Cleveland HB Soft 2 putters

Gear: Cleveland HB Soft 2 putters
Price: $149.99
Specs: Cast stainless steel heads with grooved faces and counterbalanced shaft
Available: January 24

Who It’s For: Golfers who want a classic-looking putter with a soft feel at impact and budget-friendly price.

The Skinny: The nine HB Soft 2 putters are designed for players with specific stroke types — straight or arched — and feature speed-normalizing grooves in the face for better distance control.

The Deep Dive: At a time when the golf market is filled with drivers that cost about $600, iron sets that are over $1,000 and putters that will run over $350, Cleveland has updated its HD Soft line of putters and dropped the price $50.

The original HD Soft putters that were released in 2022 were made with classic shapes and retailed for $199, but the nine new HD Soft 2 putters are $149 and still retain the timeless looks. Heel-toe weighted blades, fang-style mallets and compact mid-mallets, they’re all here.

The HD Soft 2 putters are divided into clubs designed for two different stroke types, straight and slight arc. The putters designed for straight-stroke players are face-balanced and come standard with an oversized pistol grip that should help golfers use their hands and wrists less when they putt. Putters made for golfers who have a slight arc in their stroke have some toe hang and come with a standard-size pistol grip.

The Speed Optimized Face Technology (SOFT) helps to normalize ball speed over a large portion of the hitting area. (David Dusek/Golfweek)

All nine HB Soft 2 putters, however, have been given a grooved face that has a tight groove pattern. Cleveland refers to it Speed Optimized Face Technology (SOFT). The pattern is tighter in the center, but in the heel and toe, it is open. As most golfers know, when you mis-hit a putt in the heel or toe, putts lose energy and do not roll out as far as center-struck putts. According to Cleveland, the tight groove pattern in the center slows the ball slightly as it comes off the face, so golfers can expect the ball to roll out to nearly the same distance across a more significant portion of the hitting area.

Below are several close-up photos of the Cleveland HD Soft 2 putters.