Review: Heavy Putter J2-M Belly Putter

A Belly Putter In Any Style

On a recent trip to the local golf store I noticed the increase in belly putters for sale.  This wasn’t really a surprise with so many tour players using them and talking about them.  What I was surprised about was the lack of head style choices.  Just about every one was some variation of an oversized mallet.  There weren’t even many regular mallets and there were no blade style heads.  The reason that most putter companies have a limited stock of belly putter styles is because of the extra headweight needed to make a properly balanced belly putter. Boccieri has been making heavier heads for years in a wide variety of styles.  So you can pick any style of head that they make and you can get it in a belly putter.  So while most companies offer 2 or 3 styles, Boccieri offers 30. 

So I decided that instead of going with the typical mallet style belly putter, I wanted to try a more blade like head.  I went with the J2-M head.  It is from their mid-weight series.  It has a plumbers neck hosel and a B-like flange. I guess it isn’t a true anser putter, but more of a hybrid blade/mallet.  It has a long Boccieri grip like all belly putters and the standard Boccieri headcover.  My understanding is that they also have added some backweighting to the grip in the ones on store shelves now.  My putter was an earlier model that didn’t have the weight in the grip.
 

I like the fact that Boccieri uses stainless steel to make its putters.  You can tell that good metal sound and feel at impact.  They even leave some small milling marks to create a nice look.  The extra headweight makes for a really solid feel at impact.  The matte black finish is very rich to look at too.

Since this isn’t my first belly putter, I knew what I was doing when I got to the green with this one.  What I liked about this one is the fact that it was a more anser style putter.  I’ve gotten very comfortable with aligning this style head.  While it still is face balanced, which may not be perfect for my stroke, the plumbers neck paired with the head style really fits my eye best for alignment on the green.   It maybe isn’t such drastic change if you are used to an anser style and want to try a belly putter.

My multiple rounds with this putter were on some very unfamiliar greens, so I can’t say I saw my scores go down, I really felt like I was putting well, hitting my line and gauging distance properly.  I really liked the consistency that this belly putter offered even if some of the putts weren’t sinking.  I tend to play on bent grass in the Midwest, but this was my Florida winter vacation putter on some different grasses.  I don’t think it was the putter’s fault, just mine, trying to learn how to putt on different grasses.

While I’m still not sure if I’m going to go belly putter for the 2012 season, the Heavy Belly Putter has me seriously considering it.  From Boccieri you can get a belly putter in whatever head style you prefer along with the backweighting technology that Boccieri is famous for.

Quick Hits
+Every style of head in a belly putter
+Excellent feel
+Counter-Balanced Technology

–Still not for everyone