Best: Overall

Rating: 10/10

This mallet putter created some buzz when it started showing up in the bags of various pros at the Sony Open in Hawaii earlier this year. Hand crafted, it feels like a premium putter. If you’ve been told by a playing partner or club pro that you have an arc in your stroke (or you would like to develop one for greater accuracy) then this is a good putter to have in your bag.

Its long alignment lines boost confidence when you’re standing over your putt, and the milled face feels solid on contact, sending the ball accurately on its way. The head has even been misted, so you won’t be able to blame glare from the sun for missing, not that that should be an issue with this premium putter.

Best: For lining up your puts

Rating: 9/10

The two-ball alignment system from Odyssey works by lining up the two circles on the putter head with your ball so all three of them are aligned with the hole. We have used this system before, with mixed results, but there was something about the two white ball shapes surrounded by the new black body that really allowed us to zero in our shots, time and time again.

The microhinge star face insert eliminated any skipping or bobbling on impact and really added to the feel of the putter, so this is definitely our mallet of the moment. It seems to do all the hard work for you so that all you have to concentrate on is a smooth swing.

Best: For wild swingers

Rating: 9/10

That old golfing adage of driving for show and putting for dough is one that certainly applies to John Rahm, the money leader on the 2020-21 PGA Tour. Obviously, Rahm’s doing something right on the greens, so we had to look at his insert mallet which has a soft but firm feel, thanks to the famous white hot insert that Odyssey is renowned for.

Suiting a player with some arc in his stroke, the head feels nicely balanced and did a good job steadying our swing and smoothing it out to give us an even greater chance of connecting squarely with the ball. In the end, though, it’s really all about what the legendary white hot insert lends to your putting, a firm contact that helps the ball hug the ground early on in its journey towards the hole.

Best: For players who often miss right

Rating: 7/10

The hosel is the point on a golf club where the shaft connects to the clubhead and the Anser’s is offset (a plumber’s neck) so that when you’re looking over the club on the putting green it looks like it’s adjacent to the clubface and not connected at all. This meant that the asner helped us keep our hands ahead of the clubhead at the point of impact with the golf ball, which made for a very forgiving club that was easy to use. The Asner was effective in influencing our swing and introduced a bias towards the left, so if you’re always missing right of the cup, this could be a great club for your game.

Best: For perfectionists

Rating: 8/10

Another “plumber’s neck” made from solid milled stainless steel, so it doesn’t have an insert and suits players who like to putt on touch, the Newport offers bags of feel and feedback. In hand, the putter felt nicely balanced and throughout the swing offered plenty of stability, increasing the chances of connecting squarely with the ball on impact.

However, it was on address where this putter shone as the neck allows a terrific visual of where the ball is sitting in relation to the clubface. With very few other alignment aids this is definitely a putter for a low handicapper who wants minimal interference, and instead wants to rely purely on talent and the ability to read the green.

Best: For golfers who overhit

Rating: 7/10

If you’re sick of seeing the ball fly past the hole leaving you with yet another tricky putt then you should think about making room for this putter in your bag. It’s got a nice soft feel for a milled putter and when you strike the ball it doesn’t fly off the face. It also lives up to its moniker and there was a very even roll of the ball from the putter head after impact.

The offset hosel gives a good visual of how the club is set up behind the ball at address, and there’s plenty of toe hang here so you can add more arc to your swing and face rotation, meaning the putter hits more squarely. Not only should this putter help you close the face when you strike the ball, it will also keep everything nicely under control so that your accuracy, as well as the pace of the putt, will guarantee avoiding those three, four and five putts.

Best: For putters lacking confidence

Rating: 7/10

A Spider made our previous line up of premium putters because the T-shaped sightlines on the club seem to draw your eye from club to ball during your swing. This makes for an easy transition, which promotes smooth contact and greater accuracy. These sightlines are also present on the FCG 3 and work in combination with the FCG (Forward Centre of Gravity) weights to promote a nice even rhythm with the putter when you draw it back and follow on through. Ultimately, what you have with the FCG 3 is the smooth confidence building qualities of a mallet with the energetic release that you would expect from a blade.

Best: Value for money

Rating: 9/10

This face balanced putter is about as forgiving as they come and is suited to players with a nice, straight stroke, or someone looking to reduce the amount of face rotation in their swing. This means that the putter will stay squarer (or open) on impact rather than closing off, so you will start to eliminate putts that miss to the left.

The bandon 1 feels solid and comfortable in the hand, and this translates to the impact which is also firm and controlled. The deep grooves on the insert offer up some real ball speed too, so if you have a short back swing – which can sometimes mean missing putts short – then this club can make sure you get the ball to the hole more often.

Best: For straight swingers

Rating: 9/10

This eye-catching, premium-feel, putter with its all-blue finish has a nice soft feel on the greens. In fact, is is our choice of the six M-craft models available, as its nice, wide blade is a real confidence booster when it comes to those pressure putts. You can feel the quality from the premium carbon steel head and milled face, which gives a good feel and nice even roll of the ball, which will only improve accuracy the more you use the putter. We found that it was ideally suited to a player who doesn’t have a lot of arc in their stroke, and the ball consistently stayed true to the line that we wanted.

Best: For middle distance puts

Rating: 7/10

Another club in the phantom X range that deserves inclusion in our roundup is this compact mallet. It has a 0.5 suffix to separate it from the other putters in the range thanks to its toe flow credentials, which bring more of an arc to a player’s putting path.

It’s based on a popular configuration that can be seen on the PGA tour and includes two customisable weights that can really help a player zero in a swing that is both comfortable and accurate. If you consider yourself less of a touch player and in need of a little help when trying to hole out, especially from medium distances, then this putter could be your best friend on the greens. This is owing to its blade-like feel that offers the stability of a mallet and combined with a very accurate alignment system (three green dots).