Putters have grown — both in size and in impressiveness — over the years. Walking down a brand-new bag rack today next to one from 1995 is a strange experience: the modern mallets look more like measuring instruments than golf clubs. Join us as we trace the evolution from the original Anser to the heads we play today, and what the trend actually means for your putting.
The Anser as the starting point
Karsten Solheim's original 1966 Anser is, depending on how you count it, the most-copied piece of sporting equipment in history. Heel-toe weighted, simple top-line, plumber's neck. Almost every blade putter on the market traces its lineage back to that head.
The mallet revolution
The first wave of mallet putters were really just bigger blades — more weight pushed to the perimeter for forgiveness. The Odyssey 2-Ball in 2001 was the watershed: alignment as a feature, not just a side-effect of the shape.
Where we are in 2026
Today's mallets do three things older heads never did:
- Active alignment systems — sight lines, balls, contrast paint, sometimes embedded mirror discs.
- Adjustable weighting — heel/toe weights swappable to tune for stroke type.
- AI-designed faces — variable-thickness inserts that standardise ball-speed across the face, so off-centre strikes roll out closer to centre strikes.
Should you upgrade?
Honestly — only if you've been fitted. The modern heads work, but only when the length, lie and stroke arc match. Putter fitting used to be the most-skipped step in the bag. Don't skip it now. It's an hour with us, on the practice green, and it changes scores more reliably than any other club fitting we do.
