Did Karsten have a master plan from the start in Redwood City, California?
Even later on, when we were doing quite well, my father would not let us plan for the future. He would say: "plan for today and tomorrow will take care of itself", which is a different way of thinking compared to today. It worked quite well at the time though.
How did it work when your father was working full-time for General Electric and then coming home to build golf clubs?
He had his day job, but once my father started on the golf clubs he was totally devoted to that. If he had a business trip to New York he would drive so he could stop at pro shops on the way. Even on vacation, any time we drove past a golf shop he would stop and spend an hour or two talking to the pro while we waited in the car. As kids we felt bummed out at the time.
How was it as a teenager when Tour stars like Johnny Miller and Gary Player dropped in to pick up a putter your father had made in the garage?
We have enjoyed some great friendships with golfers over the years, and one was with George Archer. George would come in and he and Karsten would go at it - just banging heads about golf club design and how best to do it - but they respected each other's opinion. It was a riot. The players got a kick out of coming over to my dad's workshop too.
George became the first golfer to win a major playing with a Ping putter [the ‘new' Anser], when he won the 1969 Masters. That was fantastic.
Was there a moment when your father realised PING could really become something special?
My grandfather told my father to keep his day job. The one who really knew the business was my mother because she kept the books, and when she told my father, "You know, we're making enough on the golf clubs. You can just do that", that's what he did. My mum is still sharp today.
I don't think my father realised the potential of what he had at first. Those early putters he produced were an enormous improvement on anything else that was happening with putters at that time, and eventually we were selling more putters than the entire remainder of the market combined.
Is there anything you would have done differently in 50 years, given a second chance?
A lot of things. When I took over I let other businesses in the group go, and given the chance I would have done that even faster. It took a huge load off, as they were not all that profitable and they detracted from our main focus. One was our golf ball business; we could sell as many balls as we made - we made two-coloured balls with club logos, and we had Tour wins with the ball - but it really didn't fit the image we were looking for.
Is the economy now as tough as you have seen in 50 years?
Absolutely. We have been through recessions before but nothing on this global level. My dad lived through the original Depression and so he was always very cautious with everything he did and he passed that on to me. As a generation, we have not passed that on to the next generation very well, and so this is their learning experience. It is going to be difficult for a few years, but we are going to come out so much stronger afterwards.
How has Ping been affected?
We were heading for a record year in 2008 until the economy dropped out in the fourth quarter. In the end we came very close but didn't quite get there. 2009 is looking promising: our Spring bookings are very strong, but because of our preparation we have the latitude to manoeuvre whatever happens. We are going to ‘keep loose' as I put it.
Have jobs at Ping had to go?
We cut a few jobs at our foundry before the economic drop. We don't want to make more cuts, but we'll make sure we stay ahead of the game.
What is your forecast for the golf market in 2009?
We are solid because of our business model and because of how rapidly we ship out custom-built products, which will hold us up very strong. I don't know how the rest of the market is going to be, because golf shops need to be cautious, and our system works well in these times.
Looking ahead to the next 50 years, how is the golf trade going to change? What about the pro shop?
PING is still very strong in pro shops and that's not going to change. Some of the large stores do a pretty good job providing club fitting and customer service, but the guy who does it the best is the green-grass pro.
