We fully understand how exciting it is to hit a golf ball a long way. You can trust us here; that excitement is not going to fade anytime soon. However, the putter is the club that actually gets the golf ball in the hole. The best putters for beginners typically need a bit of forgiveness, good feel and offer a simple way to aim.
One of the best things about a great golf putter is that if you invest the money now, you could have this club in your bag for years to come. Here’s a look at some of the best putters for beginners; we’ve kept all budgets and player types in mind.
The best putter for beginners are:
- Odyssey White Hot OG 7S Stoke Lab – Best Putter For Beginners
- King Cobra 3D Grandsport 35 – Best Blade putter
- Cleveland Huntington Beach Soft Premier 10.5 OS – Best For Distance Control
- Tour Edge Pure Feel Template Series Redan – Best On A Budget
- Ping Prime Tyne 4 Mallet – Best for Stability
Odyssey White Hot OG 7S Stroke Lab
Odyssey has a great handle on the market when it comes to putters. There are options for every playing style, mallet putters, blade putters, and unique new releases to the market that stand out. As a beginner, this is a name you will see come up quite often.
The putters from Odyssey are not the cheapest on the market, so if you are looking for cheap beginner golf clubs, this won’t be your choice. However, with something like the Odyssey White Hot OG 7S Stroke Lab putter in the bag, you may not have to replace your putter for years to come.
This is our favorite model for beginners as it is one of the most forgiving putter styles in this lineup. The shape of the head allows for really easy alignment and a look down the line that helps beginners understand what it takes to get the golf ball in the hole.
With the Odyssey White Hot OG Seven, you will be getting the benefit of the original White Hot insert released to the market many years ago. Golfers have been hoping Odyssey would bring this insert back (with a few modern twists) because of the impressive performance.
The White Hot OG Seven Stroke Lab is, of course, a mallet putter and does have a bit of offset as well as the Stroke Lab shaft. These are all features that will help this stand out as a forgiving and great-feeling putter in your golf bag.
Golf Insider verdict
Any beginner golfer (and truly any golfer) with a simple back and through putting stroke looking for consistent roll and great feel will love the White Hot OG Seven.
King Cobra 3D Grandsport 35 (Best Blade Putter)
- Feel 9/10
- Forgiveness 8/10
- Alignment 7/10
- Value 8/10
- Longevity 9/10
Each year in golf, there are some surprises to the market from a performance standpoint. The King 3D Grandsport 35 stands out as one of those surprises. To be totally honest, Cobra does a tremendous job with drivers, hybrids, and irons for beginner golfers. The wedge and putter options have never been quite as strong.
However, with the 3D printing used in this putter head and the impressive ability to move the Tungsten weights around, the Kind 3D Grandsport 35 really stands out as one of the best blade putters for beginners.
This is certainly a modern-looking blade, as the club head is more streamlined, and it has futuristic print and coloring. Of course, we don’t really expect anything less, considering part of it was 3D printed.
Cobras’ goal was to make a stable blade putter that was also lightweight and forgiving. Tungsten Weights are positioned in the club head to make it more forgiving. In addition, the new SIK face insert helps to keep the roll off the putter solid each time you hit the ball.
One thing that really stands out about the putter is the way it hits the center of the clubface and rolls toward the hole. There is no “hop” or “hit” when the ball comes off the face; it simply starts moving end over end toward the target.
Golf Insider verdict
We love the Cobra King 3D Gransport 35 for the beginner with an arc-style stroke and wants the class look that only the blade putters can bring to the table. With the 3D Grandsport 35, you get a mix of modern performance and forgiveness with a great looking putter head that feels manageable for the beginner golfer.
Cleveland Golf Huntington Beach Soft Premier 10.5 OS (Best For Distance Control)
- Feel 8/10
- Forgiveness 8/10
- Alignment 9/10
- Value 9/10
- Longevity 7/10
Cleveland Golf is known for making great putters that are fair in price and have a soft feel around the greens. The Cleveland Golf Huntington Beach Soft Premier 10.5 OS is our favorite putter for distance control. This is, without a doubt, a forgiving putter with a Gray Satin PVD finish to help it stand out as looking premium.
With the Cleveland Golf Huntington Beach Soft Premier, you will benefit from a slightly off-center Speed Optimized Face Technology. Golfers new to the game should realize that even when hitting a putt, you won’t always strike the center of the clubface.
It’s crucial in a putting stroke to get consistent speed coming off the face so that your distance results are more consistent. The Cleveland Soft Premier 10.5 helps to do this for you.
In addition, the face of the putter features a diamond CNC milling pattern. This increases friction and creates a pure roll and softer feel. Many of the best putters for beginners are going to have a face insert, but the Cleveland Huntington Beach Soft Premier is just a milled design. Many players find the milled pattern to be more consistent.
Lastly, it’s worth mentioning that with this modern mallet putter head, these mallet-style putters will help you quite a bit when it comes to alignment. Alignment aids in putters for beginners vary from a single line on the club head to several lines, to color contrasting designs, and more. The Huntington Beach Soft keeps things simple enough to look great and improve the putter face angle at setup.
Golf Insider verdict
For the price, it is offered the Cleveland Huntington Beach Soft is one of the best values on the market for the beginner player. The golf ball comes off the putter’s face incredibly well and can help players make a consistent stroke. If you looked at the TaylorMade Spider Putter and thought it might be a bit too expensive, these Cleveland golf putters have some of the same performance characteristics.
Tour Edge Template Series (Best On A Budget)
- Feel 7/10
- Forgiveness 8/10
- Alignment 8/10
- Value 10/10
- Longevity 8/10
The Tour Edge Template Series is a brand new mallet putter design that works quite well for the beginner golfer. This is a very forgiving putter with easy to see alignment lines, and it is a mallet style putter. Tour Edge always creates some of the best putters for goflers on a budget but still would like an impressive performance on the course.
With the Pure Feel Template series from Tour Edge, a 304 stainless steel was used to help eliminate the glare at setup. One of the first things you will notice as a beginner player is that a great putter has to look good, not just perform well. The Tour Edge brand has made some shiny putters in the past that didn’t look nearly as good as the Template Series putter.
The Tour Edge Template Series putter has a CNC milled micro groove face. The face design is there to encourage a soft feel, get the ball speed consistent, and to improve overall forgiveness in the putter head. Mallet putters tend to have plenty of consistency, and we noticed that was the case with this putter in hand.
Another unique addition is the Jumbo Tour Edge putter grip. With the larger grip, expect that your hands and wrists won’t get quite as involved in the putting stroke, and your putter face will stay square.
Golf Insider verdict
The Pure Feel Template Series putter from Tour Edge perfectly mixes performance and value. If you are looking for a traditional putter with some modern technology and feel this should be at the top of your list. In addition, it leaves room in the budget for a few boxes of golf balls, something beginner golfers understand all too well.
Ping Prime Tyne (Best For Stability)
- Feel 10/10
- Forgiveness 9/10
- Alignment 9/10
- Value 7/10
- Longevity 9/10
The Ping Prine Tyne is a brand new putter released to the market for the new year, and the goal with this entire line of putters was to help players from any distance. With more and more testing being done on putters, we are finding that some clubs, even those that claim to be the most forgiving putters are great from five feet or ten feet but struggle from longer distances.
With the Ping Prime Tyne 4 face-balanced putter, you can expect that the twin fork design creates enough stability for this to rank as the best golf putter from any distance easily. The Ping putters are typically some of the more expensive on the market, but certainly, a better putter if you are looking for a club that will stay in your bag for years to come.
What we liked about this putter head is that it has a bit of a firmer feel at impact. So many putters for beginners advertise a soft putter face to help with distance control and “hard hands” when you first start the game. However, the best putters in the game eventually learn how to have a consistent stroke with less movement.
When you get to that point in your game, a bit of a firm feel on the green is certainly not a bad thing. The way this mallet putter is set up allows for a much easier time with alignment. In addition, the putter head is still sleek enough that you won’t feel like you are putting with a shoe box on a shaft.
Overall you can stand over this Ping Prime Tyne 4 mallet and feel like you have some confidence and some direction as to what the ball is going to do.
Golf Insider verdict
The Ping Prime Tyne 4 is a golf club designed to get all players better percentages from all areas of the green. Ping doesn’t want to be known as the best golf putter from 5 feet or 10 feet. Instead, they want to be the best regardless of the distance. If you want to invest in a golf club that will help get you out of the beginner stages, this could be the one.
Top Tips For Beginner Golfers To Find The Best Putter
As a beginner golfer, you are likely going to be getting quite a bit of advice about the best golf putters on the market. Some golfers will tell you that you need a TaylorMade Spider X Putter or a Scotty Cameron, and some of these players are not wrong. However, there are ways that you can learn about your golf game and the putters that will help you take things to the next level; here is what you should know.
Putter Length vs. Player Height
When you purchase a new golf putter, one of the significant decisions you have to make is the putter length. The standard lengths for men’s putter are typically 34 and 35 inches. Some golf clubs come in a 33-inch length, and this is more standard for women players.
The 34 inch putter length is where most players are going to end up. However, when choosing a proper putter length, you must consider the player’s height as well as arm length and putting style.
I’ve seen some shorter golfers play well with a club that is 34 or more inches, and I’ve seen some taller players need that 33 inch putter. If you’re unsure, 34″ is a good start, and allows you to grip lower down the handle to vary this down to a 33″ putter.
Try To Ignore Price
One of the strategies that many beginner golfers use when choosing golf clubs is to look at the price. Many players assume that low-priced products are for beginners and high handicappers, and this is a bad habit to get into. Check this link out for more on our best putters for high handicaps.
Try to look at performance over price. The more expensive putters have gone through a manufacturing process that costs more money, which is why they are more expensive.
However, this does not mean it will help your golf game. Beginners should stay away from the cheapest putter on the market and probably the most expensive one as well. There are plenty of great options in that $100 to $250 range that are well worth considering.
Know The Terminology
One of the things that beginner golfers struggle with is the terminology that golf manufacturers use to describe the putter’s performance. Some of this can sound like a foreign language when new to the game.
One of the keywords to look out for is MOI. This MOI stands for a moment of inertia, and it almost directly translates to the amount of forgiveness a putter offers. Beginners will want a high MOI putter.
Offset is another word that you will see in beginner putters. This is a slight forward lean of the putter shaft that helps golfers keep the putter face square throughout the entire stroke. Knowing the terminology can only help ensure your golf putter ends up being the right one for your game.
Adjustability For Beginners
As you have likely seen in many of the drivers and fairway woods for beginners, there are some putters that also come with adjustability. Adjustability allows players to fine-tune the weighting in the putter head to work for their individual strokes.
Adjustability is great because you can eventually tweak the putter to work for your needs. However, it is not always necessary. If your putter doesn’t have adjustability, don’t let it be a deal breaker. Any great putter will tell you that a new grip and a bit of lead tape can really transform a club at any point.
Choosing A Putter Grip
All great putters understand the importance of light grip pressure on the putting greens. An excellent golf putter grip will help your hands feel stable and connected to the club, but at the same time, ensure that your larger muscles are the ones controlling the putting stroke.
Many beginner players tend to use their hands and wrists a bit too much in their putting strokes. The good news is that a large grip such as a midsize or jumbo grip, can help take your hands out of the equation.
If your putter does not have a large grip like this, but you would like one, you can replace it for anywhere from $10 to $20 for the new grip.
Men’s vs. Women’s Beginner Putters
We didn’t specifically call out the best putter for women beginners because there isn’t always a need to. Women golfers can play with any golf clubs men use on the putting green. The key is to make sure that the putter length is perfect for your height.
Most women golfers should look for a 33 or even a 32 inch putter length to get the proper setup and position over the golf ball.
Frequently asked questions
Here are a few of the most common questions that we get about the best putter for beginners. This can be a big decision, and now is the time to ask the questions.
How much should a beginner spend on a putter?
Beginners don’t need to spend more than $120 on a new putter if they don’t want to. However, the great thing about golf putters is that they don’t lose their value quite as quickly as other clubs in the bag. Putter technology takes just a bit longer to change, and therefore golfers can purchase a putter that lasts them more than 7 or even close to 10 years. Keep that in mind if you don’t want to replace your club in the next few years; it may be worth spending a bit more.
What kind of putter should a beginner use?
A beginner golfer with a straight back and straight through putting stroke should look for mallet putters. Those with an arc style putting stroke should think about a blade style putter. Take some putts on a putting green with an alignment stick down, and you should be able to see how, if you have a stroke, that would work best for a mallet or a blade.
For more on types of putters check out this article.
What is the easiest putter to putt with?
Typically speaking, a larger mallet putter with an oversized sweet spot is the easiest putter for beginners to putt with. These clubs have technology that helps to make the speed more consistent regardless of where on the clubface contact is made. If you hit it a bit toward the heel or the toe of the golf club, the ball could still end up with a consistent roll toward the hole.
Which putters are most forgiving?
The Odyssey White Hot OG putters are some of the best golf putters for forgiveness. However, any putter claiming to have a higher MOI will likely be quite forgiving. Thes putters typically have a large sweet spot, impressive feel, and a center of gravity that is optimized for forgiveness.
Does my putting style matter for the putter I choose?
Putting style matters for the putter, you choose to play with. Determine if your putting style is more straight back and straight through or an arc. If you have an arc style, the blade will allow you to open and square up the club head during your stroke. Mallet style putters are designed to stay square to the target for the entire length of the stroke.
Summary
We hope you now feel a bit more confident in your ability to find a perfect golf putter for your game. There are plenty of options out there for beginners; in fact, the decision becomes a bit too overwhelming. The Odyssey White Hot OG Seven Stroke Lab stands out as a perfect choice for beginners looking for consistent ball speed, an impressive feel, and an overall solid design. Beginner golfers that take a little more time to decide on a great putter tend to keep it in the bag for years to come. Once you become attached to a great putter, you won’t want to change.
Happy golfing.
