Don't Overlook Zebra Milled Series Putters: Our In-Depth Review

Zebra re-introduced itself to the golf world in 2023 when it released the AIT line of putters. Those drummed up feelings of nostalgia while offering a modern putter at an attractive price.

As an encore performance, Zebra dropped its Milled Series putters in 2024, which deliver more mature looks in a more premium package while maintaining ties to its legendary past.

We tested the Zebra Milled Series 001 putter to find out exactly how the latest model performs, and if it lives up to its $299 price tag.

Pros:

• Four head shapes with toe hang and face-balanced options in three different lengths
• Various grip upgrades available
• Adjustable weights to dial in distance control and preferred feel
• Milled face looks and feels excellent
• I found it easy to consistently roll putts straight
• Sleek profile is very attractive
• Competitive value

Cons:

• Headcover does not match the premium feel of the putter
• If you like a putter to feel on the softest end of the feel spectrum, this is not it

The Zebra Milled Series putter is, in a word, impressive. 

The milled face looks excellent and feels smooth at impact. I’d go so far as to say it’s my favorite feel of the five different putters I thoroughly tested this year. 

The mostly black head, low profile, and milled face deliver a satisfying all-business vibe.

Of course, the putter features Zebra’s distinct alignment aid, but other than that, the aesthetic is actually quite minimal. There aren’t any unnecessary frills. 

I tested the 001 version, which is the half-moon mallet, and found it really easy to get comfortable with the putter in my hands, despite switching from a blade that looks and feels much different.

Here’s a detailed look at how the performance; look, sound, and feel; and value of the Zebra Milled Series putter.

It was easy to pick the optimal Milled Series putter for my stroke – given the various head shape and toe hang options – and as soon as I unboxed the toe hang 001 half-moon mallet, it was easy to putt well with it.

One of my go-to tests to gauge how well I get along with a putter is the yardstick test. I use a 48-inch straight-edge ruler (technically not a yardstick, but this was a casual test so we’ll use casual terms) and place a ball at each end. I hit 10 putts from one end to the stick and see how many times I can knock the ball off the other end. 

This test illustrates how consistently I can roll putts straight with any given putter, and which direction my miss bias is. 

Two of my first four rolls with the Zebra Milled Series putter fell off in the pull direction, then I rolled six in a row straight down the ruler. All in all, hitting 8-out-of-10 without warming up in this test is a strong performance, and it demonstrated how easy it was to groove a consistent and effective stroke with this putter.

I also ran the Zebra through some testing using the Stack Putting app, where it outperformed my gamer rather convincingly. The biggest strength with the Milled Series putter proved to be distance control, and I saw the biggest strokes gained improvements in putts from inside six feet, and outside of 17 feet. 

Translation: fewer missed shorties, and fewer three-putts.

The distance control success should come as no surprise. Yes, the mallet shape is designed to be more forgiving than your average blade, but to go one step further, you can see just from looking at the head that in addition to the 10g weights in the toe and heel, the toe and heel are much thicker than the center, distributing even more weight to the perimeter to boost forgiveness. You’ll certainly hear and feel the difference when you miss the sweet spot, but you won’t see your distance suffer as much as you’d expect.

All in all, my Stack Putting testing, which replicates 18 holes worth of putts, showed that I performed about three-quarters of a stroke better with the Zebra Milled Series putter than my (perhaps former) gamer.

Seeing some performance gains with the Zebra Milled Series putter was nice, but what I enjoyed most about it was its presence: the look, sound, and feel.

That black head, compact profile, and elegant milling pattern on the face create a recipe for a premium putter.

The half-moon head behind the face is quite thin, which is why the putter feels much sleeker than other putters with the same footprint.

The head itself is one piece, milled from carbon steel. The milled face delivers a deep thud at impact that’s softer than other one-piece putters I’ve tested, but firmer than putters with an insert or some sort of polymer behind the face.

For me, that whole presence was just easy to get along with. After a few putts to calibrate, it was smooth sailing.

The biggest gripe I found with this putter is actually not with the putter itself, but with the stock headcover. There’s nothing wrong with the headcover, per se, but the Milled Series is clearly a step up from Zebra’s budget-minded AIT line, and it seems the headcover didn’t get the memo. The lightweight cover with a velcro closure doesn’t do this putter justice, in my opinion. 

But at the end of the day, it’s just a headcover.