Golfers

1988  reste jag runt i USA under fem veckor. Ett fullspäckat program med resande kors och tvärs från öst till väst. Mitt golfintresse var inte väckt på den tiden. Därför hade jag ingen aning om vad jag gick miste om under de två dygn jag befann mig i Phoenix. Fanns visserligen en del annat att se, som t ex de hundratals F16-plan som stod uppradade så lång ögat kunde nå på den flygbas där jag bodde under besöket.

Hittade detta långa inlägg på www.golfwrx.com. Skrivet av signaturen hull 17rw efter ett besök i Pings fabrik i Phoenix. Låter verkligen som en besök i tomtens verkstad.

"I just got back from Phoenix and I took the tour of the Ping plant. They were making a lot of product in fact at the time they were running 3 8 hour shifts, thats 24 hours straight of making clubs. I was able to take a look at the fitting center and range. Our tour guide said they recently had to put up a net in the back as Bubba Watson and some other Ping Tour Professionals were clearing the back of the range which is 350 yards, they previously did not have a net in the back.

I was able to view the wax casting trees and then the slurry ceramic trees once wax is removed. We were able to handle unfinished clubs before tree posts were ground off the bottom of the club. I saw the polishing room, were about 50 people are polishing the clubs before finishing and they let us hold clubheads that were still hot off the polishers. They we went to the shop where the Guyson finish was applied, the clubhead went in unfinished and came out almost instantly with the Guyson finish applied.

Next was the Paintfill room were they added the paintfill to all the heads and then they added the CTP (Custom Tuning Ports) inserts. The CTP's are also weighted so they can adjust swingweight to customers request or to get the club to D0, what they call the Ping standard for headweight. Depending on the length of the club they need a lighter or heavier CTP. We also visited Pings Rubber room were they are able to make all their own CTP inserts, putter inserts and bag and top bottoms. They also showed us machines that at one time were used to make parts for NASA. This was the same room where they made the famous Ping golfballs with the 2 colors. The bag tops and bottoms are one piece of plastic that come out of a mold and we were able to handle them hot off the mold. They showed us the medium material they use for this and it is basically a plastic pellet with a few black dye pellets so they can get the black color as the medium material is clear.

We then proceeded to the assembly area where the clubheads were attatched to the shaft with epoxy and they use a driver for steel shafts to get the shaft into the head and with graphite the guy slams the butt end of the shaft on a metal pad to get the graphite shaft into the heads (The driver they use for irons cracks graphite so they do it by hand). They apply ferrules to the Tour and S58 heads before reshafting. The clubs are then placed into a dryer that super speeds the epoxy drying process. The clubs then go to the grip station where the grippers apply the tape and grip in only a couple of seconds (As fast as I have ever seen), there was a Women who puts the tape on by twirling the club and it goes on perfect everytime. The best part of this area was the guys doind the loft and lie, they literally have a computer that will not let them continue unless the lie is perfect (You would think this would happen often, Nope!) they would put the club in the vise hit it once and get the perfect lie everytime, it is suprising how hard they hit the club with the mallet.

The clubs then go through the packaging station where they are wrapped up in the famous Ping paper towel wrapping and plastic wrap, they are then put in a box and shipping label is printed. The tour concludes and you can head over to the club repair department. If you live in Phoenix and play Pings you are lucky! You can walk in there and they will do anything within a few hours and the cost of this was very reasonable (CHEAP). They have all kinds of hats and divot tools and stuff you can buy only there. I picked up a Divot tool ball marker and they gave everyone a Key Chain for free. Amazingly the cost of the Tour is Free! I was just amazed at the amount of clubs being produced, and Ping does not make any clubs until they have been ordered and paid for, they are a Zero debt company. They own the land and buildings, the machinery and all shafts and stuff are paid for. I had a great time!"

Tror jag det. Vem skulle inte vilja göra en sådan rundtur. Dessvärre lär Ping ha flyttat delar av sin produktion till Kina, precis som de flesta (alla?) andra amerikanska företag i branschen. Personalkostnaderna blev för höga i USA.

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