The Most Forgiving Putters for High Handicappers of 2022

Putters come in all shapes and sizes, which makes finding best putter for your game difficult. For mid and higher-handicap golfers, the top priority should be to find the most forgiving putter. Your putter is the most-used club in your bag, and to take the next step to a lower handicap, cutting strokes on the green is critical.

Forgiveness in a putter can mean closer misses left and right, and better distance control. No matter where you struggle on the greens, there’s a putter that's right for you.

We at GolfLink tested 158 different putters and took notice of several that produced top-notch forgiveness. If you’re a high-handicap player looking for help from your flat stick, we’ve found the most forgiving putters that you should put to the test yourself. Through our testing, we found these to be the eight most forgiving putters, which come from with eight different manufacturers.

Going into our testing, we fully anticipated a much larger brand than Tour Edge to come out on top in the forgiveness category. As with all clubs from Tour Edge, however, we continue to be pleasantly surprised by the results of our testing.

This is the second-generation Wingman putter and Tour Edge blew it up for 2022 with six different versions to choose from. The Tour Edge Wingman 701 stood out the most to us, which is a mid-toe hang model with the most MOI of the bunch. As soon as you put this putter behind the ball, you feel more confident. The head shape is certainly a more wildly-designed mallet, but it’s in no way distracting. We love the black to chrome color variation because it forces your eyes to concentrate on the alignment aid. The Sink Fit grip from Lamkin is also a really nice touch that pairs perfectly with the weight of the Wingman's head. All-in-all, this putter is a knockout and far out-performs its $200 price tag.

The original Odyssey 2-Ball putter debuted in 2001 and instantly took over the golf equipment landscape. They spread like wildfire on the PGA Tour, LPGA Tour, and at your local muni. Fast-forward to the present day and Odyssey is still riding the 2-Ball craze by incorporating it into putters like today's 2-Ball Ten.

We hit balls off of every centimeter of this face and were super-impressed with not only its distance control but how close it stayed to our intended line. The White Hot insert is a bit more “mushy” than what we remember from the original, but it's solid nonetheless.

The 2-Ball alignment works, that’s been proven. This more modern head shape, however, really takes it to the next level. The black-to-white contrast is simple, but effective, especially on days when the sun is very bright. High-handicap players can toss this putter in their bags and immediately save strokes simply based on its performance.

If you’re searching for a forgiving putter, check out any putter in Cleveland’s lineup. Not only are they affordable, but they also look and feel great.

When it comes to forgiveness, the Huntington Beach Soft 11 stood out to us the most from the Cleveland lineup. This is Cleveland’s adaptation of a very popular winged model, which is designed to keep the head stable through impact. You rarely find a milled putter for $130 that actually feels well-made but this putter definitely outdoes its price.

RELATED: Tested & Reviewed: Cleveland Huntington Beach Soft Putters

The middle of the face delivers a satisfying “click” while the toe and heel will let you know you’ve missed the mark. Still, the putter has a knack for squaring up at impact, which we really liked considering that's the most important moment of your stroke. The oversized grip is a nice addition and keeps you from getting too handsy. Any mid-handicap player can appreciate the Huntington Beach Soft 11, but it certainly favors those with a straight back, straight through putting stroke.

We know, it looks funny. Trust us on this one, though, the Axis1 Rose has a bunch of surprises (the good kind) in store and all you need to do is roll a few balls.

This putter was co-designed and developed by none other than Justin Rose. The shaft-to-head design allows the Axis1 Rose to be completely torque-free, which makes it very difficult to fan the head open or closed in your putting stroke. We put the company’s claims that this is "the world's only 'perfectly balanced/torque-free putter'" to the test and about 30 balls later, we're believers.

The high price is a little steep for an unproven company in a crowded market, but if you’re willing to spend Scotty Cameron or Bettinardi prices, do yourself the favor of trying the Axis1 Rose. The milled face feels great at impact and it’s a little on the lighter side if that’s the type of feel you prefer.

The Cobra Supernova putter has fangs for days. The head design pushes the limits in a couple of ways. First, Cobra takes the popular winged design to the next level with two elongated pillars that keep this putter very stable. Second, its multi-material construction is 3-D printed, which is just cool when you think about where clubs are headed in the future.

We tested three different Supernova putters and the standard version has the best feel and the best forgiveness. We also found this model to be near the top for lag putting when rolling putts from 50 feet away. It stayed online and distance control was a breeze. If you’re a fringe putter, or perhaps you like to putt from further off of the green, the Supernova felt and performed great as a Texas wedge. We never would have expected Cobra to deliver a pleasantly surprising putter, but here we are.

You might recognize SeeMore as the putter used by Zach Johnson and Payne Stewart to win a combined three major championships. If you’ve never picked up a SeeMore putter to see what all the fuss is about, start with the SeeMore PVD FGP Blade, the brand's most popular putter.

You’ll notice a couple of SeeMore putters in this putter recommendation series, and that’s because we like how they perform. The simplicity of SeeMore’s Rifle Scope Technology cannot be understated. Simply hide the red dot with the shaft and instantly you know that your body, hands, and putter are all positioned correctly. It also allows you to keep the putter on the correct path and doesn’t punish you as much if you miss slightly to the toe or heel. Based on this alignment aid alone, SeeMore should be a strong consideration for any higher-handicap player. Add in superior feel and forgiveness, and now you have the total package.

Rife Golf hit it big back in 2005 when they came out swinging with putters that had grooves like we had never seen before. Roll Groove Technology, which was designed to get the ball rolling first, not skipping, is still the hallmark of their current putters.

The Rife 2-Bar putter has a very distinct design with a pair of tubular bars that run from the front to back and parts the exact center of the face. As radical of a design as this is, it’s incredible how less noticeable the bars become as you practice with them. Eventually, you’re just concentrating on the bold alignment line.

If we’re judging for best feel only, the 2-Bar takes the cake. No other putter on the market feels like a Rife. More importantly, distance control, accuracy, and forgiveness are all top-notch. The current 2-Bar putter is usually only available on the Rife website, but if you can find a previous generation of this Guerin Rife masterpiece on the cheap, we highly recommend purchasing it.

PXG is not a timid golf club manufacturer. The brand takes chances on its designs, knowing full well that the performance will back it up. PXG putters are especially unique and are all branded Battle Ready. The PXG Blackjack putter looks like it's ready to conquer anything.

The sleek, black coloring and sharp edges make this mallet irresistible from a visual standpoint. Performance-wise, it's great in all categories. The mid-toe hang and hosel placement make it difficult to fan open and you always feel a consistent impact. A high-handicap player might think PXG clubs are beyond their reach, but at under $300 the Blackjack is a fantastic putter that will help you be more accurate on the greens and provide you consistent ball striking with every putt.