L.A.B. DF3 Putters - 2024 Forum Review

[MattWillGolf]

I have my appointment with Club Champion on Wednesday, June 5th. Looking forward to comparing the DF3 to the Evnroll ER11v.

[HikingMike]

On 5/31/2024 at 11:13 AM, Cfhandyman said:

My Putter Fitting/testing using Quintic at TXG (Club Champion Canada)

Fitter: Mike Martysiewicz, Director of Club building and fitting as well as co host of their Youtube channel together with Ian Fraser, GM Canada.  Mike is very knowledgeable, also benefitting from working with Ian for ten years. Mike’s specialty is wedges and putters. I’ve been going to them for years and more importantly, implicitly trust their advice and recommendations.  My game has benefited considerably as a result.

 

 Goals: To determine which putter works best for me through testing on Quintic via putter fitting/testing.  Which putter provides the best face control as this accounts for 83-90% of the start direction of the putt.  Which putter provides optimal face control, launch, roll, spin, etc.  While my putters have been fitted, they have never been tested head to head on Quintic. Based on this, what will TXG recommend?    Right now, I’m relying on what I see on course and from my Arccos data.    Based on my on course data (Arccos), they rank as follows:

LAB DF3 (slightly) > Evnroll Tourstroke > Scotty Cameron Phantom X11 > Odyssey Exo 7

My comparator putters. Both the Scotty and Evnroll are very very good. Based on my on course Arccos data, where the Evnroll wins out, is that I can more often make more long putts (>20’) with the Evnroll.  Switching back to the Evnroll gravity grip already has made a significant difference.

 The lads ready for battle

The Scotty beat out the Odyssey for the same reason.    With each switch, I’ve gained about 0.5 stokes based on strokes gained information from Arccos. All three have stability shafts and Evnroll gravity grip. The Scotty and Odyssey have the original stability shaft which is heavier than the stability tour in the Evnroll which is a more streamed down version. The extra weight of the shaft is somewhat offset by the counterbalanced Evnroll gravity grip which has a 10”, 70 gm steel rod inserted in the grip.  

   After seeing what the L.A.B. can do 

VERSUS  

 Testing on Quintic at TXG

I was upfront with them, in that I told them (Ian and Mike), I had been selected by MyGolfSpy to test the L.A.B. DF3 putter and I wanted to do a putter fitting/testing versus my comparator putters.  Mike commented on the impressive collection of putters and he thought this would be a good and fun test.

 

The results: The putters were tested in the following order.  L.A.B. DF3, then Scottie Cameron Phantom X11, then Odyssey Exo 7, then Evnroll Tourstroke and then back to L.A.B.  Each putter was calibrated on the Quintic system prior to testing.  Ball and machine were calibrated prior to testing.

Overall results. This is how Mike ranked the putters after watching me testing on Quintic and reviewing the results:

Quintic results summary:

                 

 

Legend LAB (top green and bottom orange, Scotty (second and purple), Odyssey (third and blue).   The results In ascending order

Fourth place: The Odyssey, overall was good (slightly open at impact, stability kept it in check.   Face angle on average 1.18 degrees, face rotation 0.07, twist 0.04, launch 3.33, attack 2.38

 

Third Place: The Scottie was very good, slightly closed overall at impact, again stability kept it in check Face angle on average 0.52 degrees, face rotation – 26, twist 0.04, launch 2.85, attack 2.40

 

Second place: The Evnroll excellent, the slant neck promotes hands forward and overall excellent results. Excellent face control, Rolled in putt after putt. But not quite at good/consistent as lab. Where the lab took it was it was consistently excellent as it related to launch, face angle, etc.. It also got the ball rolling much sooner than the Evnroll. Face angle on average 0.60 degrees, face rotation  – 48, twist 0.07, launch 3.45, attack 2.27

 

First place and winner: L.A.B. DF3 – superb.  Like the Evnroll, rolled in putt after putt. What the LAB did exceptionally well was face angle control giving elite tour level readings. Also launch, roll and spin were all very good. It consistently resulted in an almost square face at impact, highlighted by the following with the DF3 demonstrating a tour level face angle of 0.17.  This would equate to me making a 30 foot putt. A number of values in the blue. It put on a clinic. Even when I got a bit handsy, it still held very steady.    Face angle on average 0.03 degrees, face rotation -20, twist -0.24, launch angle 1.64 degrees, attack 1.32 degrees and most often got the ball rolling the soonest.

 

Shafts: Both the stability shaft and TPT are excellent at minimizing twist and work as advertised

What was very nice to see and validating was that the performance I saw on testing on Quintic, matched what I saw on the golf course.

Mike’s (TXG fitter) recommendation: “Chris after watching you, seeing and evaluating the results, it is very clear and as a friend just put the L.A.B. in the bag and leave it there. It is so good for you.”

 So what makes the L.A.B. DF3 so good?. Here are my thoughts: It’s actually a combination of factors. One is the design and technology of lie angle balancing and returning the club face square to impact. Another contributing factor is the forward press grip. What I hadn’t realized with Scottie and Odyssey is that my hands were not forward while putting and it had an impact. Then the light went off in my head. Of course, the Evnroll and L.A.B. both had you with your hands forward. Mike recommended keeping the Evnroll to practice and train with as it keeps my hands forward by design.

Last piece of the puzzle is the shaft. The TPT shaft, like the stability are rigid and superb at preventing twisting.  So, when you take the head, centre shaft plus forward press grip, plus superb shaft, stiff and very low in torque and then balance it, you are left with something quite special.  In my hands, it’s the real deal and complete package.

Decision time: So after nine rounds of play which to date has shown a 0.5 stroke improvement in strokes gained (Arccos), as well as more one putts and birdies over the Evnroll AND putter testing on Quintic which demonstrated elite face control, the L.A.B. DF3 goes into the bag.  For now.  I say for now as I still want to get at least 20 rounds of data on the L.A.B. DF3 and then compare again.

Wow, that was amazing. Well done with that testing! It would be hard to argue with that, what, 72% better face angle?

Wait was face angle on the LAB 0.17 or 0.03?

[Cfhandyman]

47 minutes ago, HikingMike said:

Wow, that was amazing. Well done with that testing! It would be hard to argue with that, what, 72% better face angle?

Wait was face angle on the LAB 0.17 or 0.03?

The average for the L.A.B. was 0.03 with a minimum of -0.9 and a maximum of 0.75. The 0.17 degree face angle reading was the first putt with the L.A.B. DF3 where it basically threw down the gauntlet and said top this.  It was impressive. 

[HikingMike]

1 hour ago, Cfhandyman said:

The average for the L.A.B. was 0.03 with a minimum of -0.9 and a maximum of 0.75. The 0.17 degree face angle reading was the first putt with the L.A.B. DF3 where it basically threw down the gauntlet and said top this.  It was impressive. 

Ok, gotcha. That would be like 94% better face angle on average, kind of incomprehensible at that point  
 

Alright, you have face angle varying in either direction, positive/negative. So numbers-wise it might have some more meaning with a standard deviation of all the hits for each to compare also, to see which are tighter (face angle dispersion?), rather than considering how they average out to close to zero since that could potentially be due to luck. But anyway, your results are certainly speaking for themselves!

Oh hey I see the table image does have a standard deviation for face angle on those, “SD”. They are all quite close (LAB, Scotty, Odyssey) in standard deviation of face angle, with the Odyssey slightly tighter. Since the Odyssey’s average was more off, that shows the Odyssey must’ve  skewed one direction consistently. But they’re all very similar in SD, and with that, the LAB’s win in average face angle is confirmed impressive  

[Cfhandyman]

Week 6 Regular summary  -  L.A.B. DF3, 

@GolfSpy MPR Halfway through indoor data collection!

Made a couple of small tweaks to the scoring system, raising the value of Blast and ExPutt a little higher than HackMotion and being a little more forgiving for distance control on the longest putts in ExPutt.

@Cfhandyman Loving it that you’re testing the putters on three different systems. Will be most interested to know which system correlates best or helps you the most with on course putting.  Well done. 

@Rearviewmirror How have the testers gotten on with lag putting? It's something I still struggle with using my Mezz, and will often leave the ball 7-8ft short on a 40ft putt

@CfhandymanIt’s something you have to practice. Initially, I had the same experience leaving the ball 7-8 feet short on 40 foot putts. Then I started practicing 10, 20, 30 and 40 foot drills learning how far back I needed to take the club to achieve the desired mark.  As a result, it’s getting much better. 

@GolfSpy MPR Just finished my fourth 9-hole round with the DF3. I'm getting more and more comfortable with it, and the on-course results show it. Today's round—at least in terms of putting—was so solid. Arccos had me as losing 0.0 strokes compared to scratch, and for a guy hovering around a 10 handicap, I'll definitely take that.  

@CFreddie Absolutely love this - while you are already a pretty good putter, its awesome to see the DF3 make you even better.  I'm certain once the honeymoon phase is over for all of us, we will settle into a pretty good improvement overall.

@curtdusoleil Cut to today, when I went back to the same store for more regripping. This time, they had a DF 3...and wow. I absolutely love how it feels. I'm guessing it was just a stock setup (35") but it seemed to perfectly fit my putting stroke. I love how it never feels like the head turns at all. While I love my putter, I can tell that I'm manipulating the club face to stay square. With the DF 3, it felt effortless.  I may have to take the plunge.

@CFreddie Great write up - the face manipulation is def something I’ve noticed when switching back and forth with my gamer. I agree with the term “effortless” - it’s something I’ve had to very much adjust to on the green with the DF3.  No more swing thoughts…just step up, apply a (light grip), take the club away, and let it do its own thing. 

@Bucky CC One of my Array tests was hitting 8' putts on the Perfect Practice Mat.  This is a straight putt following the lines so it's not exactly the toughest putt in the world, but the pressure does ramp up as your consecutive makes climb.  The maximum number of 8 footers I made in a row with the Array was around 17 and with the Odyssey 31.  On my very first night with the DF3 I made 37 eight footers in a row.

@Cfhandyman That’s a very nice collection of putters. One thing I’m finding is the exceptional face angle control of the L.A.B. DF3. 37 straight 8 footers in a row is impressive. Wait until you get it out onto the greens 

@Cfhandyman Mini review of Quintic ball roll system (Best post)

Part 1 – overview

Part 2 – face angle  

Part 3 –

@Jim Shaw very well presented @Cfhandyman and the tips to deliver a square face is awesome. I would be intrigued with the percentages made by distance of the top 10 finishers in tournaments. 

@CFreddie Thanks as always @Cfhandyman  These overviews came at a perfect timing - I'll be doing a "fitting" at my local Club Champion tomorrow afternoon where I'll be able to compare Chewie to my current gamer.  Can't WAIT to see this breakdown on both putters

@jbern Great Quintic overview @Cfhandyman! A putter fitting class summarized into 3 posts! I've always been curious what an elite putt/putter looks like with the data. On the surface, it looks like you're taking a flat piece of metal and forcing the ball to roll towards the target, but there really are a lot of factors that contribute to a quality and consistent putt

@Cfhandyman In researching for this, I also have the best make percentages from the 2024 PGA tour data.  See below

 

@cnosil You can get that information here:  https://www.pgatour.com/stats/putting

@Braehead Hence the old saying "There's three types of lies.  Lies, damn lies and statistics"  - Best line of the week

@Cfhandyman That's the line of the week. LMAO.

@GolfSpy MPR One guy posted last night his own custom work, and it's glorious:

As for me: I just ordered a red and a black leather sheet from Amazon. I'm thinking about working up my own Shazam lightning bolt cover.

  Best photo

@jbern No way... that baseball glove one is blowing my mind!! Baseball was my sport in high school and I've been collecting baseball gloves of family members (if they'll donate them to me). It would be awesome to make one of my old ones into a putter cover!

@Rearviewmirror Honestly putting has been the most inconsistent part of my game since returning (after a 13yr layoff) last summer. I'll go through periods with 1-3 three putts (what I would consider "good" for me) and then have rounds with 4-6 three putts or occasionally as high as 8 (!). Often this will be in rounds where I would otherwise have broken 80 or I'm bleeding putts on GIRs to lose out on easy pars.

I've done a lot of ExPutt work, but I've struggled to take it to the course when the pace either changes a lot from my home course (probably 8/9 stimp) or there are a lot of pace variations between greens. I will have some rounds where it clicks and tempo focus will unlock everything dying to 1ft, then other rounds where getting it to the hole feels virtually impossible. I've worked a lot on not decelerating and keeping a 1, 2 tempo, but even then I will have rounds where all lag putting skill abandons me.

I am wondering if the slightly hotter DF3 face would help me get closer to the hole

@Cfhandyman

  Best photo

@TSauerCarter from L.A.B. mentioned they are supposed to be restocking these, so keep an eye out! I have one on my Link and it's just as good of quality as the standard one.

@Rearviewmirror FYI the blacked out head cover was just somebody who took a black Sharpie to the normal headcover. Someone did the same with a yellow sharpie to create a green version   Best photo

@Steve FHold the phone! That's awesome: and I mean both! As I have said before, I'm a complete sucker for "basic black".... and that, while some may think it disappears, gives a look I really like! I may have to toy with that black Sharpie thing!  The repurposed baseball glove is just brilliant! I love that as well! I may have to get several head covers for one club! I also agree with @Cfhandyman: I'd go with the LAB Rat and cheese cover... so I may have to have multiple covers!

@CFreddieJust got back from my fitting at Club Champion - Best post

 

I'll get the unfortunate part out of the way first: the Quintic machine was down so we could only get data on a SAM - not a deal breaker, but I was bit disappointed given @Cfhandyman write-up.  Regardless, the results were VERY surprising to say the least..

 

As far as launch, since my normal greens are somewhere in the middle (not too fast, not too slow), Sam / SAM informed me that my launch angle was somewhere in the middle, a good sign that I'm not hitting up / down on the ball too much at impact.

   

Another interesting view - since my gamer is completely stock, this wasn't surprising to see my lie angle a bit off.  With the LAB, this (hopefully) should be addressed through their remote fitting process.  And while I'm not hitting it square in the center, at least I'm consistent, right? 

All-in-all, not a bad start, especially with my gamer which has definitely been in the dog house recently.  SAM assigns a "overall consistency" score at the end of the session, which aggregates all of these different metrics into an easy to understand score.  It rated me at a 68%, which is a bit below a good score of 75% (not sure how thats considered "good", but thats a different argument).  

@Cfhandyman Chris, @CFreddie, outstanding review and it provided you with some useful information. It will be interesting to see how Chewie does and if it correlates to what you are actually seeing on the golf course both for your gamer and the esteemed Chewie.

@CFreddie – part 2 fitting Best post

Chewie Picking up after hitting 7/7 with my Scotty, I (and probably Chewie) felt the temperature in the room increase quite a bit - this should be a slam dunk, right?  My face angle is definitely 0 degrees, right? I should EASILY hit 75%+ on consistency score, right?  Boy, what I was wrong...   I'll cut to the chase, Chewie did not perform well...at all.  After leaving my first putt WELL short of the hole, I only holed 3 more.  Below is a summary of my stats:

Face angle open almost a full degree more - not ideal

     

  

  

Finally, not only did I meet / exceed my score, I got MUCH worse:

Overall, I'm not freaking out - I need a lot more time on a putting green with Chewie (unfortunately, I've had a bit of travel recently) so I was coming in pretty cold.  Regardless, I'm super happy to go through the process - definitely a eye-opening set of results (both good and bad).  Sharing some other pictures from my fitting - if you have any questions...ask away!

  Best photo   

@Rearviewmirror Interesting write up. Consensus back when I looked into this was that attaching the SAM unit might throw off the lie angle balance. It’s a bummer you couldn’t use Quintic to verify that finding. 

@CfhandymanInteresting results to say the least. If memory serves me correct, Club Champion in the US uses SAM as their putting launch monitor, while in Canada they use Quintic.  Are you seeing the same results on course, or is this more of an anomaly and more practice/learning time with Chewie is needed?  Thanks for sharing. 

@CFreddie I def think it was an abnormality - I rolled a couple putts after the session with Chewie and proceeded to make 10 in a row . Def not throwing in the towel at the moment - just a bad session altogether and I’ll move on. 

@jbern It's a little unfortunate that Chewie didn't perform during that set of puts for the SAM, but hopefully the on-course performance will show different results! I can also see why putting a device on the LAB would throw things off a bit. I tried to mount my phone to the club for a video and it threw things WAY off!

I will say, Chewie looks fantastic! The cappuccino color with the 3 dots should be a go-to, because it's great! Especially like it against the green grass!

@MattWillGolf Today’s round with Nemo took a bit of a step backwards. I one putted the first hole but the chip to 1 foot was the win there. Them came a string of 3-putts broken up by the occasional 2-putt. 22 putts for 9 holes today. There were five 3-putts, three 2-putts and one 1-putt. The greens on the back 9 were just sprayed and I couldn’t get a feel for the speed for the life of me.

@GolfSpy MPR ARG. Just finished a data collection session with the Edel. Saved all the data from HackMotion and Blast. And then I shut down the ExPutt before taking pictures of the results screen to putt in my spreadsheet.  Looks like I'll do that one again tomorrow.

@Steve F So, I had the opportunity to play twice this past weekend, and I feel like @MattWillGolf a bit. Setback a bit from how I was feeling last week. Avg putts way up from a week ago, scores way up from a week ago...

@Cfhandyman L.A.B. DF3  – Is there a learning curve to using it – YES    Best post

 

@Rob Person Great overview!  So is it safe to say that with LAB putter you will have to adapt to the putter and adjust your preferred putting tendencies to use it successfully?

@jbern In my opinion, yes.

I'm going to talk about this quite a bit in my first impressions post, but I had to change everything to get comfortable with the LAB. Ball position forward, stance change (feet closer together), grip change (big time), arm hang change, trigger change and feeling during the stroke has changed also. It should also be noted that I'm going from and armlock to a counterbalance, so I expected changes, but I think that for anyone getting the putter there will be some changes that need to be made to get the most out of it.

@Steve F @Rob Person, great question. From my perspective the answer is "yes." When you pick up the DF3, you can perceptibly feel ... nothing. Except the weight, which there, too, is lighter than my Spider.
There is no twist or turn of the putter once you've lifted it off the ground. My Spider, when you lift it you can feel the head turning slightly right: there is a noticeable, to me, light "tug". So, yes, it is and has taken me some getting used to. I might also add that the face of the Mamba feels "crisper" to me: the ball seems to jump off the face compared to the Spider. 

@Braehead I found and watched those videos too.  I changed my grip, my stance, my ball position - but then I couldn't see my line any more and my confidence evaporated.  Standing in my putting stance, without a club and positioning the ball where I best see my line, I need it to be under my right eye (but about half a ball to a ball up my forehead, if that makes sense).  That's the total opposite of what L.A.B. recommend.  Are you fitting the club to the player or the player to the club?  

I agree the putter works better as described above - but I don't! 

@Cfhandyman @Rob Person in my case, not really.  I already play the ball slightly forward of center.  I did lighten the grip pressure but that also helped my gamer. The pistol grip and my Evnroll gravity grip are similarly shaped and the TPT shaft and my stability shaft are very similar, so the transition was very easy.  Only initial surprise was distance control with my first few putts coming up significantly short. However after distance/lag control practice, got it dialed in.  Based on the on course experience, the face control of the L.A.B. Is excellent. Quintic test results coming out on Friday. 

@GolfSpy MPR 

What I have to say right now is that my distance control is as dialed in as I can remember. As I noted earlier in the thread, it is going to be difficult for me to separate out the benefits of the DF3 vs the benefits of regular lag putting practice using the ExPutt simulator. In favor of the DF3, right now, is that I'm still shuffling among the Edel, Evnroll, and the L.A.B. in my indoor data gathering, so it's not as though I've just been grinding with the DF3 alone on my distance control.

The numbers show me that it's time for me to break out the PuttOut again, and work on getting perfect putts in the 4–10' range.

@jbern I now have Exputt Analysis scores with the DF3 of 68.5, 67.7, 69.7, 70.2 and 72.8. Again, the general trend line is continuing up, which is great news!

I took @cnosil's advice and tips from his Sacks Parente putter test and also did a session on the Exputt of random distances from 5 to 50 feet and logged all the data in excel to analyze things on my own. The results and graph's from that session will be coming soon!

@GolfSpy MPR Through six indoor sessions with each putter:

 

Observations:

Evnroll continues to maintain a solid lead (it scores almost about as much above the DF3 as the DF3 does above the Edel). It also leads in all three categories.

It's biggest lead, though, remains in HackMotion, which isn't shocking: you'd like to think that an armlock putter would do really well in wrist stability. I mentioned in an earlier post that I tweaked the overall scoring formula. Originally, it was an average of each gadget's score. Now it's 20%/40%/40%. I decreased the HackMotion score for two reasons. One is that, while wrist stability matters, it should matter as much as the stroke outcome. Second, because HM is only tracking two number (flexion/extension and ulnar/radial), and I'm tracking multiple data points for Blast and ExPutt, those two numbers were having a disproportionally high impact on the overall scoring.

Edel, so far, seems to show no particular trend up or down (the line chart reflects the scoring in each of the six sessions so far). The other two might show a slight upward trajectory overall, though the sample size makes this tough to consider.

Although I have the screens for Blast and HackMotion available to me when compiling data, my sole focus in each 18-putt sessions is to get each putt as close to the hole on ExPutt as possible. When I finish collecting data, my intent is to continue to use this setup, but to focus on practice with the DF3 to get my numbers as close to my ideal parameters as possible. In particular, right now, all three putters are doing poorly on overall putt time. I'd prefer my stroke to take about .9 seconds; all three putters right now are close to 1.0 seconds, which is too slow.

@CFreddie Great news for the broomstick fans out there...

@Josh Parker I have been waiting on this news. They also released green for the rest of the line up.

See you next week for Week 7 summary

[Rob Person]

What a week in LAB world!!!  Thanks for the updates @Cfhandyman !!

[Middler]

I just bought a DF3, but I won't pass judgement until I've played with it for at least 4-6 weeks. I've had two bad putting rounds with it, and two good ones so far - that's probably not much different than any other putter I've owned. I don't feel like I was guiding/manipulating my past putters, so I am not getting a night & day feel difference with the DF3 as some have reported - but only time will tell if I can just let the LAB concept work...

Edited June 2 by Middler

[Rearviewmirror]

1 hour ago, Middler said:

I just bought a DF3, but I won't pass judgement until I've played with it for at least 4-6 weeks. I've had two bad putting rounds with it, and two good ones so far - that's probably not much different than any other putter I've owned. I don't feel like I was guiding/manipulating my past putters, so I am not getting a night & day feel difference with the DF3 as some have reported - but only time will tell if I can just let the LAB concept work...

Did you get fitted?

[satingolfer]

Speaking of practice!! I have been using a tool from Leadbetter , called Straight Away, great tool to help with your take away. It’s really helpful to keep club on line. I noticed a difference in my practice and playing trajectories. I like to play a mini fade and have pulled it off this past round, nicely. Not being a bragger but!!!!

Recorded 16 putts for 9 holes I felt good about it. Yeah a saving one putt on a par 5 sweating bullets on that down hill left to right breaker say 12/15 foot

[golfguy94]

cfhandyman- I'm curious on your thoughts regarding the alignment aid that you chose.  I'm going to order a LAB putter and I'm between a simple version like their B aid- stright line long and T.  or something similar to yours.  I think it could help in mid to short range but be too much on longer range putts. 

[Middler]

4 hours ago, Rearviewmirror said:

Did you get fitted?

I got fitted for my last Evnroll on SAM Puttlab, so I have a pretty good idea what fits length, lie, weight, etc. I wonder if a conventional fitting at an agnostic source would fit me for a LAB putter? I’ve read quite a few articles from owners who said it took them a long time to adjust to a LAB putter, to quit manipulating the putter like LAB says everyone has in the past. I’m fine with the DF3 I got, if it doesn’t work I’ll move on to something else.

Edited June 2 by Middler

[Rearviewmirror]

3 minutes ago, Middler said:

I got fitted for my last Evnroll on SAM Puttlab, so I have a pretty good idea what fits length, lie, weight, etc. I wonder if a conventional fitting at an agnostic source would fit me for a LAB putter? I’ve read quite a few articles from owners who said it took them a long time to adjust to a LAB putter, to quit manipulating the putter like LAB says everyone has in the past. I’m fine with the DF3 I got, if it doesn’t work I’ll move on to something else.

More that LAB offer free remote fitting, so you have nothing to lose to shoot them a video to confirm the fit. But yes - the torque hangover is real. For some it's weeks, others it's months!

[Cfhandyman]

1 hour ago, golfguy94 said:

cfhandyman- I'm curious on your thoughts regarding the alignment aid that you chose.  I'm going to order a LAB putter and I'm between a simple version like their B aid- stright line long and T.  or something similar to yours.  I think it could help in mid to short range but be too much on longer range putts. 

L.A.B. Offers 30+ alignment aids, but I kept coming back to 2-3 designs. Then we found out that L.A.B. Also has the option for you to combine designs.  So our photo editing wizard, @jbern combined a few designs for us.  So I liked the simplicity of the T, (C), but kept coming back to the arrow (EE).  When combined (EE+C), I really liked how it looked and helps you focus.  On course it works very well. Make sure you do their online fitting to get correct length and lie angle.  I  hope that helps. 

[yungkory]

With how well received this test seems, I may have to order a DF3. The Link experiment is over now and the DF2.1 is back in the bag. Someone talk me out of a DF3

[golfguy94]

3 hours ago, Cfhandyman said:

L.A.B. Offers 30+ alignment aids, but I kept coming back to 2-3 designs. Then we found out that L.A.B. Also has the option for you to combine designs.  So our photo editing wizard, @jbern combined a few designs for us.  So I liked the simplicity of the T, (C), but kept coming back to the arrow (EE).  When combined (EE+C), I really liked how it looked and helps you focus.  On course it works very well. Make sure you do their online fitting to get correct length and lie angle.  I  hope that helps. 

Thanks it does help. I’m waiting on my remote fitting analysis.  There are so many alignment aid options on the DF3. Think I’m going to go with the simple B option though I like what you did. A few of the double letter options are nice. 

[Rearviewmirror]

9 hours ago, yungkory said:

With how well received this test seems, I may have to order a DF3. The Link experiment is over now and the DF2.1 is back in the bag. Someone talk me out of a DF3

I'll get back to you in ~4hrs. I've gone through a Link, Mezz, and now DF3. Mezz I could feel the technology helping, Link didn't do much for me, DF3 feels like a magic wand so far but I want to see how it does over a full round.

[jbern]

9 hours ago, golfguy94 said:

Thanks it does help. I’m waiting on my remote fitting analysis.  There are so many alignment aid options on the DF3. Think I’m going to go with the simple B option though I like what you did. A few of the double letter options are nice. 

If you're thinking about combining two alignment aids, let me know and I can mock them up for you. I still have the photoshop file saved so it goes quick! I actually combined 3 different alignment aids for my build (I, X and G). Enjoy the process!

[jbern]

Great news on the rib injury... I was able to play two 9 hole rounds recently (Thursday and yesterday) and I felt great during the round and just slight rib soreness post round. Big win for me and I'm free to get out as much as possible moving forward!

I think between my two recent outdoor rounds, one previous outdoor round and a lot of time on the Exputt, I have enough time with the DF3 to provide my first impressions. That will be updated on the main testing post soon!

A one word summary of the DF3 during my two recent outdoor rounds: fine. I took some video of my putts during the round from Thursday and I'm trying to edit it to make it mildly viewable and that's taking a bit of time. I'll have my more detailed summary from those two rounds once I get that edited.

[golfguy94]

44 minutes ago, jbern said:

If you're thinking about combining two alignment aids, let me know and I can mock them up for you. I still have the photoshop file saved so it goes quick! I actually combined 3 different alignment aids for my build (I, X and G). Enjoy the process!

Thanks. I appreciate that. I may do that later today or tomorrow when i have some time to get in there. 

[Swood1994]

Likely has been stated somewhere in this thread but any of the testers going from a blade or mid-blade style putter to the DF3 what has been your biggest struggle and what do you see as the biggest advantage? I currently play a Scotty Squareback 2 and recently been toying with an odyssey 7s and the DF3 has been catching my attention due to this thread to switch to bigger mallet style putter.

[golfguy94]

3 hours ago, jbern said:

If you're thinking about combining two alignment aids, let me know and I can mock them up for you. I still have the photoshop file saved so it goes quick! I actually combined 3 different alignment aids for my build (I, X and G). Enjoy the process!

can you do one with B & EE on it ? I'd like to see it.  ii is close to it but I want the full front line thanks!

[Cfhandyman]

1 hour ago, Swood1994 said:

Likely has been stated somewhere in this thread but any of the testers going from a blade or mid-blade style putter to the DF3 what has been your biggest struggle and what do you see as the biggest advantage? I currently play a Scotty Squareback 2 and recently been toying with an odyssey 7s and the DF3 has been catching my attention due to this thread to switch to bigger mallet style putter.

Initial struggle was distance control, specifically putts coming up short. Realized I just need to take it back a little bit further.  Biggest advantage is the exceptional face control, however, you need a light grip and let the putter do it’s thing.  I.e. it will return to square by itself with a pendulum like stroke. So keep the hands quiet and try not to manipulate the face.  Hope that helps. 

[GolfSpy MPR]

16 hours ago, yungkory said:

Someone talk me out of a DF3

Not me.

[Swood1994]

1 hour ago, Cfhandyman said:

Initial struggle was distance control, specifically putts coming up short. Realized I just need to take it back a little bit further.  Biggest advantage is the exceptional face control, however, you need a light grip and let the putter do it’s thing.  I.e. it will return to square by itself with a pendulum like stroke. So keep the hands quiet and try not to manipulate the face.  Hope that helps. 

Thanks! That is a nice summary. I’ve played blades my whole life but am really interested to find out for myself if the LAB lives up to the hype. I’m having trouble not pulling the trigger but really trying to be good lately

[Rearviewmirror]

Bit of a painful first round with the DF3 in the bag, but it's going to be staying in the bag! 

 

It was very much a tale of two nines for me today - 20 putts on the front nine and 17 on the back (5 and 3 greens in reg accordingly).

The DF3 has definitely solved my main challenge with the Mezz - leaving lag putts 7-8 feet short, with only one hole where my second putt was that long (due to blasting it past).

I've started tracking second putt distances (for all putts and also for those putts over 15+ ft). I didn't want to go back and enter it for all scorecards (very manual process) but I have it for my past 6 rounds).

Second Putt Distance (all holes):

Second Putt Distance (15ft+ first putt)

 

My challenge today was that I spent the majority of the round not stroking the ball confidently for short putts - I missed two birdie putts from 6ft, missed two par putts from 3ft and 4ft, and another up and down inside 3ft (pushed it). I was definitely overly tentative on putts inside 6ft, as the DF3 putts such a clean/pacy roll on the ball that I was babying the ball instead of my usual confident "ram it in the cup" approach. By the last four holes of the round I had it locked in, but it was definitely a bit of an ego crusher on a day when I had a lot of solid birdie looks. 

I'm playing again tomorrow, so hopefully I will have worked out the kinks!

[matt_puttercup]

I gave in and bought a DF3 recently from the LAB Outlet (Platinum 35"/69° Accra White).  Rolled a few putts inside of 10 feet on the practice green before going in hot into a round with it.  Was a tail of two nines -- 20 putts on the front, including two 3-putts, vs. 15 putts on the back, including one 3-putt.  Left a lot of lag putts well short, as the heft of it had me a little gun shy, but I'll get used to it with time.  I knew it coming out of my fitting, that getting used to a new ball position (more forward) and eliminating the forward press trigger (due to the offset shaft design), would take some time.  The whole thing I'm looking for is more putts on line, speed will come with time.  In the meantime, I try to get out at least once every two days to do the clock drill from 3-feet: https://www.instagram.com/p/C7w931jK9eE/.  It's helping me to see the alignment of the putter face better as I adjust to the ball position, etc.  Early impressions are that I'm going to be very happy with it.

[Cfhandyman]

So question for the readers.  What does this represent?

A)  The back end of the L.A.B. DF2.1  

B)  A scenic drive from the Upper peninsula of Michigan to Atlanta

C)  A map of the north eastern US

D)  A scenic drive to visit all the testers involved in the L.A.B. DF3

Correct answer is D.

 

 

 

[jbern]

20 hours ago, golfguy94 said:

can you do one with B & EE on it ? I'd like to see it.  ii is close to it but I want the full front line thanks!

Yes, I can do that. I forgot to bring my personal laptop with me today, so I'll do it when I get home this evening.

[Cfhandyman]

MGS Tester of the Week – Jaron Bernath Profile

In a continuing feature of the L.A.B. DF3 putter testing, we are introducing the MyGolfSpy Tester of the week for the L.A.B. DF3.  Each week we will highlight one of the testers. The purpose is to highlight the great work they are doing, but also to get to know them a bit better.  This weeks, tester of the week is none other than,  @jbern

Where he’s from: Another one of the Michigan boys, hailing from Brooklyn, Michigan about an hour southwest of Detroit.  He lives in Michigan, but grew up in Ohio and is an avid OSU Buckeyes fan!

Who he is:  A very busy man, father of 3 young children, our resident photo, video and editing wizard.  He’s coming off a rib injury suffered while diving off the boat to save his sons fishing rod.  Which father can’t relate to that.  He’s also a proud member of the pushcart mafia. 

Current testing: Another one of our counterbalanced testers testing Dory against his trusted Sub70 AL-6 armlock putter.  He’s diligently working to improve his putting and has added the Ex Putt simulator to his repertoire to test “Dory”

      

He took @cnosil's advice and tips from his Sacks Parente putter test and also did a session on the Exputt of random distances from 5 to 50 feet and logged all the data in excel to analyze things on my own.  

           

In summary, this was a decent showing from the DF3. I am a little nervous about comparing the DF3 head to head vs. my armlock because the putting setup and strokes are so different for me. I'm concerned that I'm going to loose my progress with the DF3 by switching back and forth. 

Now that he’s back in action, on course testing results to follow.

 

 

[jbern]

18 hours ago, Rearviewmirror said:

I was definitely overly tentative on putts inside 6ft, as the DF3 putts such a clean/pacy roll on the ball that I was babying the ball instead of my usual confident "ram it in the cup" approach.

This has been me so far on short putts also. Too tentative/nervous on short putts and I need to just let the DF3 work its magic! My miss on shorter putts has been a short push to the right.