Ping’s PLD Milled SE DZB combines carbon steel, Anser-inspired weighting and a firm face for golfers with slight-arc strokes.
Gear: Ping PLD Milled SE DZB putter
Price: $540 with stepless steel shaft and Ping Legacy grip
Specs: Milled carbon steel head with grooved face. 350 grams, 35-inch length, 3 degrees of loft
Who it’s for: Golfers with a slight-arc putting stroke who want a premium blade with classic Ping styling, a firm impact sensation and more stability than a traditional narrow blade.
What you should know: The limited-edition PLD Milled DZB combines the heel-and-toe weighting associated with Ping’s Anser putters with a wider, more substantial shape, a distinctive high toe and several alignment features.
The deep dive: Ping created its Putting Lab Design program in 2016 to develop putters for Tour professionals such as Viktor Hovland, Tony Finau, Louis Oosthuizen, Bubba Watson and Brooke Henderson. After initially reserving PLD creations for its staff players and releasing select models in limited quantities, Ping introduced a broader PLD Milled family in 2022.
The new PLD Milled Special Edition DZB continues that straight-from-the-putting-lab approach, but it does not simply apply a new finish to an Anser or Anser 2.
The DZB is fully milled from carbon steel instead of the 303 stainless steel used to make the original PLD Milled Anser, Anser 2, DS72 and Prime Tyne 4 models. Its face also has a smooth, finely milled horizontal pattern designed to produce a firmer feel at impact. That should appeal to golfers who prefer more immediate feedback instead of the muted sensation created by a soft insert or deeply milled face.
The DZB’s elongated shape and flared high toe give it more visual presence than the Anser and Anser 2 blades. However, heel-and-toe ballast weighting, inspired by the Anser, pushes mass toward the perimeter to increase the moment of inertia and help the face remain more stable when contact strays from the center.
For alignment, Ping added a small white Eye-Q marker to the top rail. The cavity behind the face is approximately the width of a golf ball, giving players another reference for setting the face square to the intended starting line.
The DZB is designed for golfers with a slight-arc stroke, placing it in similar stroke-fit territory as the plumber’s-neck Anser. It provides a blade player with more alignment assistance and stability, but without moving into the compact-mallet styling of the DS72 or the winged Prime Tyne 4.
A handcrafted, dark patina finish, diamond-pattern sole milling and Ping’s historic Redwood City logo complete a putter that blends the company’s California origins with its modern Phoenix putting lab.
David Dusek is a senior writer at Golfweek covering golf equipment.