Best Heavy Putters Review

If you’re the one to prefer heavy biased putters compared to their lighter counterparts (or regular, if you will), then you’ve come to the right place. Of course, before going through several of the best heavy putters currently on the market, we’ll try to get to the bottom of why you’d even want to consider playing one, for the sake of those of you who are not in the know. Continue reading this best heavy putters review to find out more!

The Benefits of a Heavy Putter

In a nutshell, most of those who have made the switch from a regular putter to a heavier one say it calms their hands on the green, in addition to being able to slide through grass off the green where a lighter one might stick and kill the swing.

Moreover, heavier typically translates to a higher Moment of Inertia (MOI), depending on weight distribution, which makes the club more forgiving on off-center hits. In other words, even if you catch the ball slightly to the heel or to the toe, you still might… scratch that! You will be able to get away with it and avoid 3-putting.

Another thing that you’ll see a huge majority of golfers say, seasoned and not-so-seasoned alike, is that heavy flatsticks are great for fast greens, and light flatsticks for slower greens. Given the trend of fast greens becoming more popular on courses, the interest in quality heavy putters is equally on the rise. 

What About Counter Balanced Putters?

In case anyone’s wondering, yes, there is a difference between counter balance putters and heavy ones. To put it like this – every counterbalance putter is a heavy putter, but not every heavy putter is a counterbalance putter. It doesn’t get any simpler than that. 

Granted, the former type will invariably be the heavier, averaging about 400 grams in the head, plus 50 grams in the butt to counter that. Anything lower than 380 and 37 inches practically defeats the purpose of having counter balance.

As for the latter type, if you care for approximations, you’re usually looking at a 340–370-gram range, depending on the shaft length. Still, the majority of golfers seem to prefer 350ish-gram heads on 34-inch shafts, give or take 5 to 10 grams.

Another way to go is by using adjustable weights – of course, like many other debates in golf (think cast vs. forged irons), this one’s a long-standing, and pretty much always boils down to personal preferences. That said, an overwhelming majority of golfers do tend to look with favour on adjustable weights, just like an overwhelming majority prefers somewhat heavier heads to “regular” ones.

Best Heavy Putters Comparison Table

Best Heavy Putters Review

To save you the trouble of researching, we made a short list of what we think are the most useful heavy putters on the market at the moment.

When you cut through all the marketing lingo, the Scotty Cameron Studio Select Newport 2 is a decent candidate for the title of the best heavy putter, but it’s far from innovative. 

The multi-material technology and vibration-dampening membrane refer to a steel insert and a piece of double sided tape that holds it. This is not to say the Newport 2 doesn’t perform on fast greens, it’s just that the marketing is a bit overblown on this one.

On the flipside, you still get plenty of forgiveness thanks to the increased MOI, and the full-shaft offset should go a long way to helping right-handed players with left eye dominance align the putt every time.

If you forced our hand into picking the top heavy putter on the market, the Ping Cadence TR Anser 2 (Heavy) would be one of the first to come to mind.

Now, it’s important to note that the Anser 2 comes in three distinct flavours – the Traditional (blue insert), Heavy (black insert), and Counterbalance.

The Heavy has 25 grams of weight over the traditional for a total of 365 grams (not counting the dead weight, so just the head). This not only helps with stabilizing the stroke, but coupled with the True-Roll milling, also helps keep the ball speed even across the face, which in turn gives a decent amount of distance control.

Much like the rest of the Cadence TR family, the Ketsch comes in both Traditional and Heavy variant, both of which are conventional (rather than counter balance).

The latter is certainly one of the top most popular heavy mallet putters, with about 25 grams over its traditional counterpart, for a total of 375 grams (that’s just the head).

The added weight, coupled with the soft grips, allows the Ketsch to have more stability and, in turn, let you take a smooth stroke.

Granted, the grips soften the feel a bit, but you still get more than enough feedback to tell you if you hit the sweet spot or not. On that note, the sweet spot is quite easy to hit, and the True-Roll milling keeps the speed pretty much constant across the face.

The Callaway Odyssey O-Works Tank putter comes in two variants, depending on what you and your stroke need – for those with SBST strokes there’s the #7 mallet, and for those with arc strokes, they have the #1 blade. 

Either way you go about this, you’re getting a counterbalanced putter with 375-gram heads and full offset (good for RH players with left-eye dominance).

Other than that, the Tank is pretty much similar to the rest of the range – the microhinge technology does a nice job of muting the click, so you get a pretty soft feel. Coupled with the added weight (and, thus, enhanced MOI), the face goes a long way to keeping the ball speed consistent for good distance control.

The White Hot RX 2-Ball V-Line is the lightest putter on our list, but still very much qualified to be among the top ranked heavy putters on the market. 

This is a conventional mallet putter, with a 355-gram head and plenty of shaft lengths to choose from (33 through 37 inches).

Other than that, the 2-Ball V-Line uses pretty much the same tech as the rest of the White Hot RX family – the eponymous insert is coupled with another dual-layer insert, giving a very soft feel and a pleasant thud at impact.

Another important feature is the alignment system, which combines the 2 balls and the Versa contrast system (basically, just two highly contrasting colours, so simple you’d eat your heart out for not thinking of it first). On a more serious note, though, this really makes aligning the put a breeze.

If you’ve heard it once, you’ve heard it a thousand times – Bettinardi makes some of the most underappreciated putters out there, but the Studio Stock #28 is looking to turn the tide. 

This is one of the best ranked center-shafted heavy blade putters at the moment (small niche within a growing niche), and the price reflects that.

It’s worth noting that the #28 is available in both heel-shafted and center-shafted flavour, as well as arm lock (though none come with counterweight). What this does is allow this blade putter to open up more for SBST strokes (straight-back-straight-through), making it more versatile.

Another feature worth mentioning is the Bettinardi’s F. I. T. milling tech, which really softens up the face, in addition to helping keep the ball speed consistent no matter what part of the face you hit it with.

If you’re a novice, the SeeMore is a name you may not have heard of, seasoned players may even have played some of them, but true aficionados will certainly have handled at least one. 

The SB1 is a long, aka broomstick putter. Its 495 grams of weight (and that’s just the head) may seem like too much, but for some players, this super-heavy putter is a godsend.

The supply is limited, but on the other hand, so is demand, so it kind of balances out. On that note, you can choose either the conventional flatstick, or counterbalanced, whichever floats your boat.

Other than that, it’s worth pointing out that the SB1, much like the rest of the SeeMore range, comes with the RifleScope Technology, which makes alignment a piece of cake.

A word of warning before we move on to the pros and cons – keep in mind that anchoring has been illegal since January 2016. Long putters are still legal, though, so if you have a way of incorporating one into your game without breaking the rules, go for it.

The Final Word

In the end, it all really depends on you, your swing (“pendulum” vs. “screen door”, speed, the works) and preferences. That said, plenty of PGA pros do tend to go for the heavier heads with higher MOI, and you know what they say – where there’s smoke…

On average, as the putter becomes shorter, you’ll want more weight in it so you’re able to feel the load, which in turn should help calm your hands and let you take a smoother swing. Whether it’s a counterweight or conventional flatstick is pretty much beside the point. Still, even the best heavy putters won’t do you any good if the problem is you, so don’t get frustrated.

Final words of advice – custom fitting eliminates all the guesswork, so if you have the money to splash out, then, in the immortal words of Star Wars’ Senator Palpatine, do it! Fairways and greens!