Misplaced Pages

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34-400: As a friend of Karsten Solheim , comedian Jackie Gleason inspired him to make golden Ping clubs. Gleason requested a gold Ping putter reasoning that everything that he has is gold. After getting the putter, Gleason asked Solheim if he could get a whole set made entirely of gold. Ping debuted a Vault line in 2016. Ping launched Vault 2.0 line in 2018. The Vault 2.0 club heads are finished with

68-481: A gold color. As of January 2019, the Ping Gold Putter Vault contains over 3,000 golden clubs. The vault can grow in two ways: more wins with Ping clubs or documenting wins with Ping clubs that have not yet been recognized. Not all that have won a Tour event with Ping have received a golden club because they have been missed. If it can be documented that the win happened with Ping then the manufacture

102-531: A very reliable booster for launching of satellites and continued to evolve, remaining in use into the 21st century, when combined with the Centaur upper stage to form the Atlas-Centaur launch vehicle for launching geosynchronous communication satellites and space probes . The Centaur rocket was also designed, developed, and produced by Convair, and it was the first widely used outer space rocket to use

136-493: Is very interested in adding that player's golden club to the vault, and of course providing the player with theirs. In April 2014 Ping moved the "Ping Gold Putter Vault" because the collection had outgrown the size of vault being used. The oldest golden putter in the vault belongs to John Barnum for the Ping win of the 1962 Cajun Classic with a model 69. The collection includes winning putters from 106 major championships between

170-733: Is widely used today to calculate trigonometric functions in calculators , field-programmable gate arrays , and other small electronic systems. General Dynamics announced the sale of the Missile Systems Division segment of Convair to Hughes Aircraft Company in May 1992 and the Space Systems Division segment to Martin Marietta in 1994. In July 1994, General Dynamics and McDonnell Douglas mutually agreed to terminate Convair's contract to provide fuselages for

204-603: The Convair B-36 Peacemaker and Convair B-58 Hustler strategic bombers, and the Convair F-102 Delta Dagger and Convair F-106 Delta Dart interceptors. It also manufactured the first Atlas rockets, including the rockets that were used for the crewed orbital flights of Project Mercury . The company's subsequent Atlas-Centaur design continued this success and derivatives of the design remain in use as of 2023. The company also entered

238-554: The Mirage fighter planes . One of Convair's most famous products was the ten-engined Convair B-36 strategic bomber, burning four turbojets and turning six pusher propellers driven by Pratt & Whitney R-4360 Wasp Major radial piston engines. The Convair B-36 was the largest landbased piston engined bomber in the world. The Atlas missile , the F-102 Delta Dagger and F-106 Delta Dart delta-winged interceptors, and

272-581: The Pioneer 10 and Pioneer 11 space probes, the first two to be launched on trajectories that carried them out of the Solar System . In addition to aircraft, missiles, and space vehicles, Convair developed the large Charactron vacuum tubes, a form of cathode-ray tube (CRT) computer display with a shaped mask to form characters, and to give an example of a minor product, the CORDIC algorithms, which

306-529: The U.S. Air Force using V-2 technology motors in response to the Soviet missile threat. It was first launched in 1957 but its use as an ICBM was soon replaced in 1962 by the room-temperature liquid-fueled Titan II missile , and later by the solid-fueled Minuteman missile . The Atlas rocket transitioned into a civilian launch vehicle and was used for the first orbital crewed U.S. space flights during Project Mercury in 1962 and 1963. The Atlas rocket became

340-457: The jet airliner business with its Convair 880 and Convair 990 designs. These were smaller than contemporary aircraft like the Boeing 707 and Douglas DC-8 , but somewhat faster than both. This combination of features failed to find a profitable niche and the company exited the airliner design business. However, the manufacturing capability built up for these projects proved very profitable and

374-608: The 300-seat MD-11 airliner. Manufacturing responsibility was to be transferred to McDonnell Douglas, which said it would not preserve the operation in San Diego. General Dynamics had tried for two years to sell the Aircraft structures segment of Convair unit, but the effort ultimately failed. The termination of the contract meant the end of the Convair Division and of General Dynamics' presence in San Diego, as well as

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408-578: The B-24s, and its associated engineering locations and laboratories — all previously used to make hundreds of Consolidated B-24s, General Dynamics F-111 Aardvark fighter-bombers and General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcons , along with dozens of smaller projects — were sold, along with all intellectual property and the legal rights to the products designed and built within, to the Lockheed Corporation . In 1996, General Dynamics deactivated all of

442-799: The Convair company was bought by the General Dynamics Corporation , a conglomerate of military and high-technology companies, and it became officially the Convair Division within General Dynamics. After the beginning of the Jet Age of military fighters and bombers, Convair was a pioneer of the delta-winged aircraft design, along with the French Dassault aircraft company, which designed and built

476-690: The PGA Tour, PGA Tour Champions and LPGA Tour. All four men's majors in 1988 have a golden club in the vault: the Masters Tournament ( Sandy Lyle ), the U.S. Open ( Curtis Strange ), The Open Championship ( Seve Ballesteros ), and the PGA Championship ( Jeff Sluman ). With more than 500 wins, the Ping Anser is in the vault the most. Ballesteros has the most gold clubs in the vault due to wins with Ping (47). Lee Westwood has

510-646: The all- cryogenic fuel-oxidizer combination of liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen . The use of this liquid hydrogen – liquid oxygen combination in the Centaur was an important direct precursor to the use of the same fuel-oxidizer combination in the Saturn S-II second stage and the Saturn S-IVB third stage of the gigantic Saturn V Moon rocket of the Apollo program . The S-IVB had earlier also been used as

544-572: The city's long aircraft-building tradition. The defense contractor once employed 18,000 people there, but after selling its divisions, that number is now zero. General Dynamics closed its complex in Kearny Mesa , demolishing the facility between 1994 and 1996. Homes and offices now occupy the site. The Lindbergh Field plant that produced B-24s during World War II was also demolished and the consolidated rental car facility now occupies this space. The Fort Worth, Texas factory, constructed to build

578-445: The company became a major subcontractor for airliner fuselages. The jets made their first flights on January 27, 1959 and January 24, 1961 respectively. 65 and 37 examples of the Convair 880 and Convair 990 were produced respectively. In 1994, most of the company's divisions were sold by General Dynamics to McDonnell Douglas and Lockheed , with the remaining components deactivated in 1996. Consolidated produced important aircraft in

612-468: The defense industry, working at Ryan Aeronautical in San Diego . After the war he initially worked as a salesman, but then returned to engineering with positions at Convair and General Electric . While living in upstate New York in 1954, Solheim took up golf at the age of 42 when his colleagues at G.E. invited him to make up a foursome. He quickly took to the game and found that his main problem

646-494: The delta-winged B-58 Hustler supersonic intercontinental nuclear bomber were all Convair products. For a period of time in the 1960s, Convair manufactured its own line of jet commercial airliners, the Convair 880 and Convair 990 Coronado , but this did not turn out to be profitable. However, Convair found that it was profitable to be an aviation subcontractor and manufacture large subsections of airliners — such as fuselages — for

680-628: The early years of World War II , especially the B-24 Liberator heavy bomber and the PBY Catalina seaplane for the U.S. armed forces and their allies. Approximately 18,500 B-24s were produced by Consolidated and a number of major contractors across a number of versions; it holds records as the world's most-produced bomber, heavy bomber, multi-engine aircraft, and American military aircraft in history. The Catalina remained in production through May 1945, and more than 4,000 were built. What

714-412: The feat by making him a solid gold putter worth $ 30,000 in gold (as of 2014), rather than the "standard" gold-plated putter. Christie Kerr bought her 2007 U.S. Women's Open winning Ping G5i Craz-E at a South Korean golf store. Two gold versions of Kerr's winning putter were made, with one currently in the vault. Karsten Solheim Karsten Solheim (September 15, 1911 – February 16, 2000)

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748-629: The key innovations in the history of golf. For increasing trade with foreign companies through Ping, Solheim received an "E" award from President Reagan in 1988. Solheim was inducted in 1991 into the Scandinavian-American Hall of Fame . Two collegiate golf courses bear his name: ASU Karsten Golf Course in Tempe, Arizona , opened in 1989, and Karsten Creek Golf Course in Stillwater, Oklahoma , opened in 1994. Solheim

782-474: The larger airliner companies, McDonnell Douglas , Boeing , and Lockheed . In the 1950s, Convair shifted money and effort to its missile and rocket projects, producing the Terrier missile ship-launched surface-to-air system for the U.S. Navy during the 1960s and 1970s. Convair's Atlas rocket , originally proposed in 1945 with a unique pressurized cylinder airframe, was revived in the 1950s as an ICBM for

816-408: The most golden clubs in the vault overall because as a Ping staff player there are clubs in the vault commemorating milestones and achievements. One of the few non-putter clubs in the room is the 52° Ping Tour W wedge like the one Bubba Watson used for his recovery shot winning him the 2012 Masters Tournament . Watson won the 2014 Masters Tournament with a Ping Anser 1 Milled and Ping recognized

850-539: The perimeter. Solheim took to manufacturing golf clubs in his garage and after a move to Phoenix he touted them to skeptical professionals at tournaments. Acceptance came when Julius Boros won the PGA Tour 's Phoenix Open , using Solheim's "Anser" putter in early 1967. Later that year, Solheim resigned from G.E. to establish Karsten Manufacturing, makers of the PING brand of clubs. In 1969, he introduced irons based on

884-602: The same principle of perimeter weighting, and these were quickly successful. The other golf equipment manufacturers soon followed his innovations, which became industry standards. With the success of PING, Solheim became a benefactor of golf. He donated millions of dollars to the Karsten Golf Course at Arizona State University and Karsten Creek Golf Course at Oklahoma State University , and sponsored LPGA tournaments in Oregon , Arizona , and Massachusetts . He

918-799: The second stage of the smaller Saturn IB rocket, such as the one used to launch Apollo 7 . The Centaur upper stage was first designed and developed for launching the Surveyor lunar landers, beginning in 1966, to augment the delta-V of the Atlas rockets and give them enough payload capability to deliver the required mass of the Surveyors to the Moon . More than 100 Convair-produced Atlas-Centaur rockets (including those with their successor designations) were used to successfully launch over 100 satellites, and among their many other outer-space missions, they launched

952-596: Was a shoemaker , and Karsten graduated from Ballard High School in 1931 and enrolled two years later at the University of Washington , with aims at becoming a mechanical engineer . Due to family financial hardship during the Great Depression , he withdrew from UW after his freshman year and then worked in the family shoe shop. Upon the outbreak of World War II , he resumed his engineering studies via University of California extension courses and joined

986-722: Was a ME Hall of Fame recipient from the University of Washington's mechanical engineering department. After his passing Solheim's wife Louise established an undergraduate scholarship fund and the Solheim Manufacturing Labs within the ME Department in memory of her late husband. Solheim was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 2001 in the category of Lifetime Achievement. Convair Convair , previously Consolidated Vultee ,

1020-651: Was a Norwegian golf club designer and businessman. He founded Karsten Manufacturing, a golf club maker better known by the name of PING , and the Solheim Cup , the premier international team competition in women's golf. Born in Bergen, Norway , to Herman A. and Ragna Koppen Solheim, the family emigrated to the United States in 1913, and settled in Seattle, Washington , in its Ballard neighborhood. Herman

1054-399: Was an American aircraft-manufacturing company that later expanded into rockets and spacecraft . The company was formed in 1943 by the merger of Consolidated Aircraft and Vultee Aircraft . In 1953, it was purchased by General Dynamics , and operated as their Convair Division for most of its corporate history. Convair is best known for its military aircraft; it produced aircraft such as

Ping Gold Putter Vault - Misplaced Pages Continue

1088-408: Was putting, so he designed himself a revolutionary putter . Using sugar cubes and popsicle sticks he came up with a design he would innovate and test. Instead of attaching the shaft at the heel of the blade, he attached it in the center. He applied scientific principles to golf club design, which had previously been based largely on trial and error, transferring much of the weight of the club head to

1122-912: Was soon called "Convair" (first unofficially, and then officially), was created in 1943 by the merger of the Consolidated Aircraft Company and the Vultee Aircraft Company. This merger produced a large airplane company , ranked fourth among United States corporations by value of wartime production contracts, higher than the giants Douglas Aircraft , Boeing , and Lockheed . Convair always had most of its research, design, and manufacturing operations in San Diego County in Southern California , though surrounding counties participated as well, mostly as contractors to Convair. In March 1953, all of

1156-672: Was the driving force behind the creation of the Solheim Cup, the biennial tournament between teams of women professionals from Europe and the United States, which was modeled on the men's Ryder Cup , and was first played in 1990. Solheim developed Parkinson's disease and in 1995 he handed over his company to his youngest son John. He died in Phoenix in February 2000 at the age of 88. Solheim's contribution of perimeter weighting and usage of investment casting are recognized as two of

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