New LA Golf Putters

[snowmangolf]

I noticed a few new LA Golf putters available for pre-order online. I think I saw somewhere that they were able to achieve 7000 MOI and the largest sweet spot available. 

 

Has anyone gotten their hands on one of these? Between the descending loft face and MOI that high….. I can’t help but be tempted to pull the trigger on one of these. 

[GrandpaRick]

I've received mine, I think it looks super cool, but no real feedback yet. 

[snowmangolf]

1 hour ago, GrandpaRick said:

I've received mine, I think it looks super cool, but no real feedback yet. 

 

Keep us posted! 

[Pexeter]

Anyone else with a bel-air or Malibu?  I find it odd the shortage of information or video on these.  I was looking at a Malibu-x when they were 4-6 weeks, for some reason I assumed this was a release timeframe and not 'you will receive in 4-6 weeks from order' so I was waiting for the 'release' and now they're 6-8 weeks...

[taoslcl]

Was just going to ask about these. Been looking at Scottie or PLD wide blade and now thinking why not get some tech that might make you putt better for about the same price. I’m mixed on the looks though. Probably something you have to see in person to really gauge. 

[MaineMariner]

I posted this is some other thread, but these are out on the floor at Golf Galaxy now. The fang model sits worse than any putter I've ever tried. At least the putter I tried flopped way open at address.

 

Wasn't a massive fan of how either model looked or felt. Kinda unbelievable given the price, but they have a kind of cheap, janky look and feel to them. Sorta plastic-y, like a toy putter.

 

I will say that the shaft feels really cool. I mean to the touch. It has this rough, grainy matte feel to it. Interesting material.

[snowmangolf]

I pulled the trigger on one. Playing 18 holes tomorrow so let’s see how it goes. Had the opportunity to use it on a practice green and I will say.. very impressed with the distance control. It felt like every putt I hit rolled to the exact same distance. 

 

Here’s a few pics 

[Pexeter]

8 hours ago, MaineMariner said:

I posted this is some other thread, but these are out on the floor at Golf Galaxy now. The fang model sits worse than any putter I've ever tried. At least the putter I tried flopped way open at address.

 

Wasn't a massive fan of how either model looked or felt. Kinda unbelievable given the price, but they have a kind of cheap, janky look and feel to them. Sorta plastic-y, like a toy putter.

 

I will say that the shaft feels really cool. I mean to the touch. It has this rough, grainy matte feel to it. Interesting material.

 

I appreciate that feedback, never heard GG had them.  Do you remember which neck option the mallet you tried had?  Did you try all 3 necks?

[5hort5tuff]

I think its a pretty decent deal to be had for a pytter with high MOI and a premium shaft. You are looking at. $300-400 upcharge from most companies. 

 

I wouldn't buy this putter without rolling it first. It looks a bit odd and may feel a bit weird if I had to guess. 

[snowmangolf]

It definitely feels a bit different than a “regular” premium milled putter. The feel/sound is a little more muted. You can tell when the ball hits the face that most of the putter is made up of something very light in weight…. but the weight and MOI is still there, just located in different places. It’s one of those things where it may not feel as good as a SC or PLD when you first pick it up, especially since most people are used to what they’re used to. But I think with the combination of all the technical advances, people will find that they putt better with it so they’ll adjust to the slightly different feel. 

 

I’m still not convinced that it’ll be my new gamer. But I want to give it a true and honest run because in the short 30 minutes I used it outside on a practice green, I saw some serious consistency with it. After about 5-10 minutes, I wasn’t thinking about the new sound and feel anymore. 

 

I think the combination of their premium graphite shaft, a 7000 MOI head (where I’ve intentionally hit off center putts and they felt exactly the same and rolled the exact same distance) PLUS Sik’s lofted face tech is a pretty awesome trio of modern tech. I’m looking forward to seeing how these compete with the other premium brands in those robot tests where the stroke is exactly the same every time. 

[MaineMariner]

1 hour ago, Pexeter said:

 

I appreciate that feedback, never heard GG had them.  Do you remember which neck option the mallet you tried had?  Did you try all 3 necks?

 

I think they only had the plumber's neck version. I know that's the one I tried, at least.

[MattM97]

I just hope people don't chase the "MOI Dragon" with these putters, yeah MOI helps but at a certain point I think it's an issue cause the putters are so far out there people cannot get used to them or enjoy them. 

[jeff1727]

The Golf Galaxy near me just started carrying L.A. Golf and L.A.B. Putters.  Hated the feel of the LA Golf Belair and LAB link.1.  Both felt very muted and offered no feed back. I did enjoy rolling the Mezz Max though. 

[dmeeksDC]

7 hours ago, MattM97 said:

I just hope people don't chase the "MOI Dragon" with these putters, yeah MOI helps but at a certain point I think it's an issue cause the putters are so far out there people cannot get used to them or enjoy them. 

Here, here. The MOI on this may come at a price. I rolled one at a Golf Galaxy. It does not feel great to me. A few others who were rolling it also thought it felt strange. Doesn’t look very premium, but I think it is because the pattern reminds me of some kitchen countertops we had in Louisiana that I never really liked. 

[NYYGolfer]

Seems like they are trying too hard with the graphics, one of the great things about SIK putters were the classic looks and high quality materials. These looks cheap IMO. 

[PNW]

23 hours ago, NYYGolfer said:

Seems like they are trying too hard with the graphics, one of the great things about SIK putters were the classic looks and high quality materials. These looks cheap IMO. 

 

Yeah.. the branding is a bit garish with the shaft installed logo up 

[Nixhex524]

Rolled the Bel-Air today.  The blade is quite a bit larger than other blade putters and it honestly felt awful.  Even with softer balls, this thing sounded like I was hitting a rock.  As far as MOI goes, I think a putter, just like any other club, has to be a good fit.  Maybe this blade wasn't a good fit, though I use other PN blades all the time, but I did not see any sign of increased MOI.   Sorry to say, for me, this thing is a total miss.

[nsxguy]

Just saw the new LA GOLF putters on the rack at PGATSS.

 

6 Bel-aires and 3 Malibus. The Malibus all had a different hosel configuration. 1 plumber's neck, 1 flange bend and another one that was kinds sorta center shafted.

 

The last was a strange configuration. The shaft was pointed right at the center but the shaft's hosel twisted back towards, and connected to, the heel. Felt a bit weird.

 

Rolled all of them (of course). Feel seems a bit lacking and the sound is sort of like it would sound if the head were a thick plastic box. Muted, but "plastic-y" sounding.

 

Ball did seem to start rolling very quickly, sort of Mezz-like and distance control seemed very consistent, but overall a bit disappointing, especially for 5-6 bill$

 

YMMV 

 

 

 

Edited May 8, 2023 by nsxguy

[kiwh]

It didn’t really feel like a golf club to me. 
Seemed like some kinda techno E putter thingy. Freaked me out a little. 

[snowmangolf]

OP here.. I ended up returning it after playing just 9 holes with it. Couldn’t get myself to like the feel/sound of it. Walked out with a Phantom 7.5 and a few extra goodies with the difference. 

 

 

[TonyRo]

I don't totally understand the promotion of super high MOI in general. This is not a driver that you're swinging at 100+ mph and smashing all over the face, this is a relatively tiny tap with a stroke that, compared to a driver, is practically in slow motion. At least the last I heard, Sasho Mackenzie has basically concluded under laboratory conditions across tons of golfers that normal human variation in strike location on the face (and path, coincidentally) have only the tiniest effect on putts relative to starting line, read, and speed. 

 

I guess when you're making an Anser copy, you have to promote it somehow. 😁

[Phabs]

I rolled a Belair this morning before my round that one of my partners picked up last week.   Probably the worst feeling putter I've ever rolled - felt like a plastic tyco toy.  Love their putter shafts but these carbon heads need some serious work 

[MattM97]

5 hours ago, TonyRo said:

I don't totally understand the promotion of super high MOI in general. This is not a driver that you're swinging at 100+ mph and smashing all over the face, this is a relatively tiny tap with a stroke that, compared to a driver, is practically in slow motion. At least the last I heard, Sasho Mackenzie has basically concluded under laboratory conditions across tons of golfers that normal human variation in strike location on the face (and path, coincidentally) have only the tiniest effect on putts relative to starting line, read, and speed. 

 

I guess when you're making an Anser copy, you have to promote it somehow. 😁

 

I do think putter MOI is helpful for sure but then there is a point of diminishing returns and that comes into the looks and feel/sound. There are a lot of putters with insane MOI but they're not that popular no matter how much interest people have in them. 

[Steelhead]

On 4/27/2023 at 11:32 PM, snowmangolf said:

I pulled the trigger on one. Playing 18 holes tomorrow so let’s see how it goes. Had the opportunity to use it on a practice green and I will say.. very impressed with the distance control. It felt like every putt I hit rolled to the exact same distance. 

 

Here’s a few pics 

Mine will be delivered today. I’d say a large percentage of people who don’t like the looks, feel, etc. have never had a Sik putter. Sik’s lofted face tech has been awesome for me as my strike is not always great and this face tech results in putts, where my stroke rolls exactly the same distance most every time. Looking forward to my rounds this weekend…

Edited May 10, 2023 by Steelhead

[Steelhead]

I don’t know where all of you are demoing this putter but I would not trust rolling it in a store to judge it. Practiced with it yesterday and just a few minutes ago, On the Bermuda greens at my club, using ProV1, Chrome Soft and Vice Pro , this putter feels solid, rolls perfect regardless of my strike. Sound is not clicky , love it so far. We will see how it holds up this weekend…

[nsxguy]

24 minutes ago, Steelhead said:

I don’t know where all of you are demoing this putter but I would not trust rolling it in a store to judge it. Practiced with it yesterday and just a few minutes ago, On the Bermuda greens at my club, using ProV1, Chrome Soft and Vice Pro , this putter feels solid, rolls perfect regardless of my strike. Sound is not clicky , love it so far. We will see how it holds up this weekend…

 

Can't speak for anybody else but I'm a public course player. Haven't seen a single "reasonably priced" public course that carried any major club lines in 30+ years, either here in SoFla or back up north in the NYC area. They can't compete against big box stores in either price or stock on hand - so they don't.

 

So where should I go to demo a putter on grass ?

 

PGATSS has somewhere around 700 sq ft for a putting area and the surface is actually fairly smooth and consistent. Other stores, like Edwin Watts, have maybe 100 sq ft available and often have incredibly poor/slow putting surfaces with bumps and grooves everywhere.

 

So PGATSS is actually pretty good. And inside (especially) I'm looking for looks, balance, sweet spot size, and how well the ball comes off the putter head. And I can certainly judge how the putter "feels" to me, as well as the sound it makes.

 

And if I strike a putt "perfectly" and it wiggles near the hole, or halfway to the hole, and doesn't fall, who cares. I know I stroked it and struck it well, started it right where I was looking and the ball was rolling very well. That's all I can control anyway.

 

I would certainly prefer to try the putters outside but I know of no place I can do that around here.

[sadclevelandsports]

I rolled a few at the PGASS. Super stable feeling on the Bel air but couldn't get used to how it felt. Kinda like a toy, plasticky? I guess if it sinks putts it doesn't matter..

[bmbsawy]

9 hours ago, sadclevelandsports said:

I rolled a few at the PGASS. Super stable feeling on the Bel air but couldn't get used to how it felt. Kinda like a toy, plasticky? I guess if it sinks putts it doesn't matter..

This is bang on… doesn’t feel premium. Plasticky is the word. It is pretty stable though… just different. Def wouldn’t buy without trying 

[bmbsawy]

And the shaft logo up is just baffling

[LedTape]

Played with a guy who had the (odyssey)7 version of this. I putted a couple holes with it. It does feel light and plastic-y. As a heavy putter guy (most of my putter heads are 380-440g) I just don't really get it. Apparently they CNC it from a big block of carbon which is why its so expensive. It looks cool though I will give them that. And I think the stock shaft is like $400 without the head so that could be the reason for the high price...