A putter for life? The Anser is here.
Written: Feb 02 '02
|
Product Rating:
|
|
|
Pros: Who can argue with 30 years of success?
Cons: Not everyone is wowed by the heavy metal industrial look of Pings
The Bottom Line: A classic for the ages. Great feel, great roll and still reasonably priced.
|
|
|
| ora-cle's Full Review: Ping Anser Series Putter |
Ok, I will admit it. I am frugal when it comes to spending money on golf equipment. For years I had trusted my faithful $30 generic T-line putter to prop up my middling game. When I did change putters, I opted for the more expensive $40 model.
Then the unthinkable happened. Three years ago my golf clubs were stolen. Insurance settlement in hand, I had to replace all of my clubs, including my putter. Determined that cost would be no object, I auditioned a bevy of putters, including the Odyssey White Hot Putters, the Ping Isopure, the TaylorMade Nubbins, the Titleist Scotty Camerons and the TearDrop Putter with the milled face.
I spent the better part of a morning and an afternoon rolling balls across that green artificial carpet that passes for a putting green at most golf stores. With each putt, I started to narrow down the choices.
At the end of the day, I rejected the Odyssey and the Ping Isopure (polymer inserts) as I doubted the durability of the inserts over time and noted that the putters felt remarkably different with softer cover premium golf balls like the Maxfli Revolution than they did with the less expensive surlyn distance balls that I traditionally donated to the golf gods every few holes (Topflites, Wilsons and Titleist X-outs).
I loved the Teardrop and Scotty Camerons putters for the forward spin they put on the ball, but in the end, I chose a bronze Ping Anser as my first choice. Over the course of a couple of hours, I consistently put more balls in the hole with the Anser than any other putter. Why? Perfect heel-toe balance, soft copper feel and that intangible feedback through the hands that lets you know you have stroked a centre of the cup putt.
The great thing about all Pings is that they can be custom fitted to your game for three variables: length, lie and loft. As I am tall with short arms, I was custom fitted with a 37" Anser with a 5 degree loft and flat lie. In my opinion, custom fitting a putter is a great benefit to any golfer as each body varies with regard to the ideal setup over the ball on the green.
It has been three years since I put the Ping Anser in the bag (mine is the original model with no sight line in the head) and although I still miss my share of putts, I am now making my share as well. Practice with a Ping is practice well spent as the feedback to your hands will tell you if a putt is pushed or pulled the instant you roll the ball.
When you consider buying a putter next time, I would strongly recommend that you look to taking the time to finding a putter that is fitted to your particular body geometry.
By all means, try the Ping Anser. You might be pleasantly surprised how a thirty year old design still endures.
Recommended:
Yes
|
|
|
|
Epinions.com ID:
ora-cle
|
|
Reviews written: 4
Trusted by: 0 members
|
|
|
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.