Ask most beginner or high handicap golfers what area of their game they would like to be better at and most will say that they would like more distance off the tee. Some might even say they'd like to be more consistent with their approach shots, but the often overlooked truth is that the quickest and easiest way to shave shots off your score and lower your handicap is to cut out those three and four putts.
One of the most demoralising things in golf is to reach a green in regulation with hopes of making a birdie, and to then walk off having dropped a shot because of a three putt.
We use the putter more than any other club in the bag so it stands to reason that it is the most important. It isn't as glamorous as a driver but we will use a putter twice as much as a driver during the course of a round. So putting is the area of the game where amateur players should look to improve on the most. Of course the best way to improve on the greens is to hone your putting stroke through a lot of practice, but you can also improve by making sure you are using equipment that is suitable for your ability and putting stroke. Some of the best putters currently on the market will help struggling golfers to lower their handicaps due to forgiving designs and impressive technology that can help golfers strike the ball more consistently and with better alignment.
While not a hard and fast rule, when trying to find a putter for a higher handicapper we would suggest that the best mallet putters are the place to start as they give greater forgiveness on off-center strikes. The center of gravity of a mallet putter is also often moved to the perimeter of the club-head and that offers much better balance than what you will receive from a blade putter. The larger footprint also helps to promote confidence over the ball, something most high-handicap golfers need.
So what are some of the best putters for high handicappers currently on the market? Well, we have set out a list below of our top choices, but if you're also thinking about buying a set of irons or a new driver, why not take a look at our guides on the best golf clubs for high handicappers or our guide on the best drivers for high handicappers.
WATCH: Joel Tadman runs through the best putters you can buy this year
The Quick List
There is much to like about this mallet from Cobra. It's forgiving, stylish looking and the Descending Loft Technology face design ensures a consistent roll even if you get your hands a little ahead or behind the ball at impact.
The Rossie S putter delivers on looks, performance, forgiveness and you even get a cool window underneath the head displaying the technology going on behind the brand's ground-breaking A.I. designed face insert.
This premium putter provides the performance to match the price tag thanks to the new alignment system, forgiveness off center, comfortable new grip shape and exceptional feel.
There is a lot to like about the GT Max. The clever weight system offers fine tuning of CG placement and toe hang. The resulting variations to the head performance are quite subtle.
Don't be put off by the 'gimmicky' shape. This versatile Cleveland putter offers a responsive feel and good forgiveness, and it will pick your ball out of the hole for you after knocking it in!
The DF3 is a pleasure to use as its face really does square up through impact, making it easy to recommend to every ability of player.
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The Teardrop TD-7 putter delivers an exceptional feel, consistent roll and good forgiveness with a premium, aim-assisting look. If you are looking at upgrading your mallet this year then this is well worth trying.
The Bettinardi INOVAI 6.5 is a premium build, highly forgiving mallet that would be a nice addition to the bag of a wide range of golfers of varying skill levels. It's a well-balanced putter that delivers a consistent roll and soft feel from anywhere on the green.
Best Putters For High Handicappers
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Top pick
Our top pick after extensively testing all of the putters on this list and many more besides, is the Cobra King Vintage Cuda putter. We believe this is an excellent model for higher handicap players for a number of reasons. First and foremost, the forgiveness was excellent. The putter is responsive enough that you can feel when you've missed the sweet spot, but there is still a solidity about the strike that inspires confidence and we did not see much of a drop off on off-center putts, which generally still tended to reach the intended target.
The larger head will suit higher handicap players as it instills confidence over the ball at address and psychologically you just have that bit of a reassurance you don't get with a smaller head.
Cobra have packed a lot of technology into this putter to help cater to a wide range of player abilities. Despite its presence on this list, it isn't just suited to beginners or high-handicap players and it should appeal to golfers of all abilities. In our testing we really felt the benefit of a new soft PEBAX face insert crafted from lightweight and responsive thermo-plastic elastomer. The soft feel produced from that was a delight, while we also enjoyed the Descending Loft Technology (DLT) on the face, which uses four descending lofts (4°, 3°, 2°, 1°) to maintain a consistent loft through impact regardless of your angle of attack or ball position in your stance.
Finally, interchangeable weights allow players to dial in feel and control and also provide an option to tailor the putter to different green speeds and conditions.
- Read our full Cobra King Vantage Cuda Putter review
Best unique tech
The Odyssey Ai-One and Ai-One Milled line of putters are some of the most technologically advanced we've ever tested and as such they are suitable for golfers of all skill levels. This particular model is in the bag of Jon Rahm but don't let that fool you into thinking you need to be a pro to benefit from it.
In our own testing we really loved the feel off the face, particularly when used with a softer golf ball. The buttery contact and responsive feel made this a lot of fun to use, whilst we also loved the smooth, true roll produced. We found distance control to be excellent and the forgiveness on offer was very impressive, as you would expect given the tech that has gone into it.
Ah yes, the tech. Odyssey used a super computer to create what it is calling “the most advanced insert in golf”. Callaway/Odyssey are market leaders right now in terms of using AI (artificial intelligence) in club design, and the multi-material construction of the Ai-One putters include unique contours on the back of the face that minimize ball speed losses on off-centre hits, and greatly increase the sweet spot.
While the Rossie design is not as big and bulky as some mallets on this list, there is still enough depth at the back of the head to provide confidence at address, and all of the putters in both the Ai-One and Ai-One Milled ranges really have that ‘wow factor' you associate with the best Odyssey putters. We feel that the navy PVD finish gives them a very premium look.
- Read our full Odyssey Ai-One Rossie S Putter Review
Best premium model
For 2024, Scotty Cameron has gone for a more futuristic look in its mallet range under the stewardship of design guru Austie Rollinson, a man who helped design some of the best Odyssey putters for over 25 years before making the switch to Scotty Cameron.
The Phantom 9 is an angular, mid-sized mallet that has two cavities and a dual line alignment system. This is a pretty drastic departure from what we’ve seen before among the best Scotty Cameron putters. There are two neck options to choose from but both have new shaft designs that ensure that the bends always point down the target line.
Behind the ball, two prominent sight lines milled from the leading edge all the way back provide a track system aesthetically pleasing and extremely functional. The compact size, especially from heel to toe, means it doesn’t look cumbersome, but there’s enough real estate to give you confidence that a mishit will be forgiven and despite the change from what we're used to from Scotty Cameron putters, the quality we've come to expect was still there in abundance and this is one of the best putters we've tested all year, hence it getting the full five stars from our reviewer.
- Read our full Scotty Cameron Phantom X 12 Putter 2022 Review
Best adjustability
The TaylorMade Spider GT Max putter is one of the most adjustable putters on this list, offering plenty of versatility and a stylish and innovative look that make it one of the best mallet putters on the market. The cool sci-fi design sits large behind the golf ball to make this a confidence inspiring club that many players will enjoy playing with.
It's a very similar design to the Spider GT, another very forgiving putter, and also uses the same Pure Roll 2 insert to produce that lovely soft feel that many golfers prefer. Our testing showed that the GT Max delivers an excellent sound and we found that the feel is still great even when you don't strike the ball out of the middle.
The standout feature though is undoubtedly the intuitive weighting system that you'll find on the sole. This allows players to fine tune the CG placement and toe hang of the club through the use of two 40g tungsten weights which sit on the wings of the club. To adjust the CG you just unscrew the weights and place them in either one of the three positions up and down the wings until you find the right balance for your stroke. The resulting variations to the head performance are quite subtle, but when you find the setting for you it does make for one of the best putters for forgiveness that we've tested of late.
- Read our full TaylorMade Spider GT Max Putter Review
Best value
Cleveland HB Soft 2 Retreve Putter and its fantastic leather head cover
When it comes to the HB Soft 2 Retreve putter from Cleveland, the first thing to say is that they look a lot more premium than the price would suggest. The milling and overall look of the putter, combined with the luxurious the Pistol grip really gives off a premium feel that belies its price point.
In testing, we found the feel off the face to be enjoyable. It's slightly firmer than others on this list and indeed some other models in the Soft 2 family, but this is probably due to the hole behind the face. While not the softest it still felt good out of the sweet spot.
Obviously the last and most significant design feature to mention is the 'Retreve' element. This is Cleveland’s first putter with the ability to pick the ball out of the hole, so it should certainly appeal to any golfer that has difficult bending. In particular senior golfers will see an immediate benefit to using this putter.
There are more forgiving models on this list so if you need as much help as possible with consistency of strike, then the Cobra King Vintage Cuda Putter or L.A.B. Golf DF3 Putter are better options.
- Read our full Cleveland HB Soft Milled14 Putter Review
Best large footprint
The L.A.B. Golf DF3 mallet isn't the most aesthetically pleasing perhaps, but there's a reason it's shaped the way it is. This putter is as forgiving and stable as any we've tested. It's also “fully automatic” – meaning it feels as if it’s guiding itself on the correct path on the way back and through. That can be attributed to "Lie Angle Balance" (L.A.B.) technology which creates true zero-torque putters, which stay square by themselves.
Our testing certainly backed up the brand's claims. The head is huge but it was not a visual distraction in any way. In fact, we were extremely impressed with how easy it was to control speed and judge distance. During the stroke it felt like gravity was taking over and did indeed feel 'automatic' to a degree.
Another bonus was that heel and toe strikes still made it really close to the target and this is without doubt one of the most forgiving putters we've tried. Additionally, we also really liked the grooves on the face which dampened the sound nicely and gave a nice, pleasing accoustic.
Perhaps what really sets this putter apart from the rest though is the choice available. You can get a stock design, or a custom putter with eight different colors, lots of grip and shaft options, and there are tons of alignment markings to choose from, as well as different head weights.
- Read our full L.A.B. Golf DF3 Putter Review
Best face
The new 2024 range of Teardrop putters consists of three head shapes inspired by the brand’s classic putters from the 1990s, which changed the face of putting with their "Roll Face" design. Roll Face was a game changer back then but now comes "Radial Face", which is designed to help golfers who apply too much or too little loft to their putter face at impact.
The TD-7 is rammed with tech. A multi-material construction combines steel and aluminium for exceptional feel and the winged design increases the MOI, making this the most forgiving putter in the new Teardrop range. It is a face-balanced putter so therefore suits the golfer with a straight back and through putting stroke with minimal face rotation.
The Radial Face design is the main story here though. It's an 8-inch radius face that gradually changes from 0 degrees on the bottom of the putter to 4.6 degrees at the top, which compensates for the increase or decrease of loft applied by a golfer's putting stroke. This helps to create an ideal launch angle and spin rate for a smooth and consistent roll regardless of where you strike your putts, and our testing confirmed this.
We really liked the sightlines on top of the putter too. Three parallel ones run along or adjacent to the ball-to-target line, while another runs perpendicular to this along the leading edge. We found this made it very easy to see where the face is pointing and really helps to start putts online.
- Read our full Teardrop TD-7 Putter Review
Best compact head
Last but not least we have the INOVAI 6.5 putter from Bettinardi which our testing showed to be one of the most forgiving putters on the market this year. The hexagonal, compact head shape and fangs are designed to optimize the putter’s MOI (Moment of Inertia) thanks to triangular vents that save weight, which is then re-distributed to the perimeter to help provide stability and increase forgiveness.
Aesthetically this putter looks fantastic. The head is comprised of two parts; a 303 Stainless Steel front piece and a 6061 Military Grade Aluminium back piece. The different colors of the two pieces provides a pleasing contrast down at address, as did the dual alignment lines, whilst the steel front features Roll Control milling which we noted gave a pleasing soft feel as well as a true roll.
Overall it performed very well in our testing. It sits nice and square at address and the visuals certainly inspire confidence over the ball. It's very stable throughout the stroke with a feel and a sound that is more muted than we expected. There wasn't a great difference in roll between our well struck putts and the mishits, so this is a great choice for the inconsistent golfer looking to improve on the greens.
- Read our full Bettinardi Inovai 6.5 Putter review
How we test putters
Our buyers' guides are built upon a rigorous testing procedure as well as the knowledge and experience of the test team. The putter section is headed up by David Usher, who has tested golf clubs for many years now. Other members of the Golf Monthly team contribute to the putter tests as well, and between all of our writers we are able to efficiently test the vast majority of the biggest product releases as well as convey the pros and cons of each eloquently.
Getting into specifics, we test the putters outdoors on real greens with premium golf balls to get a thorough understanding of design features, feel, sound and looks. Ultimately, we aim to be as insightful and honest as possible in our reviews so it is important to state clearly that no manufacturer can buy a good review asour team tells it how it is.
To learn more about our methodology, see how Golf Monthly tests products in our guide.
How to choose a new putter
The putter is the most important (and perhaps most undervalued) club in the bag, especially for high handicappers because only a slight improvement can turn a 95 into an 89. Therefore there are several factors you need to consider before purchasing a new putter, which we will go into below.
1. Head Design
Putters come in lots of different head designs. Blade, mallet, or mid-mallet shapes all have their positives and negatives and we would recommend you experiemtn with all three to see which suits your eye and feels comfortable. For high handicap golfers, generally we would recommend using a mallet putter because the larger head helps to improve the forgiveness on offer. That is done through redistribution of the club's weight to the extremities of the clubhead, which stabilizes the club and increases the MOI of the club even when you don't hit it out of the sweet spot.
MOI stands for moment of inertia and the higher the MOI, the less your club head will turn through impact, creating a more smooth and even stroke. For that reason, mallet putters typically offer better balance compared to blade putters and are therefore more suitable for high handicappers and less experienced players. Additionally, because of this size, mallet putters tend to offer larger sweet spots which are beneficial for players who may struggle to consistently strike the ball.
2. Feel
This is a very important factor to consider because when putting, feel is everything. Some putters offer a firmer feel off the face whilst others are soft, some are heavier than others too so you need to find a model that fits well in your hands. The putter grip plays a huge part in the confidence you feel with a putter. Get a putter with a grip that feels right and sits comfortably in your hands while allowing you to return the putter back to the ball squarely and consistently. You may also want to think about the shaft too and how much vibration you get from the shaft whether you like the feel of the ball reverberating along the shaft, or prefer that to be nerfed.
3. Looks
It might seem somewhat superficial, but looks are very important in a putter simply because you have to like how your putter looks, because that will give you confidence when you're stood over the ball. In terms of mallets, there are loads of classic and futuristic designs above so it is easy to find something you like the look of.
4. Alignment tools
Alignment is vital in putting, While some golfers may not prefer to have any aiming guides on the back of their putters, high-handicappers can seriously benefit from having an aiming line (or lines) on the back of their putter to help focus on the ball and start it on the right path.
5. Price
Our final tip is to think about price because while there are some premium designs out there, there are also some models which offer excellent value, as the selections above show. Sometimes high handicappers should steer clear of the more expensive offerings currently on the market which may actually not be very forgiving and may not be suitable for your swing style.
But if you're still stuck on what putter to choose, why not take a look at what some different brands have to offer and check out our best Ping putters buying guide or our best Scotty Cameron putters guide for more information on the types of clubs different manufacturers can offer high handicap golfers.
FAQs
What kind of putter should a high handicap golfer use?
While this is subjective to each golfer, High handicap golfers generally see better results when they use mallet putters compared to blade putters or high MOI putters. Mallet putters are typically very forgiving, provide excellent feel on impact and tend have great alignment tools high handicappers can use to improve their accuracy on the greens.
Are bigger putters more forgiving?
Technically yes. The larger a putter is, the bigger the sweet spot on the club face will be. That means that if you strike a shot off-center on a larger putter compared to a smaller putter, there is a greater chance you'll strike a more fluid shot and get the ball closer to the hole.
Are expensive putters worth it for high handicappers?
For high handicappers who don't play as regularly as perhaps a scratch golfer, you may want to think about your budget when purchasing an expensive putter. Expensive putters won't always offer high handicappers the same performance-enhancing qualities that they offer more experienced golfers. But there are a wide range of well-priced putters on the market that are more suitable to a high-handicappers game and can help shave more putts of their round.
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