Ping Karsten I Irons Specifications
Full factory loft, lie and length chart for the Ping Karsten I irons, from 1969.
- Years produced
- from 1969
- Category
- Game Improvement Irons
- Construction
- investment cast cavity back, heel-toe balanced
- Material
- 17-4 stainless steel
- Set makeup
- 1–SW
Data confidence: low. These figures are compiled from secondary sources rather than a manufacturer spec sheet. If you have an original catalogue page, send it over and we will update the chart.
Loft, lie & length chart
| Club | Loft (°) | Lie (°) | Length (in) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 16 | 58 | — |
| 2 | 18.1 | 58.8 | — |
| 3 | 21.3 | 59.7 | — |
| 4 | 24.5 | 60.5 | — |
| 5 | 27.9 | 61.4 | — |
| 6 | 32 | 62.3 | — |
| 7 | 36.5 | 63.3 | — |
| 8 | 41.3 | 64.2 | — |
| 9 | 45.5 | 65.1 | — |
| PW | 51 | 65.1 | — |
| SW | 58 | 65.1 | — |
Lofts and lies are the factory standard build. Individual clubs may differ if they have been bent, re-shafted or re-gripped during their life.
Shop Ping Karsten I
Compare prices for new and used sets on eBay:
We may earn a commission from purchases made through links on this page at no extra cost to you.
Loft progression
About the Ping Karsten I
The Karsten I was Ping's first full iron line and the club that brought Karsten Solheim's investment-cast, perimeter-weighted cavity back to market in 1969, predating the Ping Eye by nearly a decade. Early heads are stamped KARSTEN MFG. CO. PHOENIX ARIZ. with PAT PEND; later production carries the KARSTEN I name, Ping's colour-dot lie system and the number of US Patent 3,655,188 — Solheim's "correlated golf club set" patent, filed in July 1969 and granted in April 1972. Ping never published a factory spec sheet for the Karsten series, so the chart below is the per-club loft and lie table from that patent, which collectors treat as the intended spec for the Karsten family; the patent itself calls it an exemplary set whose lofts "may be varied slightly", and a machine-measured surviving set runs within a degree or two of it. The set ran 1-iron through 9-iron plus the two wedges stamped W and S (listed as PW and SW below). No lengths appear in the patent or any other primary source, so none are listed. The design was revised as the Karsten II in the early 1970s, with the III and IV following before the Eye replaced the family in 1978.
Related models
Frequently asked questions
What is the loft of a Ping Karsten I 7-iron?
Per Karsten Solheim's 1969 patent table — the only primary spec source for the model — the 7-iron loft is 36 degrees 30 minutes (36.5 degrees) with a 63.3-degree lie. Ping never published a retail spec sheet, and the patent notes production lofts could vary slightly.
When were Ping Karsten I irons made?
The Karsten I launched in 1969 as Ping's first full iron line and ran into the early 1970s — a surviving set has a Ping build date of July 1971 — before being revised as the Karsten II. The Karsten family (I through IV) preceded the Ping Eye of 1978.
Why are there no lengths listed for the Ping Karsten I?
No primary source records them. The patent table behind this chart specifies only lofts and lies, and Ping's archived Classics spec pages never covered the Karsten series.
What do the stampings on Karsten I irons mean?
The earliest heads read KARSTEN MFG. CO. PHOENIX ARIZ. with PAT PEND; later heads add the KARSTEN I name, Ping's colour-dot lie code and the number of patent 3,655,188, the Solheim patent whose loft table is reproduced above. The wedges are stamped W and S rather than PW and SW.
Buying a set
Ping has since introduced the Ping Karsten II above it in the range, so the Karsten I is at the end of its retail life rather than fully retired — closeout sets still turn up at retailers while stock lasts, and it is well represented in the used listings on eBay. Check the loft and lie against the chart above before buying a used set: irons are routinely bent from standard during a fitting.
- US Patent 3,655,188, Karsten Solheim, 'Correlated golf club set' (filed 9 July 1969, granted 11 April 1972; patents.google.com/patent/US3655188A) — the per-club loft and lie table used here. The patent states angles in degrees and minutes (e.g. 2-iron 18°07', 5-iron 27°52', 8-iron 41°15'); they are converted to decimal degrees and rounded to one decimal place here. The patent calls the table 'an exemplary set' and notes lofts may vary slightly — hence confidence: low
- GolfWRX thread 'Searching for info on my old Ping irons' (2023) — owners report the 3655188 patent number stamped on Karsten-series heads, state the patent table 'applies to Karsten I, II and III / IIIA iron sets', and correct the common mis-transcription of the degree-minute values; the 'Karsten I spec sheet' image circulating in Ping collector groups is this patent table
- GolfWRX thread 'Put together a classic Ping Karsten iron and wood set with specs' (2021) — a green-dot Karsten I set measured on a loft machine (2-iron 17 through PW 50.5) sits within about a degree or two of the patent table
- Rick Shiels' Karsten I review (YouTube) and TheSandTrap and golfersgist timelines — all date the Karsten I to 1969; a surviving set carries a Ping customer-service build date of 22 July 1971, showing production into the 1970s
- Note: Ping's own archived Classics spec pages (the source used for the Eye 2) never covered the Karsten series — verified via the Wayback Machine's index. No model-specific factory table exists for the Karsten II, III or IV either, so those models are not listed on this site; a Ping internal document quoted by Ping customer service dates the Karsten IV to June 1976. year_discontinued is left open because the hand-off year to the Karsten II is not pinned by any document
Last updated 22 October 2026. Spot an error? info@loftchart.com