SIGN UP Golf Digest Logo
SUBSCRIBE
The Loop
Gear & Equipment
The Loop

Those Ping balls you putted with in the 1980s are now worth a bunch...if you have a thousand of them

If you grew up playing in the 1980s, you know that kid -- the one who played full shots with his regular Top Flite, then ceremoniously withdrew a two-color Ping ball on the green to putt with.

Ping balls petered out in 1997, but they've developed a strong collector following, with some of the more obscure color combinations (brown-yellow, anyone?) drawing as much as $1,000 per ball.

Of course, sorting and selling individual balls could get a little tedious, so one collector is offering an entire 1,000-ball collection on eBay for $21,000.

Included in the lot are dozens of rare and promotional Ping Eye and Ping Eye 2 balls that the collector has listed for up to $399 apiece, like a red and gold Arizona State logo ball (where the course on campus is named after Ping founder Karsten Solheim) and a black and silver Lexus promotional ball. Run-of-the-mill ones are worth about $10, so you'll need to do some eyeballing (and some math) first.

According to the listing, around half of the balls in the collection are in "new" condition. All you need is a set of vintage BeCu Eye 2 irons, a sturdy two-tone Hot-Z golf bag and some yarn pom-poms for your MacGregor persimmons and you're ready to roll.


Golf Digest Logo

The Hit List

The best of Golf Digest delivered daily

Sign Up

Will be used in accordance with our PRIVACY POLICY

Share story