A beginner's putter has 3 jobs: keep the face square, make aiming easy and sit at a length that puts your eyes over the ball. We picked 8 used putters for beginners and high handicappers, judged on forgiveness, alignment, length, condition and price. The list starts with the putters that suit the most beginners, then covers particular strokes, budgets and left-handers.

Quick summary

• A mallet suits most beginners better than a blade, because its larger head resists twisting and keeps off-centre putts closer to their line.
• Zero torque putters such as the Odyssey Ai-One Square 2 Square cost £130.99 to £144.99 used, against £167.99 and up for a brand-new one.
• The cheapest pick is an Odyssey White Hot XG 2-Ball at £53.99, and the best mallet under £100 is a Cleveland HB Soft 2 Retreve at £88.99, graded Excellent throughout.
• Most adults putt best with 33 to 35 inches, and 7 of the 8 picks are 34 or 35 inches long.
• Match the putter to your stroke: face-balanced and zero torque heads suit a straight stroke, while a toe-hang mallet like the PING Prime Tyne 4 suits a strong arc.

The 8 best used putters for beginners at a glance

Each pick shows its price and its grades for head, shaft and grip.

How we chose these putters

We judged every putter on 5 things: how well the head resists twisting on off-centre putts, how clearly it shows you where it's aimed, whether its length suits an average adult, its condition grades and its price.

We left out the putters that make putting harder for a beginner: small blades built for players who already strike the centre, 41 inch armlock putters that need a specific technique, and any putter whose grip was graded below Fair.

1. Odyssey Ai-One Square 2 Square Double Wide: best for short putts that miss both sides

The Odyssey Ai-One Square 2 Square Double Wide, launched in November 2024, is the used putter we'd hand a beginner whose short putts miss on both sides of the hole (Odyssey Golf). It's a zero torque putter: the shaft enters the head above its centre of gravity, with a little forward shaft lean built in, so the face resists opening and closing during the stroke (Odyssey).

Most missed short putts start with the face pointing a fraction left or right at impact, not with a bad read. A head that stays square takes that out of the stroke. From above, the Double Wide looks like a wide blade with a flat back, so it sits more conventionally at address than some zero torque heads.

Our used zero torque putters have the Double Wide at 34 inches in 2 conditions: one at £144.99, graded Excellent on the head and shaft and Good on the grip, and one at £130.99, graded Fair on the head, Good on the shaft and Fair on the grip. A brand-new Double Wide in our shop costs £167.99 at 35 inches or £197.99 at 34 inches.

When you buy one used, look at the grip first. The £130.99 listing's grip is graded Fair, so budget for a new one if it feels shiny or hard. Then check the face insert for dents, because damage there changes how the ball comes off the face. If you've putted with a toe-hang blade before, give it a few sessions: a zero torque head doesn't want to rotate, and some golfers feel that as stiffness at first.

Good fit:

• Beginners who miss short putts to both sides of the hole.
• Golfers with a fairly straight stroke who want the face to stay square through it.
• Anyone curious about zero torque who doesn't want to pay brand-new prices to try it.

Skip it if:

• You like to feel the face open and close: a toe-hang putter like pick 6 works with that rotation instead of against it.

2. Odyssey Ai-One Jailbird Mini: best for lining up putts

The Odyssey Ai-One Jailbird Mini (2024) is the pick for beginners who struggle to aim, because its long, wide head gives the eye a clear line from the ball back towards the hands. It's a smaller version of Odyssey's Jailbird mallet, which joined the Ai-One range in 2024.

A long head with a bold back edge is easier to point at a target than a narrow blade, and a beginner who aims the face correctly has already taken 1 common miss out of the stroke. The head is also wide and heavy at the edges, which gives it a high MOI: off-centre putts lose less speed and hold their line better.

Odyssey designed the Ai-One insert behind the face with AI, aiming to keep ball speed consistent when the ball comes off the toe or heel. For a beginner whose strike moves around the face, consistent speed matters as much as direction on 15 to 30 foot putts.

Our used Odyssey putters include this 34 inch Ai-One Jailbird Mini at £131.99, graded Good on the head, Excellent on the shaft and Good on the grip.

Jailbird Minis were sold with different hosels, including a crank hosel and a double-bend shaft, and each gives the head a different amount of toe hang. Ours has a short slant neck, with an S stamped on the sole, which gives the head some toe hang and suits a slight arc. Check the sole and back edges for chips, because a long mallet catches the ground more than a blade.

Good fit:

• Beginners who set up aimed left or right of the hole.
• Golfers who want a big mallet without the largest heads in the range.
• Anyone who putts by eye and wants the head to frame the line.

Skip it if:

• A long head looks cluttered to you: a wide blade shape like pick 1 sits smaller at address.

3. Odyssey Ten: best nearly new mallet

The Odyssey Ten (2021) is the pick for a beginner who wants a big, stable mallet that looks barely used: the one we sell is graded Excellent on head, shaft and grip. Ten is Odyssey's high-MOI mallet family, built to resist twisting when the ball comes off the toe or heel.

MOI, short for moment of inertia, measures how much a head resists turning on a mishit. The higher it is, the less speed and line a putt loses when you miss the centre. A beginner finds the middle of the face only some of the time, so a high-MOI head is the most useful thing a putter can offer after a square face.

The 2021 Ten came with Odyssey's Stroke Lab shaft, a steel and graphite design that's lighter than an all-steel shaft and built to steady the tempo of the stroke.

Our used mallet putters include this 34 inch Odyssey Ten at £162.99, graded Excellent on head, shaft and grip.

On any used Ten, the parts to inspect are the rear wings and the sole, where paint wears first. Chips there are cosmetic. Dents in the face insert are not, and neither is a shaft that has been bent or re-glued at the hosel, so look closely at the joint between the shaft and the head.

Good fit:

• Beginners who want the most stable head they can get.
• Golfers who'd pay a little more for a putter that looks and plays almost new.
• High handicappers whose strike moves around the face.

Skip it if:

• Your budget is under £100: picks 4 and 5 give you a forgiving mallet for less.

4. Cleveland HB Soft 2 Retreve: best mallet under £100

The Cleveland HB Soft 2 Retreve (2024) is the best mallet under £100 in this guide, and ours is graded Excellent on head, shaft and grip. Cleveland launched the HB Soft 2 range in 9 models, each matched to a type of stroke.

The Retreve is a face-balanced mallet on a single bend shaft, which Cleveland matches to a straight stroke, and the hole through the middle of the head lets you lift the ball out of the cup without bending down (Cleveland Golf). At £88.99 it costs £35 more than the White Hot XG 2-Ball and £42 less than the £130.99 Square 2 Square, and it's in better condition than either.

A face-balanced mallet suits a beginner whose stroke goes straight back and straight through, and the weight set back from the face steadies off-centre putts.

Our used putters include this 34 inch HB Soft 2 Retreve at £88.99, graded Excellent on head, shaft and grip.

On a used Retreve, check the milled face for dents, which change how the ball comes off it.

Good fit:

• Beginners with £100 to spend who want a forgiving mallet.
• Golfers who care about condition as much as the name on the head.
• Golfers with a straight stroke who'd rather not bend down to lift the ball out of the hole.

Skip it if:

• You want the steadiest head possible: picks 2 and 3 have larger, higher-MOI heads.

5. Odyssey White Hot XG 2-Ball: best budget putter

The Odyssey White Hot XG 2-Ball is the cheapest putter on this list at £53.99, and its 2 white discs behind the face are still one of the simplest aiming aids in golf. Odyssey introduced the 2-Ball in late 2001 (Callaway Golf), and the XG version followed in the late 2000s.

The discs are the size of a golf ball. Set the ball in front of the face and you see 3 balls in a row, which makes it easy to tell whether that row points at the hole. For a beginner who has never been taught to aim a putter, that's a quicker fix than any amount of practice.

The XG uses Odyssey's White Hot insert, a soft urethane face that the brand still uses in its putters. The head is a mid-sized mallet, so you get some of the forgiveness of the bigger heads above at a fraction of their price.

Our White Hot XG 2-Ball is 35 inches with a Golf Pride grip at £53.99, graded Fair on the head and Good on the shaft and grip. It's the putter we'd choose for the smallest budget from our used putters under £100.

On a putter this age, check the face insert for cracks or chips, which change the feel and the roll. A Fair head usually means paint loss on the back flange and the discs, which is cosmetic. At 35 inches it suits golfers of about 6ft, and a club fitter can cut it down for a shorter golfer.

Good fit:

• Complete beginners who want a proper putter for the least money.
• Golfers who aim poorly and want the simplest possible aiming aid.
• Anyone buying a spare for the garden or the office.

Skip it if:

• You want a putter that looks almost new: this one shows its age on the head.

6. PING Prime Tyne 4: best for a stroke with a strong arc

The PING Prime Tyne 4, from PING's 2023 range, is the pick for beginners whose putter swings on a strong arc, opening on the way back and closing through the ball. Most mallets are face-balanced and suit a straight stroke; the Tyne 4 is a mallet with heavy toe hang, which PING built for a strong arc.

That combination is rarer than it sounds. Golfers with an arcing stroke usually end up with a blade, because blades have the toe hang that matches their stroke, but a blade is the least forgiving type of putter. The Tyne 4 gives an arcing stroke a mallet's stability without fighting the way the face wants to turn. The head is a compact mallet with twin prongs at the back, so it sits closer to a blade at address than the bigger mallets on this list.

Our used PING putters include this 34 inch Prime Tyne 4 with a SuperStroke 3.0 grip at £135.99, graded Good on the head and shaft and Fair on the grip.

The Fair grip is the thing to budget for: a new putter grip costs a fraction of a new putter and changes how the club feels in your hands. Check the face for dents and the hosel for any sign the shaft has been bent to change the lie, because that alters the toe hang the head was built with.

Good fit:

• Beginners whose stroke swings inside on the way back and inside again after impact.
• Golfers moving from a blade who want more forgiveness without changing their stroke.
• Anyone who likes a compact head but finds blades unforgiving.

Skip it if:

• Your stroke goes straight back and straight through: a face-balanced or zero torque head suits it better.

7. L.A.B. Golf Mezz.1 Max: best premium used putter

The L.A.B. Golf Mezz.1 Max (2022) is the most expensive putter on this list at £271.99, and it's for beginners who want a face that stays square on its own and are happy to pay for it. L.A.B. stands for Lie Angle Balanced: each putter is weighted for its length, lie and shaft so the face stays square through the stroke rather than twisting open or closed.

L.A.B. built the Mezz.1 Max as a 20% larger version of its Mezz.1 mallet, which makes it more stable on off-centre putts. It does the same job as the Square 2 Square in a different way, and many golfers who try one find it feels unusual at first, because the head doesn't swing open on the backstroke.

Our Mezz.1 Max is 33 inches at £271.99, graded Fair on the head and Good on the shaft and grip, and it belongs to our used L.A.B. Golf putters range. At 33 inches it suits golfers of about 5ft 7in and under.

Because L.A.B. balances each putter to its spec, buy one close to the length you need. Cutting a Mezz.1 Max down or fitting a much heavier grip can upset the balance it left the factory with. Check the head for dents on the sole and edges, and make sure the grip is the original or a close match in weight.

Good fit:

• Shorter golfers who suit a 33 inch putter.
• Beginners who want the stability of a lie angle balanced head at less than its new price.
• Golfers who have tried zero torque and want to compare another design.

Skip it if:

• You're over about 5ft 10in: 33 inches is likely too short, and this putter shouldn't be lengthened casually.

8. TaylorMade Spider Tour: best for left-handed beginners

The TaylorMade Spider Tour from 2018 is our pick of the left-handed putters for a beginner who wants a large, forgiving mallet. Spider is TaylorMade's high-MOI mallet line, with weight pushed out to the back corners of the head to keep it steady on off-centre putts.

The red head has a single white sightline running back from the face, and its wide, square-backed shape makes it easy to set square to the target. It's the same idea as picks 2 and 3, in a putter built for left-handed golfers.

Used putters for left-handed golfers are harder to find than right-handed ones, so buy the putter that fits when it appears in our used left-handed putters.

Ours is 35 inches with a SuperStroke grip at £147.99, graded Fair on the head and Good on the shaft and grip. A Fair grade on a red Spider usually means paint chips on the rear wings, which are cosmetic. Check that the sightline paint is intact and that the weight screws at the back are tight.

Good fit:

• Left-handed beginners who want a big, stable mallet.
• Golfers of about 6ft who suit a 35 inch putter.
• Anyone who likes a single, clear sightline rather than discs or bars.

Skip it if:

• You're under about 5ft 8in: at 35 inches it will probably need cutting down.

Mallet or blade: which putter suits a beginner?

A mallet suits most beginners better than a blade, because its larger head puts weight away from the face, which keeps off-centre putts on line and closer to the right speed. Blades reward a centred strike and a consistent arc, which most beginners don't have yet.

Blades still have a place. If a used blade putter feels better in your hands and you hole more putts with it, the feel is worth more than the forgiveness. The PING Anser 2D from 2023 is the blade we'd look at first.

What length putter do you need?

Most adults use a putter of 33 to 35 inches, and the right length is the one that puts your eyes over the ball, or just inside it, with your arms hanging naturally from your shoulders.

Height is only a starting point, because arm length and posture change the answer. A putter that's too long pushes your eyes inside the ball and lifts the toe of the putter off the ground. One that's too short makes you hunch over and pushes your eyes outside the ball. Both make the face harder to aim.

Length is easy to change on a used putter. A club fitter can cut one down or extend it and fit a new grip at the same time. Cutting a putter down makes the head feel lighter and extending it makes it feel heavier, so roll a few putts with it after the change. The exception is a balanced design like the L.A.B. Mezz.1 Max, which is best bought at the length you need.

Longer putters are legal. A 38 inch counterbalanced putter or a 41 inch armlock putter is allowed as long as you don't anchor the club against your body during the stroke (R&A, Rule 10.1b). Both kinds suit golfers who have chosen that method, not most beginners.

How do you match a putter to your stroke?

Match the putter's toe hang to how much your stroke arcs: face-balanced heads suit a straight stroke, toe-hang heads suit an arc, and zero torque heads are built to resist twisting whatever the stroke.

To find your stroke, lay a club on the ground along your target line and make 10 practice strokes just inside it, on your side of the club. If the putter head tracks the club back and through, your stroke is straight. If it swings inside on the way back and back inside after impact, your stroke arcs, and the further it moves away from the club, the stronger the arc.

To find a putter's balance, rest the shaft across 1 finger at the point where the putter sits level, and let the head settle:

Most beginners have a fairly straight stroke on short putts and a slight arc on long ones, so a face-balanced mallet or a zero torque head is the usual starting point. If your arc is strong, start with toe hang instead.

What should you check on a used putter?

Check the grip, the face, the shaft and the listed length, because those are the parts of a putter that wear out or get changed. A putter takes far less punishment than a driver or a wedge, so a used putter's condition mostly comes down to those 4 things.

We grade every putter on its head, shaft and grip separately, and our condition rating guide defines 4 grades: Brand New, Excellent, Good and Fair. A putter with a Fair head and a Good grip has heavier cosmetic wear on the head and a grip that's still fine to use.

1. Grip. Putter grips go shiny and hard with use. A new one costs a fraction of a new putter, so a worn grip is a small fix.
2. Face and insert. Look for dents in a milled face and cracks or chips in a soft insert. Both change how the ball comes off the face.
3. Shaft. Sight down it from the grip end to check it's straight, and look at the joint with the head for glue or signs of bending.
4. Length. Our listings give the length in the title, so check it against your height before you buy.
5. Headcover. Our listings say "Headcover: If Pictured", so a headcover comes with the putter only when it's in the photos.
6. Authenticity. Fake putters from the big brands turn up on marketplace sites, and the tells are in the finish, the fonts, the weight and the insert.

If a photo doesn't show what you need, message us on WhatsApp and we'll send more photos or a video. Every UK order comes with a 60-day return window.

How much should a beginner spend on a putter?

£50 to £150 buys a forgiving used putter in good condition, and 7 of our 8 picks sit between £53.99 and £162.99. The table shows what each price band buys:

The putter is the club you use on every hole, so in a beginner's bag of used clubs it's a better place for an extra £50 than the driver. Under £50, check the grip grade carefully: a grip graded below Fair adds the cost of a new grip to the price.

Many package sets include a putter, so check what comes in a second-hand beginner set before you buy one separately. And when your putting improves and you want a different head, we take trade-ins and part exchange on all the top brands, paid by bank transfer or as store credit worth an extra 10%.

Frequently asked questions

What is the most forgiving putter to use?

A high-MOI mallet or a zero torque putter is the most forgiving type, because both resist twisting when you miss the centre of the face. Of our picks, the Odyssey Ten, Odyssey Ai-One Jailbird Mini and Odyssey Ai-One Square 2 Square are the most forgiving, and each costs under £170.

Is a mallet putter better for high handicappers?

Yes, for most high handicappers. A mallet's larger head keeps off-centre putts closer to their line and speed, and its shape usually makes aiming easier. The exception is a golfer with a strong arc in their stroke, who needs a mallet with toe hang, like the PING Prime Tyne 4, rather than a face-balanced one.

Which Odyssey putter is best for beginners?

The Ai-One Square 2 Square suits beginners who miss short putts on both sides, the Ai-One Jailbird Mini suits those who struggle to aim, and a White Hot 2-Ball is the best Odyssey on a small budget. Used, those 3 cost from £53.99 to £144.99.

What is the best zero torque putter for a beginner?

For a beginner buying used, the Odyssey Ai-One Square 2 Square is the best-value zero torque putter, at £130.99 to £144.99. The L.A.B. Golf Mezz.1 Max does a similar job with a lie angle balanced head at £271.99.

What is the best putter for a 15-handicap golfer?

The same forgiving mallets suit a 15 handicapper, but matching toe hang to your stroke matters more at that level, because a mid handicapper usually has a settled stroke. A face-balanced mallet or zero torque head suits a straight stroke, and a toe-hang mallet suits an arc. Many mid handicappers also find a used blade works once their strike is consistent.

Is it worth buying a second-hand putter?

Yes. A putter has no moving parts and takes little punishment, so a used one plays almost exactly as it did new, and the grip is the only part that usually needs replacing. A 34 inch Odyssey Ai-One Square 2 Square costs £130.99 used, against £197.99 brand new.

How do you putt with a blade putter?

Set your eyes over the ball, let the putter swing slightly inside on the way back and return square at impact, letting the face open and close a little with the arc. A blade's toe hang is built for that rotation, so don't fight it by forcing the head straight back and through. If your stroke is naturally straight, a face-balanced mallet will be easier.