I recall there was a lot of banging and hammering of hosels to bend them to the appropriate setting before Ping introduced its revolutionary a colour-coded dot system, enabling golfers to measure themselves and discover their preferences before the clubs were put together and sent out to the customer.
Three decades later, it’s more sophisticated but Ping still manufactures each set specifically for individual customers with all heads, shafts and grips sourced and kept individually at the factory. Order a set of irons, for example, at your local Ping dealer and the request is sent to the factory and an order ticket is made up with all your specific requirements.

Once heads and shafts are selected, they’re glued together and then ‘cured’ on a heated rotating cylinder, cut to length and taped ready for the customer’s preferred grip.Cleveland CG F1 Wedge
Cleveland CG15 Satin Chrome Wedge
Cleveland CG15 Black Pearl Wedge
Cleveland CG15 Oil Quench Wedge
Cleveland CG12 Black Pearl Wedge

The grip is then applied on a machine that has a laser line running down the shaft to ensure it is placed in a neutral position. It sounds insignificant but having the grip correctly lined up along the shaft is vital.

Once assembled, loft and lie are measured by a computer to ensure they perfectly match the customer’s specifications. They are also swing-weighted individually. Even cast irons can come out differently so Ping has a range of weights added to the head to ensure the match is exact.

Finally they are checked, cleaned and packaged – virtually the same service that the Tour pro enjoys on the manufacturers’ Tour vans that follow them around the European circuit and park on the practice ground each week. It’s an impressive process.