The difference between insert and milled putters (and how to pick the right one)

Just like every club in your bag, a putter’s feel and performance are manipulated with various materials, with one goal in mind: to help you play better golf.

It’s always intriguing to me how one of the most important clubs in your bag always seems to be the most overlooked. It’s easy to get lost walking into your local golf shop and quickly feel overwhelmed with all the different shapes, sizes and colors. Adding to the confusion, another part of the putter that plays a crucial role in your on-course success is the only part that’s contacting the ball, and that’s the putter face.

Now, there are basically two main differences on the market when it comes to your putter heads, and that’s whether it has a physical face insert or is milled from the head itself. You also have manufacturers who take advantage of both by utilizing a milled insert, and why they do that can be better understood after knowing the differences between the two.

Keep reading below for the differences between the two types of putters and how a putter fitting will help you decide which one is best for you.

Insert Putters

These are usually a two-piece construction where they use one type of metal for the putter head, but then use a different material for the actual face insert.

When you look at these types of putters, most of your top brands in this category will use softer urethane materials, but they are not limited to that by any means.

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We see plenty of putters that may also have a “hotter” insert that could be titanium or another material to promote more speed off the face. These differences in material can be made more forgiving and allow you to better control your golf ball on the green.

The other benefit is the ability to manipulate weight, the thickness of the face itself, and to more easily make groove patterns, which help control both the direction and speed of misshits.

We all know that forgiveness and stability are a direct result of where the general mass is placed, and the R&D teams like to use this to their advantage, especially with putters. So, if a manufacturer can save some weight by utilizing a lighter insert, they can then redistribute that weight to different sections of the head and make it more stable.

Milled Putters

Then you go to the other side of the market, which is your milled putters. This is where we see the head and grooves being milled out of the same block of metal, all coming together for a much different feel and usually heightened acoustics.

PING 2024 PLD Milled Anser Custom Putter

The winningest putter in golf history continues to set the standard with its rounded corners and soft ballasts, making setup and aiming easier in the slight arc design. Heel-toe perimeter weighting ensures forgiveness.
Quality and precision
A solid block of forged, 303 stainless steel requires more than four hours of milling time; precisely shaping every surface and radius to achieve the high quality and premium look expected in a precision-milled putter.

Control and consistency
A precision-milled face pattern, known as deep AMP (Aggressive Milling Pattern), is inspired by tour player feedback and provides the feel and speed control you need to deliver score-lowering consistency on the green.

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Now, as mentioned before, you have some OEMs that utilize a fully milled head with a separate insert, which could give you the best of both worlds, but these still can have a different feel at impact in comparison to a one-piece milled putter.

Generally, your milled putters consist of a firmer, more metallic feel, but this too can be manipulated with the physical depth and patterns of the grooves. Some players may prefer the denser feel of a traditional milled putter and how that ball reacts with their stroke, potentially allowing you to have better control with varying green speeds.

You also may see that milled putters come at a higher cost vs. some of your insert options, which usually just comes down to the process involved in milling a putter from a single block of steel.

Which puuter face is right for you?

The question now is what’s better for you and your game, and the answer to this can only be discovered in a live field-testing environment, like a putter fitting. In a fitting environment, you’re able to discover what type of putter face better allows you to control the speed of your ball, with both performance and feeling.

True Spec Golf Club Fitting

With 70,000+ clubhead and shaft combos, True Spec Golf will custom fit and build you a precise set of clubs.

Maybe you’re missing the center of the face from time to time. You could then utilize a softer or variable thickness insert to better help with those heel or toe misses.

Maybe you tend to consistently leave the ball short, in which case something that promotes more ball speed, like a milled putter, can give you those few extra rolls into the bottom of the cup. I also like to test these options with both longer and shorter putts, identifying which one gets me closer to the hole more often than the other, with the least amount of effort.