of Fame thanks to his innovative and successful club designs. Ping putters, named because of the sound of the contact between a 1-A and a golf ball, proved to be much more than gimmicks.

Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player and Seve Ballesteros all won tournaments with Ping putters in the bag and there was a Ping putter grand slam in 1988 with Sandy Lyle, Curtis Strange, Ballesteros and Jeff Sluman all pinging their way to major success. The company is now headquartered in Phoenix, Arizona but the Redwood name lives on with the world's number one female player, Lorena Ochoa, among the professionals using a Ping Redwood ZB putter.

Between the 1-A and Redwood there have been hundreds of different models with the most famous, and one of the most collectible, being the Anser. Thousands of Irish golfers have surely owned one at one stage or another but if there's still one in your bag or your garage, don't get too excited.

A lot depends on exactly when it was manufactured and of course the present condition of the club. The first Anser was produced in 1966 and a lot can be gleaned from the small print in the cavity at the back of the club which tells when and where the club was made and thus how rare it is. Having the original shaft and grip is also important. If your Anser has Pat No. D207227 and Box 1345 Scottsdale, Ariz 85252 stamped in the cavity then you have one of a few thousand that was handmade in the Solheim garage. You could expect to sell it for €2,000.

Only several hundred were made with an etching of Gary Player's signature on the sole of the club. All were initially sent to South Africa and are worth up to €3,500 at auction today. Nicklaus had a deal to endorse Slazenger clubs in the UK so in a tripartite agreement, the heads were made in Phoenix and shipped to England where "Made in USA" was ground off the cavity inscription. The sole was inscribed with 'Slazenger' and 'Jack Nicklaus' and an original in good condition is worth around €3,000.

Heel-toe weighting was the principle behind Solheim's putter designs. He figured that previous putters twisted with anything other than perfect contact on the sweet spot and this could be enlarged by making the heel and toe heavier and carving out the back to produce the now familiar cavity.

He hit on the idea while on a putting green at Cornell University in 1954 where he was working at GE's advanced electronics centre. The heads of his first prototypes consisted of ice pop sticks glued to sugar cubes but he got more precise and built a training club which essentially was a putter with moveable weights and a nib that described the putter's path on blotting paper. Seasoned pros were amazed to find that they didn't swing the putter straight back and through but the inky evidence was incontrovertible.

Solheim never sold the training putters and, according to Michael Neary of Golfing Memories in Bray, who is possibly the top man in Europe on Ping valuations, only six were ever made. Two reside in the museum at Ping headquarters and three are in private collections. The sixth is unaccounted for . . . if that's in your garage, you've got a €25,000 treasure on your hands.

This column welcomes e-mails from readers concerning golf memorabilia and collectibles but cannot guarantee to provide valuations. If you have an interesting story or item, e-mail collectgolf@gmail.com