New Trend Spotlight: Counter-Balanced Putters

If you’ve been watching golf tournaments in the past six months or so, you may have noticed several players using counter-balanced putters, one of the hottest new trends in professional golf.

Counter-balanced putters are longer than standard putters, with a length of 38”. This puts more mass near the hands and allows for a heavier head that permits more stability and control in the stroke. To compensate for the extra weight, even more weight is placed above the golfer’s hands. This is accomplished by extending the shaft length and adding more weight to the end of the shaft itself, the grip or both.

Counter-balanced putters aren’t new to golf, but they’ve gained popularity since Rickie Fowler, Wyndham Clark, Keegan Bradley, and Lucas Glover have all won since picking up the new putter style.

Some of the recent popularity of this putter style started when Rickie Fowler initially tried his caddie’s counter-balanced putter just days prior to The American Express in January of 2023, and he put a replica of the putter into play that week.

Fowler began having success with the new putter, and Wyndham Clark took notice and asked for a replica of Fowler’s putter in March of 2023. Not only did Clark win the U.S. Open, but he also won the Wells Fargo Championship in May and posted two other top-10 finishes.

Bradley Keegan first started experimenting with his current style of putter in September of 2021 and won for the first time in four years at the 2022 ZOZO CHAMPIONSHIP and then claimed the Travelers Championship for his first multiple-win season since 2011.

Rickie Fowler also ended his own four-year winless drought at the Rocket Mortgage Classic and picked up five top-ten finishes after putting the new putter in his bag.

Look, Glover ranked 194th of 198 players on Tour in strokes-gained putting earlier this year. Then he switched to a counter-balanced putter and had five top-6 finishes in six starts. He won the Wyndham Championship and the FedEx St. Jude Championship in consecutive weeks.

Several other PGA Tour players have also been experimenting with counter-balanced putters over the past several months. In fact, Camilo Villegas started using a counter-balanced putter earlier this year and just won the Butterfield Bermuda Championship last weekend.

Bloodline has taken notice of this new trend. Keep an eye out for how you can incorporate the counter-balance design in your Bloodline putter.