L.A.B. Putters - 2023 Forum Review

[GolfSpy SAM]

2 hours ago, Syks7 said:

After a few conversations with Sam Hahn, my Link1 is on order!

We had a great chat about putters, including similarities and differences between other toe up low torque putters on the market and LABs products.  For other low torque toe up putters on the market they get to toe up by either adding a lot of weight to the heel, removing weight from the toe, or some offset shaft balancing.  As it was explained to me, this can result in putters that have much hotter or deader sections of the face based on where the weight is distributed.  Those solutions also do not completely eliminate torque in the putting stroke. 

For LAB, without getting into proprietary details, they have a different technical solution that isn't fully relying on either head weight or  shaft position.  (Lie angle Balance anyone?)  Sam refers to this as the secret sauce and my (layman's) interpretation was that it was a blend of both along with some other undisclosed methodology or testing protocol.  

The other part of the conversation related more technically to build was in regards to swing weight.   In prep for the fitting I was measuring and swing weighting my gamer and decided to do the same with all the putters I've kept in the stable.  Pretty consistently across the board they were all in the mid E range.  I mentioned this to Sam and he suggested that we build the putter at F0 since the brain registers torque as head weight.  Because of this, it might feel too light if we built at my preferred E5!  He mentioned that the DF 2.1 are all mostly built in the G range and people often talk about how light they feel.  

 

 

Great update!

[TSauer]

WOOOO!!

[MattWillGolf]

27 minutes ago, TSauer said:

WOOOO!!

Thats the best update to get. Second only to "Out for Delivery". 

[pozzit]

WOOOO!!

I am jealous but I guess that's just my lack of patience peaking through.

I'm excited any estimated delivery date?

[TSauer]

2 minutes ago, MattWillGolf said:

Thats the best update to get. Second only to "Out for Delivery". 

You betcha! This will be me all day Wednesday until it’s dropped off. 
 

 

He wasn’t joking when he talked about expediting it. I spoke with Sam on Tuesday evening and it’s only Thursday and it’s been built and shipped! 

[TSauer]

5 minutes ago, pozzit said:

I am jealous but I guess that's just my lack of patience peaking through.

I'm excited any estimated delivery date?

Expected to be here Wednesday, the day after all this rain is hopefully over… perfect timing! 

[pozzit]

I just picked up a Puttout to maybe do some challenges with and man from about 5 ft it took easily 15 tries to get it to stay in the hole. Im ready for my new LAB.

[Josh Ross]

Sam is getting serious about these, that thing was built quick!

[TSauer]

Updated my post and added some details about the fitting experience. Check it out!

 

[Josh Ross]

30 minutes ago, TSauer said:

Updated my post and added some details about the fitting experience. Check it out!

 

Killing it so far! Love the details and the presentation of the information. Can't wait to see what you ended up with!

[yungkory]

On 5/1/2023 at 7:15 PM, TSauer said:

 

     Hello friends, and welcome to a review unlike any other (in my best Jim Nantz voice). My name is Tyler Sauer and I hail from a small mid-western town known as Belle, Missouri. I am a 32 year golf junkie that was introduced to the game back in 2015. Spoiler alert, I’ve been addicted ever since. I have been married to my lovely wife for 3 years and we have a 19 month old that keeps us on our toes each and every day. When I was younger, I was dedicated to basketball and nothing else. In fact, golf was never something that interested me. If you would have told me in my early twenties that I’d be this hooked on the game, I would have called you crazy. I joined MGS back in 2016, but I’ve been on a slight hiatus the past couple of years simply due to being busy with our little one and of course the whole winter thing that tends to roll around every eight months or so and forces me to put golf on the back burner. I’m only slightly envious of y’all that get year-round golf weather. Anyway, I’m back baby! Happy to see everyone and excited to interact with all the newcomers I’ve missed during my hibernation.

 

         

 

My hometown course is just a few minutes from my house, and since I work remote, it tends to soak up my lunch hour most days. It’s a relatively short 9-hole track with a couple holes that can really cause some trouble. Ask me how I know. I consider myself a pretty casual golfer, I try to get in 2-3 rounds a week along with some practice time squeezed in there somewhere. If you had to distribute skill points as if you were creating my character, it would look as follows: 

 

 

My putting is usually the one thing that remains pretty steady throughout the season. I would consider myself a good reader of the greens, but I still tend to have those slight misses on either side of the cup. Could that be the putter to blame? Could it be that maybe I’m not as good at reading as I thought? Well, that’s what we’re about to find out. L.A.B. has been in the lab creating something special, claiming you only need the correct line, good speed, and your natural stroke to sink more putts. No longer will you need to worry about returning a square face, as their tech should make it effortless to do so. I plan to put those claims to the test in a 1v1 battle where my Newport 2 squares up against the Link. The plan is to continue what I'm doing now, and that's playing lots of golf, all while paying more close attention to putting stats like SGP as well as recording distances and missed putt data. 

I am truly excited for this heavyweight bout, especially since I’ve never gamed a center shafted putter. And, since we’re on a bit of a scientific showdown I want to leave you all with my hypothesis…

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.  

 

(Bonus shot of my local course that I took with my drone)

 

 

I want to give a quick overview of the fitting experience I had with Sam. To begin with, L.A.B. offers remote fittings if you’re not able to make it to one of the locations that is able to fit you in person. Personally, I think that’s pretty rad! In order to complete the remote fitting, just throw on your golf shoes, record a DTL clip of you putting, and send it in. Of course there are a few other specifics, but that’s the gist of it. After the Facetime with Sam, I slipped on my kicks, busted out the tripod, and sank an imaginary 40 footer… a few times. Normally, you would email the video in and they would analyze it and get back with you. In this case, Sam wanted the video sent directly to him so we could expedite the process. Pretty cool… right?

After sending him the goods, he had a couple of concerns and wanted me to adjust some things. Unbeknownst to me, I was pretty crammed up and my sight line was a little far over the ball. I currently play a 36” putter, but luckily I had a 37” one lying around, as that’s what he wanted me to try out. Back to the tripod we went, relaxed the posture, and focused on keeping the sight line a little inside the hosel. Sam liked the second rendition much better… Now we’re cooking! He gave me the deets on what options he suggested and we rolled with it (ba dum tss). After recording both fittings, I took a look at things and put the images side by side, which made it pretty apparent that I was indeed a little crammed and in an extremely poor position. 

 

            

 

          

 

Of course, getting fit by the CEO of the company you’re getting the putter from is an awesome story. But, what made it extra special was Sam’s passion about the whole experience. He wanted to make sure he was doing everything he could to assure I am going to have the best possible outcome… which is just grand!

I will leave the custom details a mystery for now, at least until the unboxing. That way we're all waiting on the UPS man!

The results of my remote fitting with Sam were pretty solid. I've had a lot of success with the DF vs. other putters that I've gamed prior.

Also, year-round golf weather doesn't guarantee you get to play when  you have an 18-month old in my experience. So, don't get too jealous :). I'm sure you're as stoked as I am for the young one to fall in love with golf and join us on course. I hope every night that my boy takes interest in golf, he likes slapping his plastic club and ball around the living room, so I'm hopeful. Not gonna force him though, I want him to have fun above everything, and when golf isn't fun -- well we've all had those days.

Totally side-tracked, sorry. In any case, curious how well the LAB tech translates to a blade. I wish I could have one of each between the DF, Mezz, and Link -- someone sponsor me pls.

[TSauer]

3 minutes ago, yungkory said:

The results of my remote fitting with Sam were pretty solid. I've had a lot of success with the DF vs. other putters that I've gamed prior.

Also, year-round golf weather doesn't guarantee you get to play when  you have an 18-month old in my experience. So, don't get too jealous :). I'm sure you're as stoked as I am for the young one to fall in love with golf and join us on course. I hope every night that my boy takes interest in golf, he likes slapping his plastic club and ball around the living room, so I'm hopeful. Not gonna force him though, I want him to have fun above everything, and when golf isn't fun -- well we've all had those days.

Totally side-tracked, sorry. In any case, curious how well the LAB tech translates to a blade. I wish I could have one of each between the DF, Mezz, and Link -- someone sponsor me pls.

Yeah, trying to get the little one interested as much as I can. The only downside is, so far it's looking like he's going to be a righty Beyond that, I can't wait until he's old enough to where I'll always have a playing partner.

Regarding the Link, when I was speaking with Sam he mentioned a lot of folks at the facility were impressed with how forgiving it is and that it ended up exceeding their expectations. It's going to be a really fun comparison!

[Syks7]

30 minutes ago, TSauer said:

Yeah, trying to get the little one interested as much as I can. The only downside is, so far it's looking like he's going to be a righty Beyond that, I can't wait until he's old enough to where I'll always have a playing partner.

Regarding the Link, when I was speaking with Sam he mentioned a lot of folks at the facility were impressed with how forgiving it is and that it ended up exceeding their expectations. It's going to be a really fun comparison!

Very, very gently trying to get my little girl interested.  She has a real putter and some plastic clubs and likes setting up the 'green' in the living room to play golf.   The unintended good thing is that she sees dad practice swings around the house all day like a lunatic and has developed a pretty fair copycat swing.  One that seems to be devoid of my bad habits.  Go figure.   Im trying very hard not to push.  

Sam did mention a similar thing to me about the Link.  We were discussing whether to potentially go with a mez instead and after  a bit of chatting he thought about it, it was like something clicked I his head that Link was the way I should go.  He mentioned that the link was more forgiving than earlier versions of the Mez and that it was what we should have built for me to test.

[pozzit]

3 hours ago, Syks7 said:

Very, very gently trying to get my little girl interested.  She has a real putter and some plastic clubs and likes setting up the 'green' in the living room to play golf.   The unintended good thing is that she sees dad practice swings around the house all day like a lunatic and has developed a pretty fair copycat swing.  One that seems to be devoid of my bad habits.  Go figure.   Im trying very hard not to push.  

Sam did mention a similar thing to me about the Link.  We were discussing whether to potentially go with a mez instead and after  a bit of chatting he thought about it, it was like something clicked I his head that Link was the way I should go.  He mentioned that the link was more forgiving than earlier versions of the Mez and that it was what we should have built for me to test.

Ha my 2 year old loves going to the basement to Golf on my simulator. By golf its just try hit ball on any side of the club. @pozzim cut down some old clubs to about 2' and threw some pink grips on them and she just has a blast.

[Groovethumper]

On 5/2/2023 at 1:13 AM, McGolf said:

Who is McGolf?

McGolf is an young golfer at 60 years of age and started golf just as I left the military some thirty plus years ago.  Ive met some of you at the Maryland MGS meet up however I ve made Ohio my home for the last 30 years. I like to think of myself as a casual golfer when I able to get to the grass BUTTTTTTT I am freak when it comes to golf equipment and how they work, if they come in the spec stated etc.

I (we) own and operate McGolf Custom Clubs with Mrs McGolf while still working in the nuclear industry as a director of Emergency services. I am always looking into newer putter technology and styles to see if they really work. We also run a youtube channel dedicated to golf equipment fittings, repairs and reviews. Which will make the review even more interesting to me and hopefully to you.3

How to test this putter?

Testing will be an initial receipt inspection of the parameters. Then a comparison indoors to the gamer which is on a hot streak right now so this should be an awesome trial. I will be using the CAPTO to gather data. but all this doesn't mean diddly unless the ball goes into the hole. I can see a few contests out at the course.

My Game

 Putting be far is the weakest part of my game. I dont switch putters often but when I do its typically after some level of success testing,. Im 80 to 84 for score. A LEFTY and the weather has just turned whoo whoo

Placeholder

Congratulations on the selection! Can't wait to hear your thoughts on this one brother, I'll be looking forward to the Monday web shows.

[ZackS]

After hearing about the fitting experience and hitting some pits with the Link1 in the store the cheapskate part of my brain is already mad at me cause it knows what the rest is thinking

[McGolf]

Sam was willing to take my own recommendations based on being a fitter. I told nope lets go through the process. I want to see how it works and hopefully I will learn a bit.

We got nerdy talking specifications, swing types and how the putters worked etc. i told him my misses. And the video revealed my a little to far from the ball and at a lie 1 degree off my spec.

We went with the recommendations. I have a feeling that I will be choking up just because I know it know. LOL.

He recommended the MEZZ MAX and that's what is ordered. I will say in the custom section where we have the choice of the different slight lines, colors, shafts and grips really give a feeling of a custom putter.

I also convinced him into a video and or live stream. After talking with him I have no doubt the run and gun questions much like the livestream is a great place to start.

Now waiting on the putter.,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

 

[pozzit]

40 minutes ago, McGolf said:

Sam was willing to take my own recommendations based on being a fitter. I told nope lets go through the process. I want to see how it works and hopefully I will learn a bit.

We got nerdy talking specifications, swing types and how the putters worked etc. i told him my misses. And the video revealed my a little to far from the ball and at a lie 1 degree off my spec.

We went with the recommendations. I have a feeling that I will be choking up just because I know it know. LOL.

He recommended the MEZZ MAX and that's what is ordered. I will say in the custom section where we have the choice of the different slight lines, colors, shafts and grips really give a feeling of a custom putter.

I also convinced him into a video and or live stream. After talking with him I have no doubt the run and gun questions much like the livestream is a great place to start.

Now waiting on the putter.,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

 

Look forward to that livestream. Make sure to share the time with everyone here if you do get it setup. 

It's interesting going with his recommendations of the Mezz Max i wonder what specifically got him to that style. Look forward to what's comes out. I know a lot of us are curious on your opinions and experiences. 

[pozzit]

Alright, as I try to wait patiently for the LAB, especially seeing others getting production and shipping notifications. I found some scorecards for this year. I have always tracked # or putts per round but this year was challenged by @pozzim to start tracking putt distance as well. (If only we know how handy this would be). So outside of 36 holes that the card is oddly missing I have 126 holes of data on my current 2-Ball putter. This let me do some pretty easy stroked gained comparison.

With the 2 ball I actually averaged a little better than expected with an average of 34.25 putts per 18 this was 1.82 strokes off scratch golfer for the distances I putted. This will be my benchmark for the LAB, I would consider 34 putts to be a good day for me so if the LAB beats the 2-ball it will have earned it that's for sure.

I did play 27 on a course with very small greens (my longest putt was 27ft) So I will have to repeat this course with LAB.

[Syks7]

It's days like today that it's excrutiating being on the end of the UPS route. 

I can see the truck on the map circling the area as it spirals in toward my house....  Unboxing and images coming soon.    

[Josh Ross]

51 minutes ago, Syks7 said:

It's days like today that it's excrutiating being on the end of the UPS route. 

I can see the truck on the map circling the area as it spirals in toward my house....  Unboxing and images coming soon.    

My LAB is 3-4 weeks out from being delivered . I'm currently watching UPS as well though as they deliver my new fairway wood. Can't wait to see your new putter!

[MattWillGolf]

1 hour ago, Syks7 said:

It's days like today that it's excrutiating being on the end of the UPS route. 

I can see the truck on the map circling the area as it spirals in toward my house....  Unboxing and images coming soon.    

The best update to get really. 

[pozzit]

The best update to get really. 

Its for sure a hell of a lot better then this message

[Syks7]

55 minutes ago, MattWillGolf said:

The best update to get really. 

The biggest problem for me when a new club is on the way is that my desk faces the front yard.  I see every vehicle go by all day.  Every single one makes me look up like I'm Dug the Dog.  Squirrel!!!

[MattWillGolf]

4 minutes ago, Syks7 said:

The biggest problem for me when a new club is on the way is that my desk faces the front yard.  I see every vehicle go by all day.  Every single one makes me look up like I'm Dug the Dog.  Squirrel!!!

[Syks7]

We have liftoff/delivery.  Will add more pics and first impressions in the main post sometime tonight or early tomorrow.

 

 

 

 

[TSauer]

3 minutes ago, Syks7 said:

We have liftoff/delivery.  Will add more pics and first impressions in the main post sometime tonight or early tomorrow.

 

 

 

 

LETS GOOOO! I just got even more excited about tomorrow!

[GolfSpy_APH]

All of you guys with all of the excitement may have lead to me taking a dip into the LAB pool... Not sure when it will show up but was a lot of fun going through the fit process and am very excited for me putter to show up!

[Syks7]

I updated the front page to include my initial impressions.  Link to post here.

Here's some additional photos that are related to that update.

Unboxing

Putter

Head Cover

Comparisons

 

[pozzit]

5 hours ago, Syks7 said:

I updated the front page to include my initial impressions.  Link to post here.

Here's some additional photos that are related to that update.

Unboxing

Putter

Head Cover

Comparisons

 

Glad someone has one in hand. Mine looks like it will be Monday. 

The Link definitely looks nice and is the aesthetic choice of their offering. The shape looks great and traditional but definitely looks a little longer heel to toe and a bit thicker front to back than the Yes(?) Anser putter. I'm glad the first few putts are rolling well, seems to be a touch of a learning curve on how it is swung but really curious to see your results.