PING Sponsors $5,000 ‘Skins Game’

Putting Contest at PGA Merchandise Show

(PHOENIX) – PING is inviting PGA Professionals from around the world to test their putting skills against their colleagues for a chance to win up to $5,000 in prize money at the PGA Merchandise Show, Jan. 25-28, in Orlando, Fla.

“The PING $5,000 Putting Skins Game” will utilize all the features of the company’s  iPING putter app, including the recently released “Skins Game” function, to crown a champion. The competition is exclusively for PGA Professionals on PING’s expansive putting green at its booth in the Orange County Convention Center. The finals will be held as part of PING’s main stage presentation Jan. 27 at 1 p.m. in the PGA Equipment Forum.

“We’re looking forward to giving PGA Professionals a great experience with every feature of our iPING putter app, and in particular the iPING Skins Game,” said John A. Solheim, PING Chairman and CEO. “The app offers a wide variety of tools that PGA Professionals can use to expand their fitting and teaching services, and ‘The PING $5,000 Putting Skins Game’ is a fun way to get everyone excited about bringing this one-of-a-kind technology back to their home course.”

Qualifying takes place during show hours, 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m., on Jan. 26. Players first register at PING’s booth, where they will be fit for the event with either a new Anser Milled or Nome putter using the app’s iPING Fit feature. iPING Fit identifies a contestant’s stroke type – straight, slight arc, or strong arc – and matches him or her with the model that fits their stroke, the key to more consistency on the greens. Classifying PING models by their face angle and corresponding stroke type is a new putter-fitting approach the company calls Fit for Stroke.

After a competitor is Fit for Stroke and chooses a putter, he or she rolls five 10-foot putts to record a Consistency Score, reflected in a number similar to a golf handicap, as determined by the iPING app’s Measure mode. Measure is a key feature of the iPING app for the iPhone 4, iPhone4S or iPod touch (4th generation). The app works in conjunction with a PING Cradle, which holds the mobile device and clips onto the putter shaft just below the grip.

Everyone who competes in Thursday’s qualifying will receive a free PING Cradle. The 32 players who post the best Consistency Scores on Thursday will advance to Friday’s match-play competition, which utilizes the iPING Skins Game.

The top 32 will be notified to return for their designated tee time Friday morning, when they will compete in two-person, single-elimination iPING Skins Game matches until the four players with the most consistent putting strokes have advanced to the afternoon finals.

The Finals
For the finals Friday at 1 p.m., the PING Cradles and the mobile devices come off, and the four finalists will play a three-hole skins game putting to actual golf holes at various distances. The game format will follow a traditional skins competition where holes have rising dollar values. The first hole is worth $1,000, the second $1,500, and the third $2,500.

iPING Skins Game is available now for current users, and new users can download the iPING app for free from the App Store on iPhone 4S, iPhone 4  and iPod touch or at www.itunes.com/appstore/. 

Cradles are available from PING authorized golf shops. PING Cradles are available for the iPhone 4S, iPhone 4 and iPod touch (4th generation).

Contact: AmericanGolferBlog@gmail.com