Vintage Ping Golf Clothing: The Story Behind Golf's Quietest Style Icon

Ping doesn't really do LOUD! It has traditionally emphasised engineering-led design. Founded by Karsten Solheim in a Redwood City garage in 1959! From here the company grew out of a focus on improving performance through innovation... Its clubs became known for their functional albeit sometimes unconventional designs, but always prioritising playability over aesthetics. This same performance first approach historically influenced its clothing but that has evolved over time!

Vintage Ping Golf clothing is the quietest luxury in the vintage golf market. The people who know, know. The people who don't, walk past it.

Ping's Entry Into Clothing

Ping's move into clothing was a natural extension of its equipment philosophy. The label had tour relationships and a loyal following of serious golfers. Clothing was a way to deepen that relationship! The early Ping range, produced primarily in the late 1980s and through the 1990s, reflected the company's engineering culture: practical fabrics, considered construction, conservative colour palettes with occasional moments of restrained boldness. My favourite being the MASSIVE PING logos they stuck on the back of their windbreakers!

That said, what Ping didn't do was chase trends! When Greg Norman was building a label around a very particular personal flamboyance, Ping was doing the opposite. Functional. Durable. Designed for people who were serious about golf and not particularly interested in making a statement about it...

The Colour Language of Vintage Ping

Ping's colour approach was more sophisticated than it appeared at first look, favouring muted tones: navy, hunter green, slate, burgundy etc. These have aged extraordinarily well which is ideal when looking to pick up vintage pieces! 

The later range, from the mid-1990s onwards, incorporated the Ping logo and colour blocking in ways that feel a bit more contemporary now. The design restraint that seemed slightly unfashionable during the late 1980s colour explosion is exactly what reads as timeless three decades later!

The Tour Association

Ping's tour associations were never as commercially prominent as Nike's or even Greg Norman's. But they were real, and they were with serious players. The connection to John Solheim, Karsten's son who built the clothing side of the business and to the Ping Staff Tour players gives the label a legitimate competitive pedigree.

Vintage Ping is worn by people who know golf, not people who know about Tiger Woods. That distinction is what makes it desirable to collectors who are inside the sport rather than approaching it from a fashion angle.

What to Look For

Their windbreakers are second to none in quality and design. Always look for the PING man embroidered anywhere.. arm, chest, back of neck! and look at the fonts being used in the labels.. the thinner Ping writing the earlier the item

Ping is in undervalued corner of the vintage golf market won't be there forever!

Wear The Era.