Bettinardi BB-1W Putter Review

Bettinardi BB-1W Putter Key Features:

• Perpetual flymill face milling: provides a consistent roll, ensuring that your putts start true and on target
• Black pearl PVD finish: highly resistant to wear, scratches, and corrosion
• Centre of gravity shift: reshaped bumpers and shoulders deliver a more unified weight distribution

When it comes to putters, Bettinardi knows a thing or two. The brand creates some of the best putters in the world for the likes of Matt Fitzpatrick, Jason Kokrak, and legendary golfer Freddie Couples. 

Bettinardi prides itself on its precision milling. Each putter in the BB series is milled from a single block of 303 stainless steel. 

The BB range offers five different head shapes in various shaft options, but in this review, we will cover the BB-1W, a compact blade design that comes standard at 35 inches, with three degrees of loft and a 70-degree lie angle. 

The new BB-1W costs just shy of £440, so to see if its performance matches the price, we took it to Mannings Heath to test it out. 

Let's get into it.

Player Level

Golfers of any playing level could use the BB-1W. Typically, we would direct high-handicap players towards a mallet design, but thanks to its slightly deeper profile and compact head size, the BB-1W offers a surprising amount of forgiveness. The feel and weight are also beautifully balanced, while the additional feedback from the face will undoubtedly appeal to the better golfer. 

Bettinardi BB1-W Looks and Feel

Straight out of the hardcover, this putter looks sublime. 

The PVD black finish is elegant, and the blue detailing is subtle, which is not something we've been able to say about every putter we've tested this year. 

The sole features black-and-white branding positioned near the heel, while the putter's weight is printed near the toe. This is unusual, but thanks to the minimalist typeface, it works really nicely. 

In terms of profile, the toe to heel length is very compact, which makes framing the ball very easy. 

A single white alignment line is positioned behind the face, providing additional alignment help. 

As you might have guessed from the name, this putter is slightly wider than a traditional blade. 

As someone who prefers mallet putters, this extra weight and meat behind the ball really suited our eye.  

The putter is by no means chunky, but that additional few centimetres of depth gives you that extra bit of confidence that is always appreciated. 

As we've come to expect from Bettinardi over the years, the feel off the face is fantastic. The milled design is firm but also provides plenty of feedback from poor strikes near the heel or toe. 

While the feel of this putter is exceptional, one thing that we didn't enjoy quite as much was the noise it makes. 

We were expecting a low thud when we made contact, similar to a Scotty Cameron or TaylorMade TP Reserve, but instead, the BB-1W produces quite a high-pitched metallic sound, akin to putters of old. 

All in all, the look and feel of this putter are first-class. The sound could certainly be improved, but at the end of the day, that's purely a matter of personal preference. 

Bettinardi BB-1W Performance and Forgiveness

Once we started hitting a few putts with the BB-1W we never wanted to stop. 

We were on the practice green for about an hour rolling the rock, and time and time again, we found our ball nestled in the bottom of the hole. 

As previously mentioned, we typically prefer a mallet design that offers more forgiveness, but thanks to the perfect weighting and extra depth on the head, we found we could find our length and length almost instantly, making putt after putt. 

The head feels solid, stable, and strong through the stroke, which allowed us to find the middle of the face consistently. 

While we would still say a mallet offers more forgiveness, the BB-1W is definitely one of the more forgiving blade-style putters we have tested this year. 

From toe or heel, our putts retained speed remarkably well, and our roll remained very consistent, keeping it as close to online as you could hope from a poor strike. 

In terms of both performance and forgiveness, we have to give this putter a big thumbs up. 

Should you buy a Bettinardi BB-1W?

If you're willing to pay a premium price for a putter, then you should absolutely test the BB-1W.

It looks fantastic, feels great and performs very, very well.

The only real negative we could draw from our review was that the sound could certainly be improved. 

If, like us, you prefer a deep thud at impact, this putter might not be for you. However, as always, we would highly recommend hitting it yourself so you can get a good sense of both sound and feel. 

At £439, this putter doesn't come cheap, but the premium construction and design certainly validate the price point.