REVIEW: Bettinardi Golf 2020 INOVAI 6 Series Putter

The new Bettinardi Golf INOVAI 6 Series putters for 2020 are an upgraded take on the brand’s popular “alternative” putter line, featuring the same 303 stainless steel used in previous releases. With a new shape and wider range of neck styles, our first impressions of the INOVAI 6 Series have been nothing but positive.

Bettinardi Golf INOVAI 6 Series putter.

Background and Tech

Any new release from Bettinardi Golf demands your attention, and the INOVAI 6 Series is no exception.

At my recent visit to Bettinardi Golf HQ in Tinley Park, IL, Sam Bettinardi explained that the new INOVAI 6 was based entirely on Tour feedback. Feel was a priority with this release, while maintaining a high MOI design without using any face inserts. The result is a putter head that offers immediate feedback you can feel in your hands without any excess material getting in the way.

Maintaining feel despite the absence of face inserts is accomplished via Bettinardi’s patented F.I.T. Face milling technique. This provides just enough feel at impact to give you the info you need without being a distraction or emitting anything but the purest sound feedback.

While past INOVAI releases positioned the 303 stainless steel in the back of the club head, this new Series reverses that trend by bringing it to the putter’s face. The back now consists of 6061 Military Grade aluminum and features two alignment guides on its cobalt blue finish.

The whole package is rounded out with the inclusion of a Tour-grade shaft engineered to remain stable throughout your stroke and the new Lamkin SINK Fit grip that feels fantastic in your hands.

INOVAI 6 Series putter face.

Performance and Feel

My first impression of the INOVAI 6 Series was skepticism, if I’m being totally honest. This is not a putter shape to which I normally gravitate, often preferring a blade shape to any mallet.

After rolling a few putts at Bettinardi Golf’s Studio B, however, I couldn’t argue with the results I was seeing. The putter I grabbed off the wall felt phenomenal at impact and the ball rolled true right off the face. I actually sank the first putt I hit — a 20-footer on Studio B’s putting green — interrupting my conversation with Bettinardi’s Mike Biviano and causing me to pause. I proceeded to sink five more putts from this distance almost effortlessly, which redirected my attention away from the podcast I was there to record and to the INOVAI.

“You should try it from five feet,” Mike suggested. “That thing is automatic.” He was right.

At address, the INOVAI 6 Series’ alignment markings frame the ball perfectly. It almost feels like you’re putting on train tracks or a road as the width of the putter head and face helps you envision the “path” your putt needs to take. This isn’t a feature or “look” I was accustomed to with my BB1 blade, and while I normally find competing mallet designs to be distracting, the INOVAI 6 design was anything but.

Overall Impression

I’ve long been a member of the Bettinardi Golf faithful and truly love my BB1 blade from 2019. I had never putted better after having been fit by Leonard Sales at Studio B, and I knew making the switch to anything else was a huge long shot.

Then I tried the INOVAI 6 Series.

The feel, look, and performance of this putter is incredible. Bettinardi has hit a home run with the new INOVAI 6, and I wouldn’t be surprised if they sold a metric ton of these putters. If you’re a fan of a mallet design — or open to the possibility — give these putters a try as soon as you can. I can almost guarantee you’ll make the switch.

Visit Bettinardi Golf’s website here for more information.