2024 was an amazing year for putters! Never before have golfers had so many choices. You can buy a putter with an insert designed by artificial intelligence or a precision milled face that allows you to feel the steel. Feel free to choose a traditional blade shape or a mallet larger than Sasquatch’s footprint. If variety is the spice of life, then 2024 was a muy caliente putter year.
Admittedly, the number of choices can be overwhelming. The great thing about the 2024 crop is that so many of the putters out there are excellent so whichever one you end up choosing is likely a good one.
There are not too many booger-flavored Jelly Bellys in 2024’s bag of jelly beans.
As per usual, I’ve tried my best to roll balls with everything that hit the putting corral this year. Out of all of those putters, these are my favorites of the past year.
L.A.B. Golf Purple DF3 Limited Edition
L.A.B. Golf’s DF3 putter had a huge 2024. Muni duffers and big-name professionals alike put DF3s in their bags this year. The L.A.B. Golf Mezz.1 got a good deal of playing time as well but it seemed like everyone who was trying a L.A.B. Golf putter for the first time was gaming a DF3.
This delightful purple version of the L.A.B. DF3 was a limited release in 2024. It looks like Prince’s love symbol and has established its purple reign in my bag.
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Toulon Golf Blackout Alcatraz
Sean Toulon and sons had a solid 2024. The monthly Toulon Small Batch releases were something I looked forward to. The Small Batch releases always taught me something about golf history and/or the putter’s namesake city. The latest release, the Small Batch Dallas, was a delightful collaboration between the Toulon and Trevino families.
Toulon Golf also released their complete first line of putters in 2024. The 2024 First Run Collection included many of the classic Toulon head shapes and new ones like the Alcatraz. This particular blackout Toulon Alcatraz was a limited release last summer.
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Odyssey Golf Square 2 Square Jailbird
While Odyssey has experimented with zero-torque putter designs in the past, 2024 may go down as the year that they got it right. The Ai-ONE Square 2 Square putters are a marvel of putter engineering. Not only will these familiar Odyssey shapes not rotate in your hands during the stroke but they also feature Odyssey’s Ai-ONE distance-correcting insert and Odyssey’s precision manufacturing.
The Jailbird is my favorite of the three Square 2 Square putters. Though I am still not completely sold on the Versa alignment stripes, I am confident the ball is going where I am aiming. Based upon my experience with the blackout Alcatraz, I may paint the whole thing black and see what that does to my targeting.
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PXG Allan
The PXG Allan was a surprise this year. Though PXG may not be the first company that comes to mind when thinking about putters, the truth is that they have been making excellent innovative putters for years. Most recently, they released a pair of milled putters that are as nice as those produced by any of the big names.
The zero-torque Allan with its quirky-looking backwards hosel was surprisingly effective for me. I can’t remember another putter where the dispersal was as tight. The feel off the face is not the greatest but when the balls are all ending up in a tight clump from 20 feet away, funky feel is forgiven.
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Bettinardi The Antidote SB1
Bettinardi entered the zero-torque arena at the end of 2024. The Antidote line consisted of the SB1 blade and SB2 mallet. Both are zero-torque designs but I found the SB1 to be particularly interesting.
Toe hang is one of the most important characteristics of a putter. To measure toe hang, you let the putter shaft rest on your finger, observing how far down the toe of the putter points at rest. For the SB1, the toe stays where you have the shaft positioned. It will rest at toe up, toe down and every other position. I have never seen a putter balance like the SB1.
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Logan Olson Craft Batch #3
The current trends in putter designs are in the direction of increasing technologies and zero-torque balancing. One might assume that the time of the milled putter is nearing its end. Logan Olson’s Craft Batch #3 let everyone know that the milled putter is a long way from dead.
Olson’s manipulation of putter mass and precision machining resulted in one of the best-feeling milled putters I have rolled in a long time. The “flumber’s neck” creates just a bit too much toe flow for me, otherwise the Craft Batch #3 would be in my bag as we flip the calendar. I truly can’t wait to see the putters Olson creates with his new partnership with TaylorMade. Dude has a special touch.
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Will the putters of 2025 be as amazing as those of 2024?
Can the bountiful putter harvest of 2024 possibly continue on into 2025? Based upon what I’ve seen so far, I think 2025 will again be a solid year for the putter shopper. The zero-torque offerings are likely to increase as more companies give us their spins on the design.
Traditional putters are not being replaced by zero-torque models. Putter companies have some large releases featuring traditional blades and mallets coming in 2025. Yes, I’m currently sworn to secrecy about these releases but let’s just say that you’ll want to be paying attention in January.
Hopefully, 2024 was the year that you found your forever putter or at least a new favorite. If that wasn’t the case, get your credit card ready because there are lots of new putters coming in 2025.
Happy New (Putter) Year to all!
The post Dave’s Top 5 (or 6) Putters of 2024 appeared first on MyGolfSpy.
