Pal

The Ping Pal traces back to 1971, per The Vintage Golfer, built in manganese bronze with a slant neck, heel and toe weighting, and a low center of gravity, according to 2ndswing.com. It sat dormant on the record for decades before Ping revived it for a limited run.

That revival came in 2023 with the PLD Limited Pal. Thegolfwire.com dates the original design back to that same 1971 debut and notes the model carries some history with it, reporting it was used to win at Augusta in 1988. The PLD version updated the construction considerably: thegolfwire.com describes an aluminum and bronze alloy face, a natural finish, and full milling, paired with a perimeter-weighted head that thegolfwire.com says featured a shorter blade length and an Anser hosel. It's a modern reworking of a vintage shape rather than a straight reissue.

From there the line split into occasion pieces. The PLD Limited Ping Slam Pal, part of what australiangolfdigest.com.au calls the Ping Slam collection, returned to manganese bronze construction and a shorter blade length, per that same source, and was built in scarcity, with only 88 of each model according to australiangolfdigest.com.au. The publication also notes it was custom built by Ping WRX master craftsmen at the company's Phoenix headquarters, with a headcover unique to each of the four Majors. The Karsten TR PAL followed as a further variant, with amateurgolf.com fitting it for players with a slight arc stroke.

Reviewers who've handled the original Pal describe it as a study in restraint. 2ndswing.com calls it a classically designed putter with clean optics that promote confidence at address, language ACS Golf leans on too while asking the more pointed question of whether a putter over 55 years old can still compete on today's greens or should be avoided altogether. That tension, between the Pal as a nostalgic touchstone and the Pal as a genuine gamer, runs through the whole line, from the 1971 original to the PLD and Ping Slam editions that followed.