Best 2021 putters
The putter is the club you’ll use the most during every round so it really pays to have one that works with your stroke tendencies, feels comfortable in your hands and suits your eye. To help you find your perfect match, we tested 15 of the latest ranges on the stunning Tavistock shortgame area at Woburn Golf Club with Titleist Pro V1x golf balls. Here are our key findings.
Looks
The appearance of a putter is an incredibly subjective matter but it needs to provide effective alignment assistance for you and ideally look good in your bag too. This is why the Scotty Cameron Phantom X 11.5 is our top pick – it has a premium, elegant finish and a long white sightline that contrasts sharply with the black section it sits on to vividly highlight aim. We also found the Odyssey 2-Ball Ten very easy to align and loved the rich blue finish on the Mizuno M.craft IV.
GM pick: Scotty Cameron Phantom X 11.5
Feel/sound
Noticeably firm-feeling putters (with a louder sound) were the Taylormade TP Hydro Blast models, the Phantom X 11.5 and both the new Cobra ranges. At the other end of the spectrum, the Ping 2021 and Bettinardi Studio Stock putters offered up a very soft feel at impact. For most, the sweetspot in terms of feel and sound will sit somewhere in the middle and best of the bunch for us was the Odyssey White Hot OG Rossie putter. It provides a gentle ‘pop’ sound at impact with good speed, and performed consistently across the face, making for a very pleasant user experience.
“TRIAL AND ERROR IS THE BEST WAY TO FIND THE STYLE OF PUTTER THAT WORKS BEST FOR YOU” Joel Tadman, GM technical editor
GM pick: Odyssey White Hot OG Rossie
Performance
We tried to hit similar lengths and breaks of putt with each putter to understand which
models, for whatever reason, performed the best for us. The adjustable shaft/hosel design of the SIK Golf range allowed us to switch into different neck designs on each putter to suit our stroke, which is something golfers wanting to get properly fitted will benefit from.
The Phantom X 11.5 was very impressive, producing consistent roll-out and start lines to help us hole more than our fair share of short- and mid-range efforts. We holed out noticeably well from inside 12ft with the Mizuno M.craft IV (13 putts in a row!) helped by its wide blade-style design and long sightline. But it was the Evnroll ER2V that was the most prolific in our hands. It has quite a soft feel, which does require a committed stroke. But the resulting putts were scaring the hole from long range and often going in from anywhere within 20ft, such was the consistency of its performance, aided by the excellent stock Tour Tac midsize grip. An honourable mention must go to the Evnroll ER5V Midlock, an Armlock option that felt more comfortable than others we’ve tried.
Forgiveness
All the mallets on test were very stable on off-centre contact, notably the Taylormade Spider EX, Phantom X 11.5, Ping 2021 Fetch and Odyssey 2-Ball Ten. But the Cobra King 3D Printed Agera was in a class of its own. Such was the stability, you barely felt anything through your hands when you missed the middle, and the length of the roll-out was very consistent.
GM pick: Cobra King 3D Printed Agera
Value
The Macgregor Mactec X 004 rolled the ball nicely with a firm but solid feel and an inviting look at address. The Cleveland Frontline range has some new shapes this year that offer a little more feel for under £200. But we feel that Taylormade’s TP Hydro Blast Bandon 3 offers the best value because of how it looks and how well the ball hugs the ground after impact.
GM pick: Taylormade TP Hydro Blast Bandon 3