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The inaugural year of Odyssey and Golf Monthly’s Britain’s Best Putter came to a thrilling climax at The Grove last weekend, with 15-year-old Kirsty Beckwith from Moortown Golf Club in Leeds being crowned the overall champion.

(To see all the images from the final at The Grove, visit our Facebook Gallery.)

The nationwide search to find the “king” or “queen” on the greens started back in May when 185 golf clubs and societies signed up to take part and host their own club putting competitions. The format for these was wholly flexible and allowed each venue to stage a stand-alone putting event that best suited their membership.

The events included piggy backing onto their club Captain or Professional days, an added extra for monthly medals, and as part of both charity days and summer club BBQs. The winning competitor from each club won an Odyssey goodie bag and progressed through to their respective regional final.

There were six regional finals hosted throughout the summer at Formby Hall (North West), The Belfry (Midlands), Rockliffe Hall (North East), Gleneagles (Scotland), Saunton (South West) and Stoke Park (South East). An Odyssey expert was in attendance at each venue to provide tuition tips and recommend the most suitable Odyssey model for their stroke. The top four competitors at each venue made it through to the final and were custom fitted for an Odyssey putter of their choice.

On arrival at The Grove, the 24 finalists were each presented with their Odyssey putter, a limited edition “BBP” polo shirt as well as Odyssey and Golf Monthly goodie bags, while the showdown was hosted by Sky Sports presenter Rob Lee. In addition to this, the competitors were also treated to a putting masterclass from elite golf coach Dan Frost and an exhibition by World Long Drive Champion Joe Miller who showed how every club in the bag can be hit out of sight, even the putter!

The final itself was a fiercely competitive event hosted on The Grove’s slick and immaculate practice putting green.  The competitors each had to post their best possible 36-strokeplay score with the top 16 making it through to the matchplay knockout. The majority of the matches were extremely close but it was Kirsty who held her nerve in a stunning display to defeat David Baren, the Club Captain of Bentham Golf Club, on the first extra hole of the final. Not only was Kirsty crowned Britain’s Best Putter but she also won a week’s holiday for two to the Las Colinas Golf and Country Club, in Spain.

Managing Director of Callaway EMEA, Neil Howie, commented: “The first year of Britain’s Best Putter has been a resounding success. Odyssey is the #1 putter in golf and we wanted to share our expertise and try and help as many golfers as possible to improve their games on the greens. 

“Our idea was to create a platform that can also be utilised by club professionals to interact with their members in a friendly competition environment. It has been a challenging year for the golf industry but we think that ideas like these will provide a springboard for professionals to sell product and secure lessons in an area of the game that is sometimes overlooked.

“This event has proved that golf doesn’t always have to be an 18-hole experience. One of the great things about Britain’s Best Putter is that it has brought together male, female and junior golfers of all ages who have mixed together, played the game in the right spirit and most importantly had fun and laughter along the way.”

(To see all the images from the final at The Grove, visit our Facebook Gallery.)