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EmailPing will begin selling a forged iron in the United States and Europe this fall.
This iron, called the Anser Forged, is in the process of being introduced in Japan, South Korea and other Far East locations.
The Anser Forged is a cavity-back forging with tungsten in the sole. Ping touring pros have so far been prohibited from using the new iron, although a handful of Ping staff members may begin using the Anser Forged in May.
Although Ping is famous for manufacturing cast irons exclusively, the Anser Forged is not the first Ping forged iron.
Karsten Solheim founded Ping in 1959 and began producing putters. Two years later, he decided to add irons. Solheim’s initial iron, the 69, was introduced in 1961. He bought forged iron heads from Golfcraft, a small California golf club manufacturer that later would be purchased by Titleist, and milled two small cavities in the back.
In 1963, Solheim began selling the 68 iron. Then, in 1967, he called his third-generation iron the Anser, using the same name he had bestowed on his popular putter.
All these early Ping irons were forged. In 1969, Solheim produced the K1 cast iron and thereafter sold nothing but cast irons.
