Putters: the club with its own set of rules.

Head types

GolfMagic groups putter heads into three families:

• Blades: thin, traditional heads.
• Peripheral-weighted heads: weight moved to the heel and toe for more forgiveness.
• Mallets: the largest and, in GolfMagic's description, the most forgiving heads, with a low, deep centre of gravity and often alignment aids.

Faces vary too. GolfMagic describes all-metal faces, faces with a lighter non-metal insert (which frees weight to move to the heel and toe), and grooved faces designed to promote forward roll. Hosels may be heel-shafted, centre-shafted or offset.

Face balance and toe hang

Balance the shaft of a putter on a finger and look at the head. GolfMagic explains that on a face-balanced putter the face points to the sky, and the head tends to rotate less during the stroke, which it pairs with a straight-back, straight-through stroke. On a toe-hang putter the toe points down, and the head rotates more, which it pairs with an arcing stroke.

Not everyone agrees that stroke shape should decide the choice. The Golf News Net puts more weight on fitting from how the putter is actually delivered and what results it produces, rather than picking by a stroke label. Teachers also disagree about stroke shape itself; see putting technique.

Length, lie and loft

The Equipment Rules for putters

Part 2 of the Equipment Rules gives putters several exceptions, with limits of their own:

• Head size. Heel-to-toe must be longer than face-to-back and no more than 7 inches (177.8 mm). The face must be at least two-thirds of the face-to-back length and at least half the heel-to-toe length. Sole to top must not exceed 2.5 inches (63.5 mm).
• Two faces. A putter may have two striking faces if they are opposite each other and have the same characteristics. Every other club may have only one.
• Shaft position. A putter's shaft, neck or socket may attach anywhere on the head. Other clubs must attach at the heel.
• Grips. A putter grip may be non-circular if its cross-section has no concavity, is symmetrical and stays generally similar along its length. A putter may have two grips if each is circular and they share an axis and are at least 1.5 inches (38.1 mm) apart.
• Face. Face hardness must be at least 85 on the Shore A scale. Face markings must not have sharp edges or raised lips. Putter grooves wider than 0.035 inch and deeper than 0.020 inch must be no wider than 0.060 inch (1.524 mm), have a width-to-spacing ratio of at least 1:1, be shallower than they are wide, and be no deeper than 0.040 inch.
• Spring-like effect. The spring-like effect (CT) limit that applies to other clubs does not apply to putters.

The anchoring ban (Rule 10.1b)

Rule 10.1b of the 2023 Rules of Golf, in effect from 1 January 2023, says that in making a stroke a player must not anchor the club, either:

• directly, by holding the club or a gripping hand against any part of the body (holding it against a hand or forearm is allowed), or
• indirectly, by holding a forearm against the body so that a gripping hand becomes a stable point around which the other hand swings the club.

Merely touching the body or clothing during the stroke, without holding the club against it, is not a breach. "Forearm" means the arm below the elbow, wrist included. The rule covers every club, not only putters, and the penalty is the general penalty: two strokes in stroke play, loss of the hole in match play. The R&A's clarifications treat clothing pressed against the body by the club or a gripping hand as part of the body, and give a mid-length putter pressed into a rain jacket as an example of a breach. Rules 25.3b and 25.4h modify the anchoring rule for players with amputations and players who use assistive mobility devices.

How the ban came about

• 2011. Keegan Bradley won the PGA Championship with a belly putter anchored to his torso, Aussie Golfer recalls.
• 28 November 2012. The R&A and USGA proposed the ban, then numbered Rule 14-1b.
• May 2013. Final approval was announced after a comment period.
• 1 January 2016. The ban took effect, in line with the four-year Rules revision cycle. The rule now appears as Rule 10.1b.

The governing bodies said at the time that belly and long putters remained conforming equipment and could still be used, provided they are not anchored. The rule restricts a method of making a stroke, not a type of club. GolfMagic notes arm-lock putters, which rest against the lead forearm, as a permitted alternative, since holding the club against a forearm is allowed.

Aiming aids on the green

Rule 10.2b(3) forbids setting an object down to help with aiming or stance, such as laying a club on the ground along the target line, and removing it before the stroke does not avoid the general penalty.

Nothing on this page says a particular putter conforms. Check the R&A's equipment database if you are unsure about an unusual design.