As an absolute student (read: addict) of putters and putter design, I have been screaming from the mountain tops about the HB Soft and HB Milled lineups for years now. While yes, they have long been the best bang for your buck when it comes to putters, the bigger story for me has always been their performance and sound/feel punching well above their weight class.
The only issues I’ve ever taken with them in the past has been purely based around Cleveland feeling the need to dress them up and try to get too fancy rather than just leaning into what they are, high-performance and low-cost putting machines.
With the new HB Soft 2 lineup, Cleveland just might have gotten everything right.
Quick Take
The absolute best all-around version of the Huntington Beach putters yet. With this version of the HB Soft, Cleveland Golf got out of their own way and didn’t overcomplicate things. No need for an outside the box alignment contrast and no engraving package that takes away from anything else. With the 2024 HB SOFT 2, the brand has found the balance between simplicity, elegance, and effectiveness. Nothing else compares in terms of affordability and performance.
2024 Cleveland HB SOFT 2 Putters
The HB SOFT 2 lineup is absolutely aiming to not only maintain, but grow, Cleveland Golf’s presence when it comes to putters. While in the past it feels like they have always tried to add something to the equation like the contrasting alignment used in the 2022 release, this time they are letting the putters stand tall on their own. If you love the look of a high end milled putter, but not the price, then the HB SOFT 2 line is for you.
In terms of materials, the putters are cast stainless steel which then have their faces milled to include the SOFT face pattern. The rest of the putter head is cleaned up and finished with a blasted satin look. This time around the sole, cavity, and face engravings have been simplified to work with the different shapes.
For those who might be unfamiliar, that SOFT face is not simply in reference to feel, though it does impact that. Instead, it stands for Speed Optimized Face Technology, and it is the motor that makes these work. You see, a simple face milling could be done here by Cleveland, but instead they have created a pattern which normalizes speed across the face.
You will see in images that the milling gets more tight/clustered in the center but is spaced progressively toward the heel and toe. This is to alter the amount of surface area impacting the face, and thus how hot the ball will come off in the middle (less) than the perimeter (more). By doing this, they have created not just a fantastic and unique look, but also a feel that will fool even the staunchest of milled putter nerds (I write that as I raise my own hand). What might go under the radar though is that every single model in the line has a unique SOFT milling pattern to optimize it.
About those shapes, there are nine this time around with the HB SOFT 2 lineup, and once again they are divided by stroke type. There are five models (8C, 11, 11C, 15, and Retreve) which are face-balanced and designed for “straight” strokes that utilize an oversized pistol grip as well. Then on the other side of things are four shapes (1, 8S, 10.5, 11S) that have some toe-hang while also using a standard size pistol grip and thus are for those with a “slight arc”.
For this release, I was lucky enough to get a variety of the new HB SOFT 2 shapes in hand and experience the full gamut of what they are bringing to the table.
Cleveland Golf HB SOFT 2 – 1
The true classic, both in putters as a whole and any Cleveland putter release over the years, the #1. This is of course a plumber’s neck blade which pays homage to arguably the most popular putter shapes of all time. The blade offers moderate toe hang which works best with a slight arc. It weighs 355g, has a single flange alignment line, and comes in RH, LH, and Women’s.
Cleveland Golf HB SOFT 2 – 11
While they may call it the #11 now, it will always be the Elevado to me. This time around, the face balanced mallet is back to its roots and as clean as ever, much more the shape which put the rest of the fanged blades on notice, and much less clutter. This is by far the best looking version yet. The putter comes in at 365g and uses a single topline as well as dual flange-line alignment. The #11 will be offered in RH, LH, and Women’s.
Cleveland Golf HB SOFT 2 – RETREVE
Now this one, this is the curveball. For the first time in their history, Cleveland has created a putter which can pick the ball up out of the cup. Yes, you read that correctly, this is a single-bend face-balanced mallet that has a very rounded mallet shaping which will fit inside the cup. According to Cleveland, this will save people’s backs, knees, and hips, by using the center cutout to pick up the ball. While the visual is pretty wild, it does also shift the weight to the perimeter to create a higher MOI and more forgiving putter.
On the Course
Now, did I take all three putters out onto the course and put them through their paces? Absolutely I did, and if you know me, then you know I had all three in the bag at the same time too. One thing I enjoyed was having a blend of options to look at with both stroke types as it gave an even better picture of the wholeness of the lineup.
First off, these look fantastic, absolutely fantastic. When it comes to the minutia and fine details, you might ask are they going to be confused with high-end fully milled putters? Probably not, but they will give golfers who use one something to be proud of by the way they showcase cleanliness and elegance. I cannot say enough about how thrilled I am with Cleveland’s decisions this time around in letting every one of the HB SOFT 2 putters (even the big mallets – 15 and RETREVE) stand on their own feet without any gimmicks. Here are clean putters with great lines and a high performance face.
Speaking of the face, I was reminded again how good SOFT is for maintaining speed across the face. I worked each putter shape that I had in hand on center, toe, and heel strikes on the greens to see just how much roll out I got, and the consistency was top tier. It also stood out with the three different heads how they made it efficient despite the variance of face sizes. The RETREVE for example, has a shorter (heel to toe) face than the others, and the milling utilized on it still gave the attributes you hope to see.
The bottom line is this, they are good. No, there isn’t some massive technology built in to take the MOI to a zillion or some other off the wall implementation. The HB SOFT 2 putters are instead just solid all-around performers that will give you exactly what your putting skills put into them. If you miss, it won’t be because of the arrow.
The Details
This time around, there will be no ALL-IN variations of the putters, instead the HB SOFT 2 will use steel shafts, which when ordering in 35” or more apply a 20g counterbalance. Shorter will not come with this, but it can be requested via custom orders.
The entire package comes to a price of $149.99, cementing them as the best blend of value, performance, and looks in the entire segment. They will hit retail on 1/24/24.
For more information, check out their website at us.dunlopsports.com/cleveland-golf
