2024 Mallet putters – Syndication Server

Gear: Odyssey Ai ONE Cruiser putters
Price: $349.99 each
Specs: Cast stainless steel heads with adjustable sole weights.
Available: February 8 (pre-order), March 15 (in stores)

Who It’s For: Golfers who struggle with distance control and who want a more solid, stable-feeling putter.

The Skinny: While the Ai ONE insert helps golfers improve their distance control by normalizing ball speed over a larger area, the Cruiser putters’ heavier weight should help players make a smoother, better-quality stroke.

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The Deep Dive: When anchored puttering strokes were outlawed by the USGA and R&A in 2016, some players looked to heavier putters and counterbalanced putters to get some of the stability back in their game. Lighter putters can encourage golfers to get their hands and wrists more involved in the stroke, which can lead to inconsistency. However, heavier putters and clubs that have extra weight added to the top of the handle tend to quiet your hands and encourage players to make a smoother stroke, which can enhance consistency.

In time, the counterbalanced putter surge quieted and faded. The trend towards generally heavier putters continued, with many putters now typically weighing 345 or 350 grams, which is about 20-25 grams heavier than putters made in the early 2000s.

With the release of the new Cruiser family of putters, Odyssey is looking to blend the stability and stroke-enhancing features of longer, counterbalanced putters with a face technology created using artificial intelligence.

At the heart of the new Cruiser putter family is the new Ai ONE, which made its debut this winter in the standard Ai ONE putters. On the outside, the insert looks like a standard White Hot insert with a series of grooves milled into the hitting area. However, on the interfacing side of the urethane insert, artificial intelligence has created a series of thicker and thinner areas that help to normalize ball speed. Traditionally, when you strike a pot in the center, you get the best energy transfer, but when you strike a pot towards the heel or toe, the ball rolls out less far. With the AI ONE insert, center strikes are slowed down slightly while mis-hits roll out a touch further, so your overall distance control is enhanced. A transparent polymer window in each putter allows you to see the rippled backside of the insert.

[afflinkbutton text=”Pre-order Ai ONE Cruise putters” link=”https://worldwidegolfshops.pxf.io/OrJZDz”]

Odyssey Ai ONE Double Wide Cruiser — A window on the back of the Double Wide Cruiser allows you to see the variable-thickness Ai ONE insert. (Odyssey)

Each of the five Cruiser models features the Ai ONE insert, and all five putters are significantly heavier than most of today’s standard putters, including the 380-gram Jailbird, which also comes with the black-and-white Versa alignment lines. This is the putter that Wyndham Clark used to win the 2024 AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am last week and a putter that is nearly identical to the one he used to win the 2023 U.S. Open. At 38 inches in length, it comes standard with a 17-inch grip, and players are encouraged to choke down so a few inches of the grip extend above their hands. Doing this creates a counterbalancing effect and should help increase stability.

Odyssey Ai ONE Jailbird Cruiser — Weights in the sole of the Cruiser putters allow fitters to adjust the swing weight. (Odyssey)

There are three versions of the #7 putter in the Cruiser family, including a 42-inch, 380-gram Arm-Lock edition and a 48-inch, 450-gram Broomstick model. The standard #7 Cruiser is 38 inches long with a head that weighs 380 grams. Like the Jailbird, it comes standard with a 17-inch grip, along with a Stroke Lab 140 steel shaft.

[afflinkbutton text=”Pre-order Ai ONE Cruise putters” link=”https://worldwidegolfshops.pxf.io/OrJZDz”]

Here are several close-up looks at the Odyssey Ai ONE Cruiser putters.

Gear: Cleveland HB Soft 2 putters
Price: $149.99
Specs: Cast stainless steel heads with grooved faces and counterbalanced shaft
Available: January 24, but available via pre-order NOW

Who It’s For: Golfers who want a classic-looking putter with a soft feel at impact and budget-friendly price.

The Skinny: The nine HB Soft 2 putters are designed for players with specific stroke types — straight or arched — and feature speed-normalizing grooves in the face for better distance control.

The Deep Dive: At a time when the golf market is filled with drivers that cost about $600, iron sets that are over $1,000 and putters that will run over $350, Cleveland has updated its HB Soft line of putters and dropped the price $50.

The original HB Soft putters that were released in 2022 were made with classic shapes and retailed for $199, but the nine new HB Soft 2 putters are $149 and still retain the timeless looks. Heel-toe weighted blades, fang-style mallets and compact mid-mallets, they’re all here.

The HB Soft 2 putters are divided into clubs designed for two different stroke types, straight and slight arc. The putters designed for straight-stroke players are face-balanced and come standard with an oversized pistol grip that should help golfers use their hands and wrists less when they putt. Putters made for golfers who have a slight arc in their stroke have some toe hang and come with a standard-size pistol grip.

[afflinkbutton text=”Shop Cleveland HB Soft 2 putters” link=”https://worldwidegolfshops.pxf.io/Jzd11Q”]

All nine HB Soft 2 putters, however, have been given a grooved face that has a tight groove pattern. Cleveland refers to it Speed Optimized Face Technology (SOFT). The pattern is tighter in the center, but in the heel and toe, it is open. As most golfers know, when you mis-hit a putt in the heel or toe, putts lose energy and do not roll out as far as center-struck putts. According to Cleveland, the tight groove pattern in the center slows the ball slightly as it comes off the face, so golfers can expect the ball to roll out to nearly the same distance across a more significant portion of the hitting area.

[afflinkbutton text=”Shop Cleveland HB Soft 2 putters” link=”https://worldwidegolfshops.pxf.io/Jzd11Q”]

Below are several close-up photos of the Cleveland HB Soft 2 putters.