Equipment
Ping PLD Milled putters for 2024: What you need to know
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW: The Ping PLD Milled lineup expands to include two classic Anser blade additions (notably Tony Finau’s Anser 2D) and three mallets, including the DS72 model that Viktor Hovland used on his way to winning the FedEx Cup last year. The new line also includes PLD Milled Plus, a customization platform that lets users personalize designs through an interactive online form.
PRICE: $485 for PLD Milled; $585 for PLD Milled Plus. Lineup includes three mallets (Ally Blue 4, DS72, Oslo 3) and two blades (Anser, Anser 2D).
It seems appropriate that the process for milling one of these classic, compact designs takes about the time of a round of golf. Each seems just about as intricate, with these milled designs mixing tour player insight and design-engineer smarts. The angles, curves and weight placements are designed to produce cleaner strokes and smoother roll. The deep-milled face pattern throughout is intended to provide a soft feel.
3 COOL THINGS
1. Tour-level milling. While the original Anser design and its most precise re-imagining are part of this next line of PLD Milled putters, most of the five new models got their shapes and specific milling inspired by the input of Ping’s staff of tour players.
Anser 2D
“It’s really been about emphasizing how we’re working within our engineering team with the tour player,” said Ryan Stokke, Ping’s director of product design. “We've had a principal engineer within our team that is focused making products directly for tour players, and we’re better at grabbing those insights and then having those lead into putters.”
It involves a highly automated, computer-controlled process, but don’t assume milled putters are as easy to churn out as belt buckles or Zippo lighters. A lot of machinations make possible the beauty and complex efficiency behind these iconic Anser blade shapes. Every curve and angle was meticulously interpreted from elite player input and then matched with specifically locating the most effective centers of gravity, weighting and even sole curvature. The purpose of all this precision is to make every stroke more, well, automatic.
Stokke said it’s also been instructive to see how those ideas have led to small quantity releases (PLD Limited) that might be sold out in minutes that then become some of the wider release models like this group.
Anser
Like the originals, each putter is made through a precision CNC milling process that takes between 75 and 100 minutes per head. That process includes a deep aggressive milling pattern (AMP) on the face. The heads are largely milled from 303 stainless steel (Anser, Anser 2D, DS72 and Oslo 3), with the exception of the Ally Blue 4, which is milled from aircraft grade aluminum with a heavier steel sole plate.
Oslo 3
2. Roll your own. The five PLD Milled models are matched to specific stroke types based on their hosel type and weighting. The plumber’s neck Anser and wide-sole, heavier Anser 2D (365 grams vs. 350 grams on the Anser) are blade-style models that favor strokes with a slight arc. The mid-mallet DS72 uses a double bend shaft for a face-balanced feel that favors more of a straighter stroke. The Oslo 3 uses a heel-shafted flow neck hosel on its compact mallet frame and should resonate with slight arc strokes. Finally, even though it’s the larger of the mallets in this new group, the Ally Blue 4 uses a slant neck to favor those with a strong arc stroke. Both the Oslo 3 and Ally Blue 3 feature heavier heads (370 and 375 grams, respectively), while the DS72 is the same heft as the Anser 2D at 365 grams.
3. Getting personal. The PLD Milled lineup expands to include a new array of personalization options, all presented through an interactive customer website. Called PLD Milled Plus, the platform will let users choose their preferred alignment aids, paint fills, custom graphics and paint-filled grips through an online selection tool on the Ping website. Golfers take their unique design specifications to an authorized Ping PLD Milled Plus retailer who places the order with Ping’s customization specialists at company headquarters in Phoenix, where the design is brought to life.
“The customizer was designed to be relatively easy, allowing the golfer to experiment with different ideas throughout the process,” said John K. Solheim, Ping CEO & president. “With all the alignment options and combinations, we wanted to have a performance benefit as part of the experience. After that, it’s all about color, custom graphics and creating a putter they call their own. They can keep it simple or take full advantage of all the options. We’re looking forward to seeing what people come up with.”
