{"id":817011,"date":"2026-07-22T17:46:10","date_gmt":"2026-07-22T17:46:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/817011\/"},"modified":"2026-07-22T17:46:10","modified_gmt":"2026-07-22T17:46:10","slug":"cheap-vs-expensive-putters-how-much-should-you-spend","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/817011\/","title":{"rendered":"Cheap vs Expensive Putters: How much should you spend?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t\tWe compared the prices and performance of all 110 putters in our biggest-ever test to discover whether spending more really buys a better flatstick \u2013 or if there\u2019s a sweet spot where value and performance meet.<\/p>\n

In the last few months, two of my regular golf playing partners have each spent around \u00a3700 ($900) on a putter.<\/p>\n

And fair enough. Everyone is free to spend however much they want on whatever they want.<\/p>\n

But it got me thinking: how much should you spend on a putter?<\/p>\n

Not in a \u201cgolf clubs are getting too expensive\u201d kind of way \u2013 that\u2019s a debate for another day \u2013 I mean from a performance perspective.<\/p>\n

Because when it comes to drivers<\/a>, the most expensive models tend to feature premium materials, more sophisticated technology, and cutting-edge engineering that can increase forgiveness and\/or ball speed. In our annual driver tests<\/a>, the premium models almost always come out on top in terms of performance.<\/p>\n

But putters seem different.<\/p>\n

No matter how beautifully they\u2019re designed, surely there\u2019s only so much a lump of metal on the end of a shaft can do to help you roll a golf ball 15 feet?<\/p>\n

After all, major championships have been won with battered old putters that look like they belong in a charity shop.<\/p>\n

So is a premium putter just a waste of money?<\/p>\n

With models ranging from $99.99 (\u00a379.99) to $700 (\u00a3650) included, our biggest-ever putters test<\/a> was the perfect opportunity to find out.<\/p>\n

Seven golfers tested 110 putters over three days at Stoke Park, scoring every model for looks, alignment, stability, feedback, and roll.<\/p>\n

Price played no part in the testing, scoring, or final rankings.<\/p>\n

Only once we\u2019d finalized the rankings did I compare performance against price.<\/p>\n

The results were very interesting.<\/p>\n

\"We<\/p>\n

How much should you spend on a putter?<\/p>\n

The data paints a pretty clear picture. There is a relationship between price and performance \u2013 but only up to a point.<\/p>\n

The average score of putters costing less than $200 (\u00a3150) was 57.4\/100, rising only slightly to 59.9 out of 100 for models priced between $200 and $299 (\u00a3150-250).<\/p>\n

The biggest jump came when moving into the $300-399 (\u00a3250-350) bracket, where the average score leapt to 68.4.<\/p>\n

Interestingly, spending beyond that didn\u2019t bring extra performance. In fact, putters priced between $400 and $499 averaged 67.7, while those costing $500 or more averaged 67.9.<\/p>\n

In other words, once you reach around $300-400, spending more doesn\u2019t automatically buy you a better-performing putter.<\/p>\n

Price bandModels testedAverage score (\/100)Under $2001457.4$200\u20132991859.9$300\u20133992868.4$400\u20134993667.7$500+1467.9The law of diminishing returns<\/p>\n

Our testing found a clear jump in average score between putters costing less than $300 and those in the $300\u2013399 bracket. Beyond that, however, the gains were minimal, with both the $400\u2013499 and $500+ categories returning almost identical average scores.<\/p>\n

The individual rankings tell a similar story.<\/p>\n

Of the 20 highest-rated putters in our biggest-ever test, 18 were priced between $300 and $499. Not a single putter costing less than $300 made the top 20, while only two models priced at $500 or more managed the feat.<\/p>\n

Price bandPutters in Top 20Under $2000$200\u20132990$300\u20133996$400\u201349912$500+2<\/p>\n

The $300-399 bracket wasn\u2019t just strong on average \u2013\u00a0it also contained the two highest-scoring putters in the entire test<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The TaylorMade Spider Tour (90\/100) and Spider Tour X (88\/100) both retail for $349.99 (\u00a3299), proving you don\u2019t have to spend $600 or more to buy one of the very best-performing putters on the market.<\/p>\n

The same price range also featured standout performers from PXG, L.A.B. Golf, Mizuno, and Evnroll, reinforcing the idea that golfers don\u2019t need to spend top dollar for great putters.<\/p>\n

By comparison, many of the ultra-premium models command their higher prices through premium materials, meticulous machining, limited production runs, and brand prestige \u2013 rather than a significant improvement in on-green performance.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s not to say expensive putters are to be avoided. If you love the look, feel, or craftsmanship of a premium model, or a fitting shows it suits your stroke, the extra investment may well be worthwhile.<\/p>\n

But if you\u2019re judging purely on performance, our testing suggests you\u2019re unlikely to gain a significant advantage simply by spending more than around $400 (\u00a3300).<\/p>\n

\"TheVerdict<\/p>\n

One of the biggest myths in golf is that a more expensive club is automatically a better one.<\/p>\n

Our biggest-ever putter test suggests there\u2019s some truth to that \u2013\u00a0but only up to a point.<\/p>\n

Moving from a budget putter into the mid-market delivers a clear improvement in average performance, but once you reach the $300-399 bracket, the gains largely level off.<\/p>\n

Some of the most expensive putters we tested were outstanding. Others were comfortably outperformed by models costing hundreds less.<\/p>\n

Our biggest-ever putter test didn\u2019t prove that expensive putters aren\u2019t worth buying. It simply showed that, beyond a certain point, spending more is increasingly likely to buy you craftsmanship, premium materials, and exclusivity, rather than a meaningful improvement in performance on the greens.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"We compared the prices and performance of all 110 putters in our biggest-ever test to discover whether spending…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":817012,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[566],"tags":[64,63,755,85],"class_list":["post-817011","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-golf","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-golf","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/817011","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=817011"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/817011\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/817012"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=817011"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=817011"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=817011"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}