TOP 10 BLADE & MALLET PUTTERS

Bettinardi BB-28 | £429 BLADE

TG VERDICT It goes without saying that Bettinardi putters feel great and roll putts beautifully, but they also often give your dancefloor game a lift thanks to their overall desirability and attractiveness. If you’re into beautiful Cnc-milled putters, Bettinardi are right at the top of their game right now. While costly, the BB-28 is a timeless classic to be treasured for years to come.

Odyssey Tri-hot 5K Triple Wide | £379 BLADE

TG VERDICT ‘Forgiving’ and ‘blade’ are two words never used in the same sentence, but Odyssey’s Tri-hot 5K family change everything. We love how the stability of the wider head and its face balanced set-up opens blades up to straighter stroke players, and to golfers who love blades but need additional stability to counteract a wonky stroke.

Scotty Cameron Special Select Newport 2 | £429 BLADE

TG VERDICT If you absolutely swear you need a traditional narrow-body blade, the Newport 2 is a great option. It’s Scotty’s flagship model and this year the family have been updated with a new face milling pattern, new I-beam plumbing neck, and additional MOI performance, all inspired by the tour pros he works with. We’d seriously urge fans to check out Cameron’s new wide body + models, too.

PXG Battle Ready Closer | £305 BLADE

TG VERDICT The Closer challenges conventional thinking around blades. We love the wide body shape, the 100% Cnc-milled head and the black cosmetics and long, single height-of-simplicity sightline. But what you don’t expect in a traditional blade putter is hefty tungsten sole weighting, or the choice of four hosel options. We love that with PXG, you can have your putter whichever way you want it.

Evnroll ER2 | £409 BLADE

TG VERDICT Evnroll’s Sweet Face sets the head up optimally, improves distance consistency and, the company claim, ‘gears’ putts back online. Couple that with great-feeling grip options, the opportunity to choose six different hosel set-ups and a choice of a black or classic satin finish, which you rarely get with blades, and you’ve got yourself a very strong wide body blade in 2023.

Bettinardi Queen B #11 | £429 MALLET

TG VERDICT We’re seriously struggling to get Bettinardi’s Queen B #11 putter out of our system. The model is updated every couple of years, but ever since Top Gear testing started in 2015, it’s strutted its stuff proudly among our top performing mallets. This year the Queen has had a makeover, and while she may not be massively different to previous versions, she is still utterly gorgeous.

Odyssey White Hot Versa Three T | £279

MALLET

TG VERDICT The Three T is a new shape for Odyssey, and we’re big fans of the straight back (aiding correct alignment) mid-mallet shape – it sits behind the ball beautifully. The black, white, black colouring is back for 2023 and it’s incredibly efficient at boosting everyday golfers’ perception of holing more putts. Just make sure you get the right neck and toe hang to suit your stroke.

Ping 2023 Tyne G | £280 MALLET

TG VERDICT With a golf ball-sized hole in the middle of your putter, the Tyne G is really good at framing and highlighting the impact position of putts. If you struggle with hitting lots of putts off-centre, it could seriously help improve strike consistency. It may lack the razzmatazz of some, but if you’re looking for a forgiving mid-mallet that can help you align and strike putters better, your search is over.

Cleveland Frontline Elite Cero | £249 MALLET

TG VERDICT Thanks to it being front weighted, with a CG closer to the face, Cleveland say that when hit off centre, the Frontline Elite family rotate around a smaller arc than higher MOI models, making them 38% more accurate. That’s tough to prove conclusively, but we like the idea and reckon Cero’s reassuring size and long sightline will help many average golfers improve their accuracy to some degree.

Zebra AIT 1 | £199 MALLET

TG VERDICT With the AIT 1, Zebra have stayed faithful to the original. That means a hollow head and changeable weighting tech, but also a new built-in grooved face insert to ensure putts skid less and start rolling sooner. We were impressed by the feel and the feedback, and in the current climate £199 feels like a lot of putter for not too much cash. It’s one we’re happy to recommend for 2023.