Equipment

Mahan didn’t win, but he still got a gold Ping putter

Published

13 years ago

Aug 20, 2013

Hunter Mahan’s unselfish decision to withdraw from the RBC Canadian Open in July didn’t add to his tally of five PGA Tour victories, but it earned him and his daughter a spot in Ping history.

Ping welcomed newborn Zoe Olivia Mahan into their gold plated-putter tradition today when Hunter Mahan was presented with a gold-plated Scottsdale TR Anser inscribed with her name, birthdate and vital statistics.

Despite holding the 36-hole lead, Hunter Mahan commendably withdrew from the RBC Canadian Open when he received a call, while standing on the range during a weather delay, that his wife Kandi was going into labor with their first child in Dallas, Texas.

Brandt Snedeker went on to win the tournament and pocket the multi-million dollar check, but Hunter was able to experience the birth of his daughter, while gaining the respect and praise of his fans.

“We’ll never know if Hunter would have held on to win that week,” said John Solheim, PING Chairman & CEO. “But the circumstances were so unique, we wanted to create a lasting memory for Hunter, Kandi and Zoe that would forever remind them of that special day.”

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The gold-plated putter tradition started when Karsten Solheim wanted to commemorate a player that used a Ping putter en route to victory. He began creating two gold replicas of the putter they used, engraved with their name and the tournament he/she won. He presented one to the champion, and kept one for the headquarters in Phoenix, Ariz.

As more professionals won with Ping putters, the collection began out-growing its storage space. After several moves to larger rooms, over 2,800 golden putters now sit in what is called “The Golden Putter Vault.”

The vault contains putters used in 47 major championship wins, including each of the four majors in 1988. Over 500 Ping Anser-model putters are in the vault, while the oldest putter is a Model 69, belonging to John Barnum, winner of the Cajun Classic in 1962.

On Tuesday, Hunter was presented with the first golden putter replica that was not used in victory — a Scottsdale TR Anser 2 — vaulting him and his daughter in the Golden history.

“The birth of a child is a win any way you look at it, so we thought we’d have some fun with it,” said John Solheim. “As is our tradition, we made two gold-plated versions of his Scottsdale TR Anser 2 putter. One was given to Hunter and the other will reside in our Gold Putter Vault with more than 2,800 PING putters in Phoenix.”

Mahan called Ping’s decision to make him a gold putter ” really cool and above and beyond.”

It should be noted that the gold putter is not Mahan’s first — he’s earned five of them as a member of the Ping Tour Staff since 2007. It likely won’t be his last either, but it’s safe to assume that this one will be the most special to him.

Equipment

Slab city on the Korn Ferry Tour — Lead Tape Report

Published

14 hours ago

Jun 10, 2026

Andrew Von Lossow

This week, we have our Tour Photographer, Greg Moore, on the ground at the OccuNet Classic at Tascosa Golf Club in Amarillo, Texas, for the 14th event of the 2026 Korn Ferry Tour season. With that, we see some great things in the Lead Tape Report as we roll into Amarillo.

Joel Thelen

Monday Qualifier, Joel Thelen is in the field this week. He has played on the Korn Ferry Tour for a full season in 2023, and he is back in action this week. A couple of clubs caught my eye this week in his bag.

First off: His trusted Titleist 816 H2 hybrid. This club came out in October of 2015, and it still remains strong in the bag. Also, take a look at this Odyssey White Hot OG 7, putting a capital S in the 7S model. This custom neck has some impressive lean for an arm-lock-style putter. The bottom of the putter is covered in tape for optimal weighting.

Mitchell Meissner

Taking a look at Mitchell Meissner’s bag this week, we have some great lead tape coverage. Top to bottom working from fairway metals, irons, and wedges. We can see on the short irons and wedges that there is tape at the base of the grip, adding a little counterbalance. Along with that, some tape on the short irons and wedges as well. Moving to his putter, he rolls the Odyssey 7 Bird putter. Meissner putts left-handed and strikes the ball right-handed.

Whats in the Bag

Bud Cauley WITB 2026 (June)

Published

14 hours ago

Jun 10, 2026

Will Schube

Bud Cauley had >14 clubs in his bag when photographed prior to the Memorial Tournament.

Driver: Titleist GTS2 (8 degrees)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 6 X

3-wood: Titleist GTS3 (15 degrees, B1 SureFit setting)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Chemical Tensei 1K Pro Red 70 TX

7-wood: Titleist GTS3 (21 degrees, D1 SureFit setting)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Chemical Tensei 1K Pro Red 80 TX

Irons: Titleist U505 (3), Titleist 620 MB (4-9)
Shafts: Fujikura Ventus Black HB 8 X, True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue

Wedges: Titleist Vokey Design SM11 (48-10F, 52-12F, 56-14F), WedgeWorks (60-K*)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue S400

Putters: Scotty Cameron Tour Prototype, Scotty Cameron GOLO 6.3 Prototype

Grips: Golf Pride Tour Velvet Align

Ball: Titleist Pro V1

See more in-hand photos of Bud Cauley’s clubs here.

Equipment

Name every set of irons you’ve owned – GolfWRXers discuss

Published

14 hours ago

Jun 10, 2026

Will Schube

In our forums, one user has offered up a prompt for the true sickos, inviting fellow forum members to share every set of irons they’ve ever owned. As to be expected, this is a lengthy forum topic.

@Lamosteve began:

Can you name every set of irons you’ve owned? Here’s mine

Spalding Dots
Spalding Eclipse
Ram Lazer FX
Lynx Parallax
Mizuno EZ Comp
Ben Hogans
Cleveland CG Red
Taylor Made R9s
PING i20
PING iE1
Taylor Made M6

Our members in the forum have been offering up their own collections. Here are a few posts from the thread, but make sure to check out the entire discussion and have your say at the link below.

macedan: “Started with a hand-me-down Golden Bear set from my brother when I was in high school, never really played more than once a year or got into the game until about summer of 2017. First purchased a set of Cleveland CG4’s (I actually really miss this set sometimes, soft & not terribly large for a GI iron), moved into Nike Vapor Fly’s by the end of the year. Those lasted until spring of 18 when I decided I wanted new, so I traded them in for TM Rbladez. Honestly, although I liked the Rbladez, poor decision on my part, I think this was really about the only time so far that after a week or two I was kicking myself for not staying with what I had. Rbladez stayed with me until late last summer when I switched to P790’s and (knock on wood) I am hoping this will be my longest lasting set.”
JimmyC59: “MacGregor Jack Nicklaus Triple Crown. Palmer The Standard. Still play these.”
jgrzask: “Tommy Armour 845u
Mizuno MP-32
Mizuno MP-33 (2 sets)
Bridgestone J33cb – still own
Srixon i-302 (2 sets) – still own
Tourstage X-Blades – still own
Mizuno Hot Metal – still own
Nike Forged Blades – still own
Titleist 714 AP1 – still own
Cobra Forged SS – still own”

Entire Thread: “Name every set of irons you’ve owned.”