by Bang Average Golf’s Historian of Missed Opportunities.
If Scotty Cameron is the guy who turns up in a sports car with custom paint and a headcover that costs more than your trolley, the Ping Anser is the fella sat in the corner of the clubhouse with 50 years of quiet menace and a few majors under its belt.
This isn’t just a putter. It’s the putter. The blueprint. The original gangster. Every blade-style wand you’ve ever stroked is just an Anser in cosplay. It didn’t come to show off. It came to roll putts and win trophies.
THE LOOK: Simplicity Wears a Tux
You know the shape. Heel-toe weighted, plumber’s neck, clean lines. Zero faff. The Ping Anser doesn’t need face inserts or tungsten bolts shaped like alien tech. It looks like it was forged in a shed by a bloke who knew the difference between engineering and marketing and cared only about the first one.
Put it down behind the ball and it just looks right. There’s no alignment line longer than your career. No “visual technology” to distract you. It’s just you, the ball, and a bit of cold, milled judgment.
THE FEEL: Honest to a Fault
Striking a ball with the Anser is like shaking hands with your conscience. Get it out the middle, and it’s a dream; solid, firm, just a bit of click. Miss the centre? You’ll know. Your hands will know. The guy four fairways over will know.
This putter gives you feedback in Morse code. But that’s the point. It’s not here to coddle you. It’s here to make you better. And if it has the sound slot? That thing sounds like a tuning fork.
THE PERFORMANCE: Consistency Over Cleverness
No tech. No gimmicks. No face grooves claiming to “increase topspin” and “hug the green.” Just a block of metal doing its job with clinical, unfussy precision.
It’s not going to read greens for you. It won’t “help start the ball on line” unless you start the ball on line. But in the hands of someone who isn’t trying to steer it in, the Anser rolls it true, over and over and over again.
Whether you’re lagging one from 50 feet or nervously facing a 3-footer for glory, the Anser doesn’t panic. It just goes about its business. Like a contract killer in loafers.
IN A NUTSHELL
Is it old school?
Painfully. Gloriously.
Is it still relevant in 2025?
If putting was about fashion, maybe not. But if it’s about making the damn ball go in the hole? Absolutely.
Who’s it for?
Golfers who respect tradition. Golfers who want to feel the ball and not be lied to by a face insert. Golfers who want their putter to be a partner, not a therapist.
BANG AVERAGE VERDICT
5 out of 5 nerveless knee-knockers. The putter that wrote the rules, stuck to them, and still gets invited to every major final.
Disclaimer: If you miss with the Anser, it’s on you. It always was. It always will be.
