Unofficial Review: L.A.B. Golf Directed Force 2.1 Putter

[edingc]

Hey, everyone!

I wanted to offer up an unofficial review for the L.A.B. Golf Directed Force 2.1 putter and an overview of the L.A.B. fitting process. I recently purchased this putter after scouring the web for reviews, and I hope that my thoughts here might help out anyone else who has an interest in this putter.

The DF 2.1 is a lie-angled balanced putter, and besides the balance technology, the putter is perhaps best known for its interesting shape.

If you followed along during #CobraConnect this summer, you’ll know I’m a very streaky putter. There will be weeks where I putt extremely well followed by stretches of some of the worst putting possible. When I first seriously got back into golf in 2018, I had a 36” Odyssey Tank blade I purchased on a whim. A putter “fitting” at a local shop revealed that I performed better (at the time) with a shorter putter, so I traded the Tank for a 33” TaylorMade Spider Tour Red, which was replaced with a navy 33” Spider X for this past year.

I had a significant number of blown birdie opportunities this year. Certainly some were outside of what would be considered a “makeable” distance, but I had many opportunities inside of 10 feet that didn’t sniff the cup. I tend to struggle with distance control consistently, but I will go through bouts of start line problems as well.

Additionally, as I have gotten older my back no longer tolerates the 33” length as it requires me to bend over a little more than I’d like (I’m just shy of six feet tall).

I went into this offseason researching different putters. I landed on the DF 2.1, and after learning more about the lie-angle balance technology, decided I wanted to go through with a purchase.

The Fitting and Ordering Process

I placed my order on Oct. 5, and it shipped on Oct. 13. The specifications of my putter are as follows:

• 36” Length
• 68 Degree Lie Angle
• Black Finish (red and blue are also available for no charge, and nickel for an upcharge)
• Press II 3* Grip (upcharge)
• BGT Stability Tour Shaft (one of three upcharge options - BGT Stability and LAGP being the other two - KBS steel is the stock option)
• Combination of No. 18 and No. 19 sightlines (a custom option not on the website, also an upcharge)

I had a very positive first impression when researching the DF 2.1. The L.A.B. website has a dealer locator, and much to my surprise a local shop I had never visited before was an authorized fitter. I scheduled a fitting for a Saturday morning, and I had a great experience as I had multiple people working with me for almost an hour at no cost (this may vary by dealer). 

L.A.B. provides their dealers with a specialized fitting putter. The fitting putter features both an adjustable lie angle and adjustable length shaft. We tried several different variations of length and lie until we found something that was very comfortable for me. I left the shop with a recommended length of 36” and lie of 66.5 degrees.

TXG has a video about the DF 2.1 in which Matt Blois is shown briefly using the fitting putter: 

I had several additional questions about grip and shaft choices, so I reached out to L.A.B. through their website following the fitting. I was contacted by Matt Schuth, who was extremely helpful in answering my questions about grip and shaft choice. Matt also expressed some concern about my fitting results, saying the lie angle seemed a little flat, so he recommended a “remote” fitting. The remote fitting consists of taking a video with a comfortable length putter and sending it to the L.A.B. team for analysis.

I actually had to purchase a 35” putter to complete the remote fitting because I did not have easy access to one locally. After sending my video to Matt, he came back with the recommended 68 degree lie angle. He said it was common for the in person fittings to come out a little too flat.

I ended up placing an order through my local shop because they deserved the business after spending an hour fitting me. This was not a cheap purchase - with all of the upcharge options and Michigan sales tax the putter cost $736.70. I plan to keep this putter around for a long time.

The golf season in Michigan is sadly pretty much over at this point of the year. I can’t wait to get out and give this a go when spring rolls around! In the meantime, my new Exputt putting simulator will be getting a lot of work over the winter months.

I will try to keep this thread updated heading into next year with thoughts about and results from using this putter. In the meantime, here's some pictures and a brief video from my first practice session today.

One thing I notice immediately is that I'm a little toe up in this video. I have a tendency to let my hands drop a little too much and pull the putter inside. Will be something to work on. The putter sole should be completely flat both heel-to-toe and front-to-back at address with the lie angle technology.

Looks - 4/5 Stars

There is no doubt the DF 2.1 is funky looking. Bottle-opener shape aside, the biggest thing you notice is the size of the head. The DF 2.1 makes my Spider X look tiny in comparison. After a few rolls, however, the head’s size feels more and more natural. 

The combination of the black grip, black Stability Tour shaft and black head is very pleasing. The head finish is matte, and L.A.B.’s updated branding on the sole of the club looks better compared to previous iterations of the putter. Since the finish is matte, there is no issue with sun glare or reflection.

I’m very happy L.A.B. was able to accommodate my request to combine sightline options. I like having lines both parallel and perpendicular to my aim line. I also like that the outer lines frame the golf ball at address. I have a tendency to set the face too open and put the ball toeside, and these lines provide a nice reference for me to address the golf ball.

Sound and Feel - 4/5 Stars

The adjustment period has been relatively painless, with the biggest change being how light the head feels throughout the swing compared to my previous gamers. 

The sound of a putter is strongly correlated with feel for me. Having played the Spider line of putters, this is my first non-insert putter in some time. The DF 2.1 has horizontally milled lines on the aluminum face. Keep in mind I am gaming the DF 2.1 with the BGT Stability Tour shaft. I chose this shaft specifically because L.A.B. recommended it to achieve a “softer” feel. 

Putts struck out of the middle have a soft, muted sound and feel. As you move more to the heel and toe of the putter face (of which there is a lot to hit!), the sound becomes more metallic and pingy. This leads to those putts feeling firmer than ones out of the middle. 

I’m thoroughly enjoying the sound/feel of this putter.

Basic Characteristics - 5/5 Stars

The strength of this putter is its outstanding distance control. Given a few minutes to get a feel for the greens, I’m confident I will leave almost all of my putts within a 2-3 foot circle of the hole (that is, if they don’t go in!). It does not seem to matter if I don’t hit a putt just right - distances are repeatable and insulate against my stroke being imperfect.

There is definitely something to the lie-angle balance technology, but you have to be careful not to manipulate the club with your hands. Coming from a standard putter, it took a few practice sessions to eliminate my hands from causing rotation of the face.

I went up to a 36 inch putter to alleviate some of the stress on my lower back. This has been a resounding success. I have practiced a lot since receiving the putter (much more than I had all season up to that point) and have no back pain whatsoever. I am more upright in my stance and my eyes now rest about one-to-two inches inside the ball at address.

Miscellaneous - 5/5 Stars

The included leather headcover is very high quality. It has very strong closure magnets but is still easy to put on and take off, appears to be made from quality materials and the embroidered L.A.B. logo is top notch. 

To attach my Arccos putter sensor to the Press II grip, I had to take a small drill bit and deepen the hole at the end of the grip. I’ll admit it was a little unnerving to take a power tool to a brand new $700 putter.

On Course Performance - 5/5 Stars

With the nice fall weather holding on as long as it has this year, I’ve had more opportunities to play than I anticipated when starting this post. I ended up squeezing in a total of four rounds (54 tracked holes) with the L.A.B. The results were very promising.

 

The four rounds were the best putting performances of my season! And that was despite playing courses I hadn’t previously played more than once during the year.

In 54 holes I tallied only two three-putts, for a three-putt percentage of 3.7 percent. In comparison, my final 54 holes with the Spider X yielded five three putts, and I recorded 11 three-putts over 36 holes at one point during the last week of the #CobraConnect challenge.

Although I have no on course data to support this claim, my second putts are also of much more makeable distance. It would have not been uncommon in the past for my second putt to be four feet or longer. With the L.A.B. so many of my second putts are tap-ins.

“Early” Overall Score - 4.5/5 Stars

Yeah, the L.A.B. DF 2.1 is an expensive piece of golf equipment. However, if current trends hold, the L.A.B. will be a major reason for me finally staying in the single digits. I have not tried/tested/purchased another piece of equipment that has made such a dramatic change to my game in such a short period of time.

[GolfSpy MPR]

Really, really looking forward to following along on this.

[dlow206]

Following. Im gaming the DF 2.1 as well

[edingc]

10 minutes ago, GolfSpy MPR said:

Really, really looking forward to following along on this.

Another putter for your collection? 

I only had about 25 minutes with it this morning, but I can say it feels really nice and puts an excellent roll on the ball. I'm sure it is a honeymoon period, but I think the Press grip will be a big help to my distance control. Still some figuring out to do, but in general it appeared my distance control was much improved. Getting the correct distance is another ballgame, and something I'm still working on. 

[Berg Ryman]

I'll be paying attention to you @edingc since I was also in the LAB thread discussing going this direction as I begin Putter Quest Winter 2020

[GolfSpy MPR]

35 minutes ago, edingc said:

Another putter for your collection? 

I only had about 25 minutes with it this morning, but I can say it feels really nice and puts an excellent roll on the ball. I'm sure it is a honeymoon period, but I think the Press grip will be a big help to my distance control. Still some figuring out to do, but in general it appeared my distance control was much improved. Getting the correct distance is another ballgame, and something I'm still working on. 

You've already mentioned my biggest obstacle on the LAB putters: the price is quite prohibitive. At some point, though, I think my circumstances (money, trip to Minneapolis, etc.) for me to do an Edel fitting.

One question about what you've posted so far: do you find it concerning that the phone fitting adjusted your lie angle, and then once you receive the putter, you're slightly toe up? It seems to me that perhaps the in person fitter might have had this one correct.

[Vegan_Golfer_PNW]

I am going to follow as well. I consider myself a good putter but anything that can make it easier is worth it in my book. 

[edingc]

6 hours ago, GolfSpy MPR said:

You've already mentioned my biggest obstacle on the LAB putters: the price is quite prohibitive. At some point, though, I think my circumstances (money, trip to Minneapolis, etc.) for me to do an Edel fitting.

One question about what you've posted so far: do you find it concerning that the phone fitting adjusted your lie angle, and then once you receive the putter, you're slightly toe up? It seems to me that perhaps the in person fitter might have had this one correct.

I think the the toe being up is a flaw in my setup. I have a tendency to really allow my hands to drop low and to bring the club on a strong arc inside. Setting up with the DF flat really gets my hands in a better spot and my stroke gets a lot more SBST. 

Matt from L.A.B. mentioned he sees the hands drop a lot in the in person fittings. Because the fitting putter has the moveable lie angle, he said people just get their hands really low when there is no resistance to doing so. 

I was very impressed on the putting green today, and it kills me that I will likely be waiting months before I can really give it a proper test on course.

 

[GolfSpy_BOS]

Looking forward to seeing your results with this one Cody!

My putter was fit very flat too (67*) and it feels so much better to me than a stock putter.

I hope you have some great results with this one!

[edingc]

First thing I've noticed is a sound difference between indoor and outdoor practice. Have you noticed anything, @dlow206? I felt like on the putting green yesterday the sound had a little bit of a "ping" to it, where as indoors it seems to be more of a muted crack.

The feel seemed to change a little bit too, I'm thinking the sound had a lot to do with that. The face feels firmer indoors than it did outside. I'm using a MTB-X indoors, was using ProV1x and ProV1 outside, so should be reasonably the same.

Of course, all early observations. I had a really good session this morning on the Exputt hitting 0-20 foot putts. 

[dlow206]

3 hours ago, edingc said:

First thing I've noticed is a sound difference between indoor and outdoor practice. Have you noticed anything, @dlow206? I felt like on the putting green yesterday the sound had a little bit of a "ping" to it, where as indoors it seems to be more of a muted crack.

The feel seemed to change a little bit too, I'm thinking the sound had a lot to do with that. The face feels firmer indoors than it did outside. I'm using a MTB-X indoors, was using ProV1x and ProV1 outside, so should be reasonably the same.

Of course, all early observations. I had a really good session this morning on the Exputt hitting 0-20 foot putts. 

I guess I haven't paid much attention to the sound. As long as its not an abnormal sound, I tend to not even think about the sound.

Today was the second round for me gaming the DF 2.1, but first time with the Stability shaft installed. Greens were slower than normal due to the rain, so had to hit putts harder than normal. My short putting was a lot better than normal. My lag putting was pretty good, but still tend to hit my putts a little long with the DF 2.1. Still getting accustomed to distance control. 

[edingc]

I've had about three hours on the putting green with the L.A.B. now. I'm very impressed.

I have not rolled a putter as beautifully in some time. This thing puts an incredible roll on the ball. Because of the quality of roll, my distance control has gotten much better. I do think this might be more of a function of the grip than the putter however. With my Spider X I would forward press but routinely miss the middle of the face leading to all sorts of distance issues. Because the Press II grip automatically puts a consistent forward press, there's no variability in the setup.

@ChasingScratch commented on my Instagram post and made a good observation - you really just need to line up the ball and swing. The ball starts on the line so well. The practice green I frequent is not very flat and quick compared to my home course and I've just been dropping putts from all over the place.

The sound and feel is nice. Putts directly out of the middle of the face create a very muted sound and a very nice soft feeling at impact (similar to hitting the sweet spot on the Spider X insert). Putts hit a little more out of the heel or toe are more "pingy," but the hold their line well and go similar distances as balls out of the middle. 

Regarding the size, it's confidence inspiring. You literally cannot miss the face because the head is so large.

Some of my improvement probably can be attributed to my increased practice with the Exputt, but today I just lined up my putts, gauged my speed and let it go and had a lot of success.

I have 18 holes scheduled tomorrow at a course I've never played. We'll see how I feel after the putter's maiden voyage under pressure...

[yungkory]

Glad you pulled the trigger dude, I'm excited to see your results. I'll keep you in my thoughts as I continue to play golf for the next 5 months in shorts and 80F weather

[THEZIPR23]

 Very nice Cody. Glad to see the distance improvements right out of the gate. That’s huge!

[dlow206]

One thing I have noticed with the DF 2.1 is that if you start with the putter flat (neither toe up or toe down) and you make a good stroke without your hands ending up higher or lower at impact, then the putter really does square itself up. If for some reason you previously manipulated your prior putter and your hands end up higher or lower at impact for some reason, then you are likely going to push or pull your putts.

@edingc - have you noticed this at all?

[Quigleyd]

I recently decided that I was tired of missing putts and put one of these in the bag.. Its big, its ugly, it works. 

[edingc]

5 hours ago, dlow206 said:

One thing I have noticed with the DF 2.1 is that if you start with the putter flat (neither toe up or toe down) and you make a good stroke without your hands ending up higher or lower at impact, then the putter really does square itself up. If for some reason you previously manipulated your prior putter and your hands end up higher or lower at impact for some reason, then you are likely going to push or pull your putts.

@edingc - have you noticed this at all?

Yes, I've experienced this already. When I get my hands too low I tend to pull the putts. The head stays square but because the head is toe up, the face is pointing left of the ideal target line. 

[edingc]

First round with the L.A.B. DF is in the books. Based on the Arccos data the maiden voyage tied for my best putting performance all season.

28 putts!

Total number of putts is a little misleading as I only hit two greens today, but 28 putts is the fewest number of putts I've ever recorded in a round. That's certainly no coincidence. 

I lipped out two putts as well, one from about four feet, so I wasn't far from even fewer total putts.

The greens weren't in the best shape, some were much quicker than others, probably because it appeared like they aerated a few greens at a time over the past month. Some were completely healed, some were still quite damaged, and a few were pretty sandy. Still, the DF put an excellent roll on the ball and my distance control was pretty spot on.

I really, really like the Press II grip. I just made sure I took a nice relaxed grip and let the head do all of the work. It really does feel effortless to keep the face square to the target line.

I also used the DF from the fairway and fringe multiple times, places where I'd usually chip. I was very impressed with the ability to get the ball up and rolling on the fairway/collar quickly while providing consistent distance control.

Knowing me, this is probably a honeymoon period. But I had a ton of confidence in the L.A.B. today and rolled in a couple 10+ footers with ease.

[AcesAndHoles]

Love the feedback. Loved the putter when I tried a stock one but the price is terrifying. Looking forward to hear the rest of your findings. 

[edingc]

I put my last round of the season in the books last night, walking a quick nine on a cloudy and chilly afternoon at probably the worst-conditioned course in the area. They've had a lot of issues with their greens, about half of each green is dead and bumpy, which made putting and chipping an adventure.

Still, I didn't three putt and recorded a wonderful birdie on No. 3 with an uphill 15 footer with some left-to-right break. I found the L.A.B. continued to help me put a consistent roll and distance on the ball despite the greens. There was only one green where I completely misread the speed/distance and left myself a 10ish-footer to save par, which I confidently rolled in center cup. Otherwise, holes 1, 2, 4, 5, 8 and 9 were all two-putt holes from 8-25 feet with nothing more than about 18 inches to tap-in the second putt. Stoked.

The initial 27 holes with the L.A.B. were pretty much the best putting efforts of the season for me, especially in terms of three-putt avoidance. Twenty-seven holes without a three-putt is rare for me, especially since I had not played either of these two courses this season until now.