Bettinardi Studio Stock 38 Putter

Mallet Putter

The Studio Stock 38 is Bettinardi's answer to a specific problem: golfers who want the stability of a mallet but have a stroke that arcs. Most mallets come face balanced, which fights a rotating stroke. This one is built with mid toe hang, so the face releases on the way through instead of resisting you. That single choice tells you a lot about who Bettinardi built it for.

Like the rest of the Studio Stock line, the 38 is milled from a single block of steel in Bettinardi's Illinois shop. Studio Stock sits below the DASS and Queen B models on price, but the construction is the same idea: one piece, cut on a CNC machine, finished by hand. You are paying for feel and precision, not marketing.

This is a putter for a player who has drifted toward a mallet for the forgiveness and the alignment help but never liked how dead a face balanced head feels through impact. The 38 gives you the bigger footprint and the sightline without asking you to rebuild your stroke.

Design

The head is a milled mallet with an alignment aid running back from the face to help you square up and start the ball on line. Bettinardi's face milling gives the Studio Stock its signature feel, a soft but responsive contact that lets you hear and feel where you struck it. Mishits off the toe or heel register differently than center strikes, which is useful feedback once you learn to read it. What sets the 38 apart from a typical mallet is the mid toe hang. Full mallets are usually face balanced and sit flat when you rest the shaft on your finger. This one hangs the toe down at roughly a 45 degree angle, matching a moderate arc stroke where the face opens going back and closes coming through. You get mallet forgiveness and a mallet sightline without the fight you feel when a face balanced head meets an arcing stroke.

Who It's For

• You have a slight to moderate arc in your stroke and never got comfortable with a face balanced mallet.
• You want the larger head and alignment aid of a mallet but care about feel as much as forgiveness.
• You are willing to pay for a milled, made-in-USA putter and want something with more character than a mass-produced insert model.
• You struggle with starting putts on your intended line and want a clear sightline to aim with.
• You like knowing where you struck the face by feel, not just by watching the ball.

Technology

About Bettinardi

Bettinardi is one of the few brands that still mills every putter in their own facility. Their signature honeycomb face milling and one-piece construction create exceptional feel and consistency.

Specifications

Frequently Asked Questions

Is the Studio Stock 38 face balanced or toe hang?

It has mid toe hang, roughly a 45 degree hang when you balance the shaft on your finger. That makes it a mallet built for an arcing stroke rather than the straight-back-straight-through stroke that face balanced mallets suit. If your putter face naturally opens and closes during your stroke, the 38 works with that motion instead of against it.

How is the Studio Stock line different from Bettinardi's DASS and Queen B putters?

Studio Stock is Bettinardi's more accessible line, priced below the DASS (double aged stainless steel) and Queen B models. The construction is still a milled one-piece head made in Illinois, so you get the same feel and precision. You give up some of the premium finishes and materials of the higher lines, not the core build quality.

What kind of stroke does the Studio Stock 38 suit?

A slight to moderate arc. Because of the mid toe hang, the face is designed to open on the backswing and square up through impact. Players with a strong arc might want more toe hang, and players with a dead straight stroke are usually better off with a face balanced mallet.

Does the Studio Stock 38 have an alignment aid?

Yes. It has a sightline that runs back from the face to help you aim the putter and start the ball on your intended line. Combined with the larger mallet head, it gives you a clear reference at address, which is one of the main reasons golfers move to a mallet in the first place.

How does the Studio Stock 38 feel at impact?

Soft but responsive. The milled face gives you a firm-yet-cushioned contact that transmits real feedback, so center strikes feel and sound different from toe or heel misses. It is not a muted insert feel. You get information back on every putt, which helps with distance control once you are used to it.

More from Bettinardi