Mizuno M-Craft X Putter review

Mizuno M-Craft X putter key features:

• Blade-like CG Depth: A dynamically shallow centre of gravity provides the swing feel of a smaller, blade-style putter, enhancing control and finesse

• Mallet-like stability: The larger head design, combined with customisable weights, ensures unmatched forgiveness and stability for off-centre strikes

• CNC-Milled Face offers precise consistency across the striking surface

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Mizuno has aimed to innovate in a big way with its new putters for 2025, and the M-Craft X offers something I’ve not seen before from a putter.

The M-Craft X line can be taken apart and completely rebuilt with three neck shapes, three back styles, and two different sets of weights.

Throw into the mix the fact that these putters are crafted from a single piece of 1025 steel and offer a fully CNC-milled face, and you have one of the most intriguing new products on the market in 2025.

Mizuno isn’t the first brand that springs to mind when I think of putters, but if they have nailed this new concept, then it’s one that I can see being incredibly popular.

The way the system works is that you can select your build from the options available, so you pick your neck, back and weight, but if you fancy further customising your setup, you can purchase each extra part separately.

What this allows you to do is, instead of buying a completely new putter if you want a different head shape, you can instead just buy a back plate, ultimately giving you a new putter without having to shell out for the full price.

If you’re someone who likes to play a blade in the summer when greens are quick but prefers a mallet in the winter, you can do so with the same putter. All you need to do is buy an extra back plate for £100, and you have two putters in one effectively.

The idea is fascinating, but how do the putters perform?

Let’s find out.

Player level

Golfers of all abilities could use the Mizuno M-Craft X putters. Due to the different profiles on offer, there is something to suit everyone.

Mizuno M-Craft X Putter looks and feel

I’ve always believed that less is more when it comes to putter design, and Mizuno has done a great job with the M-Craft X of making it look modern but still retaining a level of modesty that really adds to the premium finish.

The neck portion of these putters had a lovely matte dark grey finish, while the back portion is black with milled detailing on the top, with a slightly higher gloss finish on the sole.

Mizuno branding and sight lines are highlighted with white, while the M-Craft detailing utilises a lovely dark green to really make it pop.

During testing, I used the number four model, a mallet design that looks superb sat behind the ball.

The bright white alignment lines on the top of the putter make it easy to square the face-up, and I have to say I’m a big fan of the contrast between the black and dark grey.

These putters also come with an all-black sight that helps round out the stealthy design.

For pure aesthetics, I think Mizuno has done a tremendous job. When it comes to feel however, I think there is still room for improvement.

I don’t know whether it’s because this putter isn’t one solid piece, but there is a slightly dead feel off the face, which I found pretty frustrating during testing.

Typically, with premium putters, you get a really lovely pop at contact from centre strikes; however, with the M-Craft, that seemed to be lacking.

That feeling was further diminished on perimeter strikes, and I hit a few putts intentionally out of the toe that felt utterly dead.

I’ll get onto performance shortly, but that dead feeling resulted in some unusual results on the course, too.

It has to be said that there was also a slight lack of stability through the stroke, which I found didn’t help my confidence when sat over the ball.

Typically, a mallet putter of this size feels solid when you take it back, but unfortunately, my stroke moved all over the place, which wasn’t great.

Mizuno M-Craft X performance and forgiveness

As previously mentioned, this putter didn’t quite sit right with me from a feel perspective, and unfortunately, I did find that affected my performance when using it both on course and on a Zen putting green at Foresight HQ.

While I did hole putts while using this putter out on the course, I found that from a distance and even mid-range, the forgiveness on offer and lack of pop off the face meant I was leaving lots of putts short.

Now, obviously, there is a part of this that’s human error. However, I’ve used plenty of mallet putters this year that, even when struck from the toe or heel, still managed to get the ball to the hole.

Sadly, that wasn’t the case with the M-Craft X. The instability on take back also meant I found it harder to find the centre of the face more regularly, and as a result, my accuracy felt way down even on an indoor putting green, where the surface has little to no impact on roll.

Putting is a very personal skill, and people use all sorts of different putters that suit their game. However, I have to say I really did not get on well with this putter at all.

If I were to theorise about why, I think I would place the blame on the fact that the putter is made from two separate parts, which diminishes feel and forgiveness from the perimeter of the face.

Of course, this is only my theory, but I’ve tested numerous putters that boast a single-piece construction and haven’t had similar issues.

Should you buy a Mizuno M-Craft X Putter?

In theory, I think the idea behind M-Craft is brilliant. A modular putter range that allows for excellent customisation. However, in practice, I do believe that the performance and feel are diminished compared to other putters on the market.

As always, I would recommend going and hitting some putts with it yourself to get a feel for how it performs, but for me, it just wasn’t quite right.