Best Budget Putters for Beginners UK

A beginner's putter in the UK costs anywhere from £24 to £63, and the ones worth buying are nearly always a mallet or a wide blade with a clear alignment line. We compared twelve UK-available putters from Ben Sayers, Longridge, Slazenger, Prosimmon, PGM, MAZEL, Ram, Wilson and Odyssey, checked the Amazon UK price on each one on 30 September 2026, and ranked them on the two things beginners actually lose strokes to: rolling the ball close from long range, and getting the face aimed where you think it is pointing. The Ben Sayers XF Pro Mallet at about £29.95 is the pick of the list, and the Longridge Milled Face at about £23.95 is the cheapest putter here that still gives you a proper sightline.

Quick picks

• Best value overall: Ben Sayers XF Pro Mallet, about £29.95. A mallet head with a headcover for under thirty pounds, which is about as much putter as a new golfer needs.
• Cheapest worth buying: Longridge Milled Face Putter, about £23.95. A slim blade with a milled face, and the lowest price on this list that still feels like real equipment.
• Best for a straight-back stroke: PGM Right-Handed Blade Putter, about £39.99. A 34 inch blade with a graphite shaft, for a golfer who likes the look of a thin head.
• Best for a curved stroke: PGM High-MOI Mallet, about £55.99. A wide mallet with alignment markings that suit a stroke with some arc in it.

How the twelve compare

Every price below was taken from the Amazon UK listing on 30 September 2026, and they move with stock, colour and shaft length, so check the listing before you order.

Longridge Milled Face Putter: the cheapest sensible start

Longridge has been making budget golf gear for long enough that the name turns up in every pro shop in the country, and the Milled Face putter is the cheapest club on this list that doesn't feel like a toy. It's a slim blade with a milled face rather than a soft insert, so you get a little click at impact and a bit of feedback about where the ball came off the face.

At about £23.95 it's the pick if you want to spend as little as possible and still learn something from every putt. The trade-off is forgiveness, because a slim head carries less weight around the edges, so a strike half an inch from the middle will pull up short. If your miss is out of the heel or the toe more often than not, put the extra ten pounds towards a mallet instead.

Check the price on the Longridge Milled Face Putter

Longridge Two-Way Putter: the pick for left-handers and practice

Most budget putters are cut for a right-handed golfer, which leaves left-handers scrolling past page after page of clubs they can't use. The Longridge Two-Way solves that with a double-sided head that works off either hand, and it costs about £24.70.

It isn't a tournament club, and the two-way head is really a practice and mini-golf design rather than something built for a competitive round. What it does well is let a left-hander start putting for the price of a round of nine holes, and it's a sensible club to leave on a putting mat at home because anybody in the house can use it.

Check the price on the Longridge Two-Way Putter

Ben Sayers FX Putter: a known name for under twenty-five pounds

Ben Sayers is one of the oldest names in British golf, and the FX is the traditional blade in its budget range. It arrives with a headcover, which sounds like a small thing until you're three months in and the face of a cheap putter is scuffed from rattling around in a bag.

At about £24.95 it's aimed at the golfer who wants a familiar brand and a conventional look at the lowest possible price. The head is compact and the sightline is a simple line on the flange, so it rewards a golfer whose stroke already returns the face square. Compare it with the Longridge Milled Face and pick on feel, because at this price the two are closer than the branding suggests.

Check the price on the Ben Sayers FX Putter

Slazenger V300: a stainless head that takes a knock

Slazenger's V300 is the putter you'll see hanging on the wall in most UK sports shops, and it's built around a stainless steel head that should shrug off a few seasons in a bag. It comes in a 34 inch length, which is the middle of the three sizes most putters are sold in.

About £27.99 buys you a plain blade, a standard grip and nothing clever at all, and for a beginner that's a reasonable place to be. The one thing to check is the grip, because house-brand putters often ship with a thin synthetic grip that's worth swapping for something bigger if your hands are large. A fatter grip costs less than a round and it quietens the wrists, which matters more for most new golfers than a different head shape.

Check the price on the Slazenger V300 Putter

Ben Sayers XF Pro Mallet: the best value on this list

If you read nothing else on this page, read this one. At about £29.95 the XF Pro Mallet puts a mallet head, a headcover and a working alignment aid in your hands for less than the price of two dozen golf balls, and a mallet is the head shape that suits most beginners best.

A mallet spreads its weight to the back and the edges of the head, so the face resists twisting when the ball is struck away from the sweet spot. Research on putter design published in the MDPI Proceedings found that higher-MOI putters lose less ball speed on impacts away from the middle, which in plain terms means your mishit still rolls out closer to the hole instead of stopping a foot short.

The XF Pro is a traditional rounded mallet rather than a giant modern shape, so it won't look strange behind the ball. It's the putter we'd hand most weekend golfers starting out, and it's the cheapest mallet here.

Check the price on the Ben Sayers XF Pro Mallet

Prosimmon DRK 3 Putter: a modern mallet shape on a small budget

Prosimmon isn't a name that turns up in glossy advertising, but the DRK 3 is a properly shaped mallet with a headcover for about £34.99, and it's a step up in forgiveness from any of the blades above it in this list.

It comes in a 34 inch length with a right-handed offset hosel, and the offset is worth knowing about because it puts your hands slightly ahead of the ball at address. That small forward press helps a golfer who tends to flick the wrists through impact, and it's a common feature on putters built for higher handicaps.

If you want the forgiveness of a mallet but you don't want the biggest head in the shop, this is the sensible middle ground. Our guide to putter length is worth five minutes if you're set on buying a club you'll keep once you improve, because the wrong length costs more strokes than the wrong head shape.

Check the price on the Prosimmon DRK 3 Putter

PGM Right-Handed Blade Putter: for a straight-back stroke

PGM's blade is the first club here with a graphite shaft, which drops the overall weight and suits a golfer with a short, straight-back-and-through stroke. It's a 34 inch putter and it costs about £39.99.

A blade asks more of your hands than a mallet does, because there's less weight behind the ball to keep the face steady through the hit. That's a fair trade if you like the look of a thin head, since a putter you enjoy looking down at is a putter you'll actually practise with. If you've never owned a putter before, try a mallet first and come back to a blade once you know where on the face you're striking it.

Check the price on the PGM Right-Handed Blade Putter

MAZEL Mallet Putter: a milled insert at a mid-range price

The MAZEL mallet is the first club here with a properly milled insert set into the face, and it costs about £54.99. An insert changes the sound and the feel at impact rather than the roll, and plenty of golfers prefer the softer, quieter strike it gives from a firmer green.

It's a 34 inch right-handed mallet with a graphite shaft and a headcover, and the finish looks closer to a tour club than the price suggests. What you're buying over the Ben Sayers XF Pro is the insert, the nicer finish and a slightly heavier head, and none of that is going to drop your putts per round on its own.

Buy it if you've decided putting is the part of the game you're going to work on and you want a club that feels good enough to make practice enjoyable. Otherwise put the £25 difference into a putting mat and use the money where it actually moves your score.

Check the price on the MAZEL Mallet Putter

PGM High-MOI Mallet: the pick for a curved stroke

PGM's High-MOI mallet is about £55.99, and the name tells you what it's for. The head is wide and weighted to the perimeter, with alignment markings on the crown that line up your eyes with the target line before you take the club back.

Plenty of golfers putt on a gentle arc rather than a straight line, and a wide mallet is far more tolerant of the small face rotation that comes with an arcing stroke. The same MDPI research on putter weight distribution applies here: more weight pushed away from the middle of the head means less ball speed lost on a mishit, which is what forgiveness really means in a putter.

This is the one to pick if your putts tend to miss both ways, because a lack of consistency in the face angle is exactly what a high-MOI head is designed to settle down.

Check the price on the PGM High-MOI Mallet

Wilson Harmonized Putter X5: a big brand at a budget price

Wilson is the one name on this list that a golfer who doesn't follow equipment will recognise, and the Harmonized X5 is its budget mallet at about £62.91. You're paying a little for the badge, and Wilson's budget range has a long record of being honest gear rather than marketing.

It's a 34 inch mallet with a soft face and a simple alignment line, and the whole club is finished better than the cheaper picks above. If you'd rather own something from a brand you know, this is the lowest price at which that's really available in a putter that suits a beginner.

Pair it with a proper grip and it'll serve you for years. If you're buying your first set of clubs at the same time, our beginner driver roundup follows the same logic of spending where it helps a new golfer and saving where it doesn't.

Check the price on the Wilson Harmonized Putter X5

Ram FX-05 CNC Milled Mallet: the step up worth taking

Ram's FX-05 is the first club here with a face that's been CNC milled from a solid block, and it costs about £79.99. Milling gives you a flat, consistent face and a crisp sound, and the 35 inch length suits a taller golfer better than the 34 inch clubs above it.

This is the price where a budget putter stops being cheap and starts being good. The weighting is more carefully placed, the head sits squarer at address and the grip is a proper putter grip rather than a cut-down iron grip. It's worth the money if you've played for a season or two and you know you're keeping the game on.

It's also the point at which you should think about being fitted, because a 35 inch club off the shelf is a guess about your height and posture. If you're anywhere near six foot two or taller, spend the extra on a fitting rather than on a nicer finish.

Check the price on the Ram FX-05 CNC Milled Mallet

Odyssey DFX Double Wide: the upgrade pick

Odyssey is Callaway's putter brand and it's the name you'll see in most tour players' bags, and the DFX Double Wide is the cheapest way into that family at about £113.03. It's a wide blade rather than a full mallet, which makes it look less like a spaceship behind the ball than some modern putters.

This is well past what a beginner needs to spend, and we'd rather you put the money into lessons and a mat. It earns its place here for the golfer coming back to the game, or the one who has already decided that putting is where the fun is, because the face technology and the alignment package are a genuine step up rather than a badge.

If you're weighing it up against the cheaper picks, our look at whether expensive putters make a difference sets out where the money goes and where it doesn't.

Check the price on the Odyssey DFX Double Wide

What a beginner putter actually needs

There's no secret to a good putter for a new golfer. You need a head that doesn't twist, a line you can aim, a length that lets your arms hang, and a grip that stops your wrists doing too much. Everything beyond that is a preference rather than a requirement.

Mallet or blade

Go with a mallet if you want the easiest start. A mallet pushes weight away from the face and towards the edges, which raises the club's resistance to twisting, and that number has a name, moment of inertia, or MOI. Research published in the MDPI Proceedings in 2020 found that higher-MOI putters lose less ball speed on impacts away from the sweet spot, so mishits roll closer to the hole instead of dying short.

Choose a blade if you already strike the middle of the face more often than not, or if you simply can't stand the look of a wide head. A blade gives more feedback and a crisper sound, and plenty of good golfers never switch. Just be honest about how often you miss the centre, because a blade punishes those misses.

Length and posture

Most putters are sold in 33, 34 and 35 inch lengths, and 34 inches is the standard starting point. To check it yourself, stand the way you'd stand to putt and let your arms hang, then grip the club and see where your eyes sit. They should be just inside the ball, with your arms hanging naturally rather than stretched or cramped.

Longer clubs are legal and worth knowing about. The R&A Equipment Rules cap club length at 48 inches for every club other than the putter, so a putter can be built longer than anything else in your bag, which is why long and broomstick designs exist. Measuring yourself for a broomstick putter explains how those lengths work if a standard club feels too short.

Grip and face

The grip matters more than most beginners expect. A thicker grip fills your hands and quietens the wrists, which is what you want if your putts tend to jump or come up short. Many of the cheapest putters here ship with a thin grip, so budget a few pounds to swap it.

On the face, a milled surface gives a firmer feel and a click, while an insert gives a softer, quieter strike. Neither rolls the ball better than the other, and the choice comes down to which one gives you more confidence standing over a four footer.

Where beginners actually lose strokes

Nearly all the damage happens on long putts, not short ones. Britain's handicap data and shot-tracking figures tell the same story. Amateur Golfer's putting averages put three-putt rates at four to six percent of holes for low handicappers, rising to thirteen to sixteen percent for higher handicaps, and that rise comes almost entirely from poor distance control on the first putt.

The short ones aren't the problem. Arccos data reported by Golf Monthly shows a scratch golfer holes about 97 percent of putts from inside two feet, while a 20-handicapper holes about 85 percent. That gap is about routine and setup, not the price of the putter.

For context on totals, Learn Golf's putting benchmarks put the average golfer at about 31.8 putts a round against 27.7 on tour. That's four strokes a round sitting on the greens, which is a bigger prize than any club in this list can hand you on its own.

What not to spend on

Skip adjustable sole weights, premium aftermarket shafts and tour-brand headcovers. All three are real features on a good putter and none of them will knock a stroke off a beginner's score. Skip loft and lie adjustment too, at least until you've been fitted once, because changing either without knowing your stroke does more harm than good.

If you've got £120 to spend on putting, the split that helps most is roughly £40 on the club and the rest on a mat and a few lessons. Ten minutes of lag putting a day beats a new putter every time, and it's also the cheapest way to find out what you actually like.

Frequently asked questions

The verdict

The Ben Sayers XF Pro Mallet at about £29.95 is the putter we'd hand most beginners, because it puts a forgiving mallet head and a working sightline in your hands for less than thirty pounds. If you want to spend as little as possible, the Longridge Milled Face at about £23.95 is a real putter rather than a toy.

If you're tall, or you already know you like a heavier head, the Wilson Harmonized X5 at about £62.91 is the sensible step up, and the Odyssey DFX Double Wide is there for anyone who already knows the game is a long-term habit.

Whichever one you pick, take it to a putting green rather than a carpet, and spend your first few sessions on rolling the ball the right distance before you worry about the line. For more golf gear guides and comparisons, visit WeekendGolfer.

T

Tom Ashworth

Tom compares golf gear for WeekendGolfer, covering balls, clubs, bags and gadgets. He plays off 14 at a municipal course and says when the cheaper option does the same job.

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Last reviewed: September 30, 2026 · Evidence-based content · Contains affiliate links