Forum Member Reviews: L.A.B. Putters

Earlier this year, six awesome members of the MyGolfSpy forum were given the chance to choose and test a L.A.B. putter of their choice, and put it through the paces.  Here’s what they found during their Forum Member Review of L.A.B. putters.

Some background for those of you unfamiliar with L.A.B.  The brainchild of Bill Presse IV, L.A.B. was born from a frustration that he was constantly battling the torque of his putter. He invented the “Revealer,” a device that simply and easily shows the effect that torque has on a putter when allowed to swing freely. 

Whether face-balanced, toe-balanced, heel-balanced, off-balance – it didn’t matter: every putter he tried, when allowed to swing freely (without hands manipulating the face of the putter) did just that – swung wildly in reaction to torque.  His goal was to invent a putter that, when placed on the ground behind the ball, would allow the putter to STAY balanced throughout the stroke.  

And so the DF 2.1 was born.  

The DF 2.1 (Directed Force 2.1) may look strange, but once you swing it and the putter doesn’t fight you, well…it’s love at first swing.

To go a little deeper, L.A.B. Golf putters have a different balance and feel than any other putter most people have used. Regardless of arc or putting stroke these putters work to have a more consistent square putter face at impact more often. Yes, the shape of the putter may be a little wild, but if it works and golfers have a repeatable swing more often then why should it matter? 

Finally L.A.B. Golf also offers a wide variety of grip, shaft and other custom options such as head weight, colors, alignments and headcovers in order to allow the putter to fit your natural stroke and eye. While static loft may be lower than some are used to, it all works harmoniously with the putter head design and optimal lie angle to have the best possible putter for you.

Or at least, that’s the promise.  Whether or not this is TRUE, well, that’s what our group of testers were tasked with finding out.

WHY THIS PUTTER

Of our six testers, two went with the DF 2.1 (large mallet), two went with the Mezz Max (fang style), and two went with the Link.1 (Anser/blade style)

For tester @TSauer, choosing the Link.1 was simple: he’d been playing a Scotty, and he truly wanted to see if the claims were true. Mainly, “IF the Link.1 face remains square throughout my stroke, THEN I will drop more putts and make the L.A.B. putter my primary, BECAUSE we all love one putts.”  Simple enough. 

Likewise, also choosing the Link.1, was @Syks7, who says “I’m curious as to whether a LAB putter will help with enough strokes to get me over the hump into a single-digit handicap, but to be honest if it helps me feel more confident standing over a 6 footer to save par, that’s almost as good as holing putts.”

Those picking the Mezz.1 Max included @Splatt, a 20+ handicapper who stated “A glaringly obvious shortfall in my game for a long time has been putting. 3-putts have been as common in my game as water-balls, chunked chip shots, and swear words. To stay in the bag after the testing period I’d want to see some improvement (putts per round dropping, less 3-putts, leaving longer putts closer etc), but more importantly I’m going to need to trust it.” 

@McGolf, a professional club-builder and fitter, also opted for the Mezz.1 Max, because he wanted the most MOI (Moment of Inertia (forgiveness)) possible in a form-factor that still appealed to him.  

And for the DF 2.1, which is the most forgiving putter that L.A.B. makes (in the spirit of full disclosure, the author of this piece is an owner of the DF 2.1, and a firm believer that there’s never been a weirder, more beautiful putter ever built – fight me), tester @RoverRick wanted to answer three questions:  “1. Can the size and shape of the DF2.1 reduce my mishits?, 2. Have I been fighting with my putter all this time? 3. Can Lie Angle Balanced Putters take my putting to the next level?”  

And our final tester, @Pozzit, who also went with the DF2.1, wanted to lower his average putts-per-round from 36 and so chose the more forgiving of the L.A.B. options to see if that would help.  He also brought the putter (with his wife’s permission) into the labor and delivery room while his second was working her way out  – let’s all take a moment and salute his wife for being so absolutely cool. 

ONLINE FITTING

One of the things that makes L.A.B. unique, as a company, is that they do not offer in-person custom fitting (unless you happen to be in Eugene, OR, where they’re headquartered). Instead, they’ve perfected the art of remote fitting. They have you film yourself. For a proper remote fitting video you should be in your golf shoes in front of a wall with an obvious 90-degree angle behind you (like a door jamb or corner). Take a 3-5 second video and email it to the L.A.B. team. Within 48 hours you’ll have a fitting recommendation.

Using proprietary software, they send you back an email with your exact specifications as measured from the video.  While this might seem like a leap of faith for those of us used to going to a big-box retailer and hitting every putter until we find one that works, our testers found that the L.A.B virtual fitting really does work.  

@RoverRick went to a store to get a traditional fitting before submitting his video, curious to see how the results would differ. His in-store fitting set him up with a 35” putter, set at 70(degrees). His L.A.B. video fit: 35”, 70 degrees.  

Two of our testers @TSauer (pictured above before/after) and @Pozzit, after submitting their videos, got responses from L.A.B. telling them that their set-up was actually not conducive to a great strike, along with some pointers.

Both ended up with putters dialed in to their proper settings, and have taken the new positions into their games – this is the kind of customer service that wowed our testers.

@Syks7 sums it up pretty simply: “The only thing I will say is that it was excellent.”

FIRST IMPRESSIONS

@Pozzit – “After much anticipation, I got the DF2.1 in hands and man this thing is built with premium materials and craftsmanship. From the soft leather of the headcover to etched in alignment marks it is clear this is a premium product.”

@Splatt – “I was stunned by how the putter looked and felt when I first took it out of the box…this is a seriously good looking putter”

@Syks7 – “The shape, satin finish, milling, and graphics are just flat out sharp.”

@RoverRick – “When I removed the cover it was a heart-stoping ‘Kiss My @$$’ red. It definitely grabs people’s attention.”

@TSauer – “Right out of the gate, the thing is a beautiful piece of art.”

One side note – the testers universally praised the headcovers. The quality and craftsmanship was noted by each tester as an added bonus and the attention to detail (quality of stitching, magnet closures, softness of leather, etc.).  Just a really nice added bonus to an already well-made putter.

L.A.B. Putters On the Course

While some putter reviews tend to focus on feel, our reviewers tried to get as much data as possible to compare and contrast against their gamers.

Here are some highlights:

Tester @McGolf took the Mezz.Max on a golf vacation to Myrtle Beach as the final step in his review period, simply stated “The putter performance could only have been better if I one putted everything.” 

@TSauer had an indoor set-up, as well as headed over to a local putting green, and compared the Link.1 against two other putters in his stable. His results speak for themselves, so we’ll just post them below – 

As I mentioned above, the amount of data collected for this test by several of our reviewers is just staggering, so do yourself a favor and go check out the full review that @Syks7 put together.  He hit over 500 tracked putts with three different putters (the Link.1 vs. two others), and, to sum it up, he states: “The link was just better than the other putters. This is true in all three of the tests I ran and in my on-course metrics.”  

For @Splatt, while pace control wasn’t always 100% on-point (especially from longer-range), he saw the first round after getting the L.A.B. drop from 43 to 36 putts.  He says, “When I used to get to the green I used to take a deep breath and whisper a prayer that the worst is only a 3-putt, now I breathe a sigh of relief when it’s time to get the putter out of the bag. On short putts or longer putts”

Not everything was smooth-sailing for everyone, however.  For @Pozzit, while he saw his 5-feet-and-in numbers dropped from 1.19 to 0.94 (average putts per hole), beyond 15 feet and out he struggled to find distance control. We’ll be sure to check back in with him over the next few months, as he stated that in the last two weeks of his review period, he was starting to really get along with the DF2.1. 

THE FINAL VERDICT

For all of our tests at MyGolfSpy, we ask our forum members to give a final rating, out of 100, and then ask the ultimate question: Play it or Trade it? Above all else, the goal of the review is honest feedback, and we’re so grateful that our testers did not shy away from not just uniformly saying “this is perfect, buy it.”  I genuinely believe we have the best testing pool in golf, because our members understand that this is a big responsibility and the truth, above all else, is what will help someone else make a buying decision.  

Here’s how our testers responded.

@RoverRick: “100% playing this putter. I may even sell all my other putters, and I’ve only sold 1 putter in my life. The good: it does everything it is advertised to do. The bad is that it could sound better and it takes up a lot of space in the bag. These are the only drawbacks that I have with this putter.” Final Score, 93/100.

@Splatt “I honestly cannot imagine another putter coming along that would knock the L.A.B. outta my bag. The LAB Mezz 1 MAX is a uniquely beautiful putter that does what it says in the marketing hype.” Final Score, 94/100

@Pozzit, who gave the DF2.1 a final score of 84/100, and who isn’t 100% sure the putter will stay in the bag, said, “While the putter is an incredibly well-built putter customized to help you align and provide a more consistent delivery (with less) effort to the ball…I struggled with pace control. I don’t know if it was the difference in feel, weight, or personal inconsistencies. I would encourage everyone to give it a try (if possible) and see what works for you.  There is a learning curve, but if you can adapt your speed well I believe this can help you start the ball off on the right direction.” 

@McGolf said “This is the perfect example of ‘you can’t judge a book by its cover.’ The feel is solid, the feedback is true. The performance is even better than expected. The putter is a complete package if you are looking for a low torque / zero-torque concept of a putter.” Final Score, 96/100.

@Syks7 states, “While I wasn’t opposed to writing a glowing review, I wasn’t quite expecting to write one like this.  I did my level best to remain objective and really test it right up until the point I started going through the data and it echoed what I’d been experiencing on course.  Link was just better.” Final Score, 97/100.

@TSauer concluded, “Absolutely, without a shadow of a doubt, I will be playing this. If you or someone you know has been diagnosed with the yips, I cannot urge you enough to give one of the putters from the L.A.B. lineup a chance.” Final Score, 98/100

So there you have it.  5 average golfers, 5 reviews discussing the good, the bad, the in-between.  One thing I’d like to note, and most of the reviewers noted this as well – the price.  This is not a cheap putter.  In a world where drivers are averaging over $500, spending that much on a putter (for some) might seem ridiculous.

For others, spending money on the club you use the most is the best investment you can make.  Only you can decide if the investment is for you.  The overwhelming take of our testers that, while expensive, the putter was worth it.  “It’s a premium piece of equipment and the price reflects that. I say this as a believer in the equipment that thinks it’s worth every penny.” –@Syks7.  

The testers will continue to post updates throughout the rest of the year on their journey with these putters, including round highlights and whether or not the putters will ultimately stay in the bag on a permanent basis.  

What do you think?  As always, we’d love to hear from you, and value your feedback.

If you’d like to read all our testers’ full reviews, you can find them right here!  

What is Forum Member Testing?

MyGolfSpy offers all its community members a unique opportunity to test, review and keep a variety of different golf equipment, apps, apparel and more. Successful candidates are selected by forum staff. 

Members who are selected interact, engage and write a review on the specific product while enjoying the fun of trying new gear!

Member testing is vital because it gets gear in the hands of you, the golfer. Our members give honest feedback on how any product or service works for a variety of handicaps and abilities to ensure our readers are even more informed when making purchasing decisions. 

To learn more about how testers are selected, head here: Want to be a forum tester?

The Testing Opportunity  

What’s your most personal club?  Ask any golfer, and 9 out of 10 dentists, and they’ll all agree: the putter.  Whether it’s the way it looks, the way it gets you out of trouble, the way you know you can count on it above all other clubs in your bag to rescue you when you’ve managed to leave yourself 30 feet for par after driving it 11 yards off the green – the putter is the one club in the bag that most golfers have the hardest time replacing.  My mother said it best: you date a set of irons; you have a fling with a driver (which always ends badly, let’s be honest); but you marry your putter.