Ping PLD Custom Program

[MattM97]

5 hours ago, ColinKelvin said:

Fair enough.  IMO they should have given you the option of buying the first/wrong one at a discount as it has your stampings etc. on it.  But if you're happy then all good.

 

I'd have better odds playing Finau or Hovland on their home course on straight up match play, than keeping this mistake putter. 

 

Definitely happy about the deal and the director said if anything is wrong with the new one he'll have me in a full Ping setup. So they're serious but also fingers crossed maybe 😂

[kb7]

41 minutes ago, MattM97 said:

 

I'd have better odds playing Finau or Hovland on their home course on straight up match play, than keeping this mistake putter. 

 

Definitely happy about the deal and the director said if anything is wrong with the new one he'll have me in a full Ping setup. So they're serious but also fingers crossed maybe 😂

 

Hate to say it, but here's to you in your new full bag Ping setup!

[MattM97]

10 minutes ago, kb7 said:

 

Hate to say it, but here's to you in your new full bag Ping setup!

 

No one will know if the next one is messed up but there will be signs. 

[etodd]

12 hours ago, SliceisLife said:

If you do a fitting, they'll go through the face milling and they have plenty on hand for you to try out. Same with the finishes. Lots of putters getting made who's pics don't make this thread. I've seem a few pretty unique PLDs that just looked so good with the letter coloring, engrave, finish, and shaft combo. I've always liked the raw finish, but it's such a hard choice when you see everything that is available. 

I have a fitting booked for the 26th, but it's virtual so there won't be any trying of all the face types or seeing the finishes in person sadly. Not too easy for me to get out to AZ right now with my work/life schedule.

 

I have played a lot of different styles of putters over the years with deep/shallow milling and plan on staying in that circular milling realm, I just want the opinion of the fitter on the depth when using carbon vs stainless and how that will affect feel based on my ball type. I'm not crazy picky, but might as well get their opinion. Just trying to get a 9/10 idea of what i'm looking for before going in to the zoom session.

[bjorn240]

On 11/16/2023 at 2:27 PM, dirthead said:

Yes

 

 

 

 

@dirthead This putter, but lefty, is my dream.  I'm right-eye dominant but play left (youth hockey...) so a top line on a mid-mallet is really what I prefer.  Can I ask what the approximate toe-hang is on this one?   I'm gaming a Spider GT Notchback Slant at the moment, and it hangs at about 27 degrees.  I'll go into the fitting with an open mind (2D, D, DS72....), but this just looks perfect.  

[etodd]

Well, my fitting is set for Friday and I still have yet to receive my PLD welcome kit... thanks FEDEX haha. Hopefully will show up tomorrow with enough time to get some putts in and submit them to PING. Anyone know what would happen if the fitting were to come around before the kit arrives? I assume a reschedule but want to get this process rolling as soon as I can. Think i've finally made my decision on my design - does anyone know if the PLD composite shaft is currently available? I'm looking for something super stiff, but if the tips are .345 i'm not too sure what other route I could go.

 

 

Edited January 25, 2024 by etodd

[MattM97]

11 minutes ago, etodd said:

Well, my fitting is set for Friday and I still have yet to receive my PLD welcome kit... thanks FEDEX haha. Hopefully will show up tomorrow with enough time to get some putts in and submit them to PING. Anyone know what would happen if the fitting were to come around before the kit arrives? I assume a reschedule but want to get this process rolling as soon as I can. Think i've finally made my decision on my design - does anyone know if the PLD composite shaft is currently available? I'm looking for something super stiff, but if the tips are .345 i'm not too sure what other route I could go.

 

 

When I did mine on the shaft section they said "unfortunately graphite doesn't fit your putter" which I knew, so seem like it is just need a plumbers neck. Or that new Olso 3 neck.

[etodd]

2 minutes ago, MattM97 said:

 

When I did mine on the shaft section they said "unfortunately graphite doesn't fit your putter" which I knew, so seem like it is just need a plumbers neck. Or that new Olso 3 neck.

Well then my Anser/Anser 30 wishlist should work perfectly. Just hoping they have the ultra stiff non-retail version available right now. Any updates from Ping on rushing your new putter?

[MattM97]

21 minutes ago, etodd said:

Well then my Anser/Anser 30 wishlist should work perfectly. Just hoping they have the ultra stiff non-retail version available right now. Any updates from Ping on rushing your new putter?

 

It should, I'm sure they have a few options, I didn't hear them as stated above just picked a color.

 

As for mine, nothing yet I did have a call with the director of Ping, he said mine would be basically on the mill next. I need to follow up with him on something we discussed and will see if I can get an update from him, my fitter or the Ping rep in Canada. 

[etodd]

Update: Finally received my PLD kit today and did the full fitting process. Not too keen on putting with a mount/iPod on my putter but got used to it on about the second round of 5 putts. Been playing around with the iPing app and went through the "Fit By Stroke" process with 5 putts as well with these results:

 

 

Not 100% sure on how to read all of the stats, but I assume all green is what we're looking for and I can't complain with a +3.4 putting HCP. Still looking at a 360G head and I think that falls in my tempo range nicely. Lie angle needs some help - I tend to accentuate my putter a little more upright at address, not sure why - just helps me make a good stroke so I'll have to get some feedback on that because I seem to be flat at impact. Looking forward to my call on Friday!

[shoeshine]

Anyone know if the D66 is an option by chance?

[MattM97]

She's ready 

 

[BYK]

11 minutes ago, MattM97 said:

She's ready 

 

Nice. 
looks like ping stepped up 

 

what do ya think of it? 

[MattM97]

1 minute ago, BYK said:

Nice. 
looks like ping stepped up 

 

what do ya think of it? 

 

I love it, it's what I tested, my confidence was very high with this when testing. Anser shape, rolled top, flow neck, tri sole it's like a "if you could build your putter" It would be close to this. 

 

Will see how I feel about the paint when I get it but that's minor to me honestly. 

 

I won't lie the regular Anser 4 shape I've had in hand is really nice as well, if the 4K wasn't an option it would have been the Anser 4 but this is "more unique" lol. 

[Phabs]

1 minute ago, MattM97 said:

 

I love it, it's what I tested, my confidence was very high with this when testing. Anser shape, rolled top, flow neck, tri sole it's like a "if you could build your putter" It would be close to this. 

 

Will see how I feel about the paint when I get it but that's minor to me honestly. 

 

I won't lie the regular Anser 4 shape I've had in hand is really nice as well, if the 4K wasn't an option it would have been the Anser 4 but this is "more unique" lol. 

I'd of screwed with them and said the color I wanted was more brown. 

[MattM97]

Just now, Phabs said:

I'd of screwed with them and said the color I wanted was more brown. 

 

The finish is looking a hair light but the lights in the PLD room is like a surgical room so in hand it will probably be identical to what I have now and what I have seen. 

 

I'm not that petty I barely see any paint imperfections and I don't think the P on Phoenix warrants a full set of Ping clubs lol. 

[Phabs]

1 minute ago, MattM97 said:

 

The finish is looking a hair light but the lights in the PLD room is like a surgical room so in hand it will probably be identical to what I have now and what I have seen. 

 

I'm not that petty I barely see any paint imperfections and I don't think the P on Phoenix warrants a full set of Ping clubs lol. 

I'm not petty i just like seeing people squirm 🤣

[bigdawg94]

3 hours ago, MattM97 said:

She's ready 

 

Nice! I just had my virtual fitting today and am in the process of finalizing the customization details.

Which milling depth is that? 

[MattM97]

17 minutes ago, bigdawg94 said:

Nice! I just had my virtual fitting today and am in the process of finalizing the customization details.

Which milling depth is that? 

 

0.002" it's between Shallow AMP and Smooth face. I don't know if it has an official name I'm dubbing it "Scratch AMP" cause it's literally a scratch pattern you can hardly feel it. Basically smooth face feel with the look of some milling and just enough milling to grab the ball.

 

Ping just finished testing it not long before I got fit and I think this is the first one with it.

[newportbeach]

6 hours ago, MattM97 said:

 

0.002" it's between Shallow AMP and Smooth face. I don't know if it has an official name I'm dubbing it "Scratch AMP" cause it's literally a scratch pattern you can hardly feel it. Basically smooth face feel with the look of some milling and just enough milling to grab the ball.

 

Ping just finished testing it not long before I got fit and I think this is the first one with it.

Looks great. What finish is the putter? And I’m guessing stainless. 

[MattM97]

4 hours ago, newportbeach said:

Looks great. What finish is the putter? And I’m guessing stainless. 

 

Yes stainless and glazed donut. Probably looks a bit light due to the lights in the PLD production room.

[seeshawn]

Being an AZ resident, I finally scheduled my appointment - Feb 29th - super pumped!

[etodd]

Well, just had my virtual fitting with Alex - VERY in depth. We ended up spending about 1.5 hours on a 1 hour call. Went over all of my stats, went through tendencies, inconsistencies, and he even had me hit 10 or so putts with iPing to just double check exactly what we were needing for loft/lie and gave me some tips to work on my putting instead of us just overly band-aid fixing my slightly backwards shaft lean with excessively low loft. I sure as hell learned a lot haha. I decided on pretty much what I predicted with my misses and slight arc path and his opinion definitely confirmed a few things for me. I'm a pretty "standard" putter, and there's nothing wrong with that haha. Specs:

 

Model: Anser 30

Material: Carbon

Finish: Dark Patina

Milling: Deep

Alignment: Flange

Weight: 360G

Loft: 2.5

Lie: 20

Shaft: PLD Composite AKA "rebar"

Grip: PP58 Mid Cord

Length: 34.5

Paintfill: White on everything

Bumper Engravings: None

 

Sole Engravings Toe: (aligned left)

ANSER 30 PROTO

KARSTEN MFG.

PHOENIX, AZ

85029 USA

 

Sole Engravings Heel: (centered)

PINGman

360G under his feet

 

He also just reached out to me via Email and said that they literally found the last Anser 30 Carbon without the 3 lines in the back cavity that was milled for a pro and he recently swapped to a different model so +1 for me. I really didn't want those OTR lines. Overall, this has been incredible so far and i'm looking forward to getting the ball rolling with my order. Should have it in hand in 6-8 weeks when the season starts up here in Tennessee! Looking forward!

 

[akronswitness]

General question but has anybody here tested both the PLD and the normal 2023 Anser and could tell me noticeable differences? Both have same design, milled faces, pistol grip, ect but wanted to know with weighting and how the ball feels off the face any distinct differences. Trying to gather info to see if the PLD being twice as much is worth the value.

[MattM97]

1 hour ago, akronswitness said:

General question but has anybody here tested both the PLD and the normal 2023 Anser and could tell me noticeable differences? Both have same design, milled faces, pistol grip, ect but wanted to know with weighting and how the ball feels off the face any distinct differences. Trying to gather info to see if the PLD being twice as much is worth the value.

 

PLD Milled will be softer than the 2023 Anser due to the milling differences, the PLD Milled is also 5g heavier, no alignment markings and comes with a graphite shaft. Plus the visual of being 1 solid color vs 2 tone like the 2023 Anser. 

 

 

[Motoboss]

Season and a half and still loving it. Matt, hope you have as much success with your new putter as I’ve had with mine!

 

 

 

Edited January 28, 2024 by Motoboss

[TimBuma]

what are some things to look at if you have inconsistent shaft lean? Putter length? Offset? When I use the ping app most categories are fairly consistent but the one I have most inconsistencies if shaft lean at impact.  

[Motoboss]

7 minutes ago, TimBuma said:

what are some things to look at if you have inconsistent shaft lean? Putter length? Offset? When I use the ping app most categories are fairly consistent but the one I have most inconsistencies if shaft lean at impact.  

I’d say stance and ball position in your stance. Shaft lean is a natural effect to some degree for everyone but you have to have a repeating stance to make it consistent. Head angle of the putter can compensate somewhat, one direction or another, but having a solid, repeatable stance is key.

[MattM97]

13 hours ago, Motoboss said:

One season and still loving it. Matt, hope you have as much success with your new putter as I’ve had with mine!

 

 

 

 

Thanks I hope so and seems like I subconsciously took a few ideas from yours onto my putter. Should be shipping this week then carpet rolls for another 2 months until spring.

 

22 minutes ago, TimBuma said:

what are some things to look at if you have inconsistent shaft lean? Putter length? Offset? When I use the ping app most categories are fairly consistent but the one I have most inconsistencies if shaft lean at impact.  

 

Ping will use this to fit for loft, more lean forward they'll add loft and down for back. Ball placement could change that really depends on impact.

[etodd]

11 hours ago, TimBuma said:

what are some things to look at if you have inconsistent shaft lean? Putter length? Offset? When I use the ping app most categories are fairly consistent but the one I have most inconsistencies if shaft lean at impact.  

I know others have commented, but I'd also say the most important thing they're going to fit you for is loft - and pretty much what me and Alex spent a majority of my call on. Are you consistently in one direction? i.e. adding loft or taking it away? With my initial fitting tests, I was unknowingly adding anywhere from 0.9 to 1.8 degrees of loft very consistently with my gamer which is currently 3 loft. I then moved my ball back in my stance a bit closer to middle, and am now in that -0.2 to +0.8 range pretty consistently which I am satisfied with if my putter will be 2.5 degrees of loft. I'm really trying to get down to 0 - +0.5, but that'll come with time.

 

I have been trying to dial in my stroke with some tips Alex gave me, and really just staying locked in over my ball throughout which has helped me in getting my average down. I just make sure I feel the weight of the putter head swing back to center instead of really pushing/pulling it back towards the ball. It'll pretty much do the work for you if you just stay centered. I putted for quite a while over the past two days and got used to the weight of my phone on the shaft, and built consistency with it. Once I remove it, I just make the same stroke. I wish I had some data without the extra weight but I don't have easy access to a SAM or Quintic.

Edited January 29, 2024 by etodd