New LA Golf Putters

[JDTex]

2 hours ago, bmbsawy said:

And the shaft logo up is just baffling

Yeah, this in and of itself would be a deal killer for me. 

[DaymonJ11]

I don’t spend a lot of time commenting, but I read a TON, here. I saw this thread and I felt compelled to offer my take.

 

I rolled these for about 2 hours today at PGATSS in Greenwood Village, Colorado. Which has a HUGE and extremely consistent surface to putt on. I rolled the Bel-Air, the Bel-Air X and the Malibu. There was no Malibu X in sight, however. Using a fresh Pro V1, a fresh Mizuno RB Tour and a Fresh Bridgestone Tour B X. I rented a bay for a half and hour just to put some work in, and saw these walking out.  Two hours later, and then taking one on loan to my home course for another hour or so, I feel like I have a good idea of what these are. So, initial thoughts:

 

The Bel-Air - this thing felt freaking awful. Honestly, one of the worst feeling putters that I’ve ever used. I didn’t think anything could be worse than the Cure putters I rolled a couple years ago… boy was I wrong. It’s awful. Feels like it’s the putter from the Fisher Price toy golf set that those of us who have kids, undoubtedly bought. It’s terrible. This one lasted about 15 strokes, because initially I thought I kept missing. However, it’s just that bad. Hard pass for me.

 

Bel-Air X - this one, to my surprise, felt unbelievable. I thought is was a fluke, so I rolled the other X’s to see, and they all felt the same. Conversely, every standard Bel-Air felt awful. This one was really night and day as compared to the standard Bel-Air, though. It felt lively and was incredibly consistent. The distance control and ability to start it on line was fantastic. I was actually kind of shocked. I took this to the home track to roll em’…more on that in a minute. 
 

Malibu - this one was really interesting. I HATED the face balanced neck/hosel thing. It was strange. From the top, looking down, it was like the shaft was going directly to the center a full shaft width (at the tip) in front of the face, but, the hosel actually kicks back, at probably close to 45* toward the heel and connects there. It’s weird to my eye. I really had a hard time getting this one on line. Occasionally I could manipulate it to happen, but, there’s no way that neck is gameable for me. Honestly though, I thought this one felt the best of all of those I rolled, just from a feel standpoint. It felt “hot” to me. I continually ran balls by the hole, but the roll was great. If they made a slant neck in this, I’d be interested.

 

So, after rolling those three, I took the Bel-Air X for a real spin. My home track rolls around a 10-11 on the stimp most days, and was slower today because we just got hit with about 40 consecutive hours of rain over the last 2 days. Which never happens here in the Mile High… but sun showed up this afternoon and it was pretty nice!

 

Anyway, the X performed incredibly well. Outside, the sound is muted, kind of like an Odyssey white hot insert. Doesn’t feel like that, but sounds like that. From a feel standpoint, it feels better than my trusty Spider Tour Black I’ve gamed for the last 3 years. 
 

I’m a golf degenerate so I almost always have my sticks…never know when a match will break out that I can lose some $$ in. Or when I’ll watch some stupid YouTube video and try what they said in the video. I play to an about a 4, just for background. And I would say putting is probably the strongest part of my game.
 

Having my gamer, I rolled it side by side with the BX, and the BX indeed felt better to my hands. I would say that distance control was slightly better, and my ability to line it up was almost identical. I typically don’t use Plumbers Neck putters, but, this one was intriguing enough to try. 
 

It’s a bigger blade, and substantially so. It was bigger than your typical Scotty Newport shape by probably close to an 5/8” or so. Was wider too, by maybe slightly less than 1/4”. It was gargantuan next to the Ping PLD, by a LOT. However, when you’re set up with it, because it’s black on black on black, it appears to be smaller than it actually is - at least to my eyes. The shape and size wasn’t off-putting at all. It was comfortable.
 

What I came away super impressed with from today’s adventure, was how consistent the X is. It rolls very true, and the Sik face is something I’m a fan of anyway. I didn’t see any delay in roll, and it didn’t skip or bounce at all. The distance control, again, was fantastic. I don’t think I can overstate that. The control was exceedingly good. I ran some really long putts in and that was very encouraging. But where it really shined for me, was inside 10’. The damn thing was basically point and shoot. I had to have made 90% of those I putted at that distance. No joke. It was F’n brilliant. 

Another area I thought it really kicked a** in, was feel across the face. I know I missed a few of those I hit, and the thing just rolls and feels the same. That’s impressive to me. Consistency is King, and I feel like this Bel-Air X has a TON of it. That could be the shaft, though. At $300 for an upgrade, it should feel like that I guess…
 

The feel outside with real balls was really good, and totally useable. I don’t like clicky putters, and prefer a muted sound, but soft at impact. And that’s exactly what this did. That said, I wouldn’t call it “soft”, to be honest. If you’re looking for that Scotty 303 Stainless, this isn’t your stick. I would call it “softer”, though. It feels good, and better than most other stuff I’ve rolled recently. It actually reminds me a lot of my Piretti Matera, which I haven’t used in years. 
 

I was tempted to just buy the thing, but, chose to wait. Typically, before I can buy a putter, I need to spend at least 8 hours with it, on different days, just to confirm it’s not that new putter mystique thing that’s speaking to me, and helping me roll it well.
 

I would be really interested to try one of the Malibu’s in a regular slant neck. If they have that, it could be a game changer for me. If they had one, I would likely end up buying it. But to be clear, the X is firmly in play.
 

One thing I didn’t like was the shaft logo being up. I found it to be somewhat distracting, honestly. One more thing I loved was the grip. Not sure who’s making it, but, it’s really, really good to my hands. Feels like a Scotty Matador, but with less “surface”, if that makes sense or if you’ve ever used one of those.

 

Overall, I’m pretty impressed. It was really good. I’ll also add, that I don’t feel like the BX looks cheap. The standard B, yeah, a little. The BX looks the part though and all of them they had were super clean and didn’t look inconsistent from a QC standpoint. I thought it looked pretty rad, actually.

 

Just my .02

[nsxguy]

7 hours ago, DaymonJ11 said:

I don’t spend a lot of time commenting, but I read a TON, here. I saw this thread and I felt compelled to offer my take.

 

I rolled these for about 2 hours today at PGATSS in Greenwood Village, Colorado. Which has a HUGE and extremely consistent surface to putt on. I rolled the Bel-Air, the Bel-Air X and the Malibu. There was no Malibu X in sight, however. Using a fresh Pro V1, a fresh Mizuno RB Tour and a Fresh Bridgestone Tour B X. I rented a bay for a half and hour just to put some work in, and saw these walking out.  Two hours later, and then taking one on loan to my home course for another hour or so, I feel like I have a good idea of what these are. So, initial thoughts:

 

The Bel-Air - this thing felt freaking awful. Honestly, one of the worst feeling putters that I’ve ever used. I didn’t think anything could be worse than the Cure putters I rolled a couple years ago… boy was I wrong. It’s awful. Feels like it’s the putter from the Fisher Price toy golf set that those of us who have kids, undoubtedly bought. It’s terrible. This one lasted about 15 strokes, because initially I thought I kept missing. However, it’s just that bad. Hard pass for me.

 

Bel-Air X - this one, to my surprise, felt unbelievable. I thought is was a fluke, so I rolled the other X’s to see, and they all felt the same. Conversely, every standard Bel-Air felt awful. This one was really night and day as compared to the standard Bel-Air, though. It felt lively and was incredibly consistent. The distance control and ability to start it on line was fantastic. I was actually kind of shocked. I took this to the home track to roll em’…more on that in a minute. 
 

Malibu - this one was really interesting. I HATED the face balanced neck/hosel thing. It was strange. From the top, looking down, it was like the shaft was going directly to the center a full shaft width (at the tip) in front of the face, but, the hosel actually kicks back, at probably close to 45* toward the heel and connects there. It’s weird to my eye. I really had a hard time getting this one on line. Occasionally I could manipulate it to happen, but, there’s no way that neck is gameable for me. Honestly though, I thought this one felt the best of all of those I rolled, just from a feel standpoint. It felt “hot” to me. I continually ran balls by the hole, but the roll was great. If they made a slant neck in this, I’d be interested.

 

So, after rolling those three, I took the Bel-Air X for a real spin. My home track rolls around a 10-11 on the stimp most days, and was slower today because we just got hit with about 40 consecutive hours of rain over the last 2 days. Which never happens here in the Mile High… but sun showed up this afternoon and it was pretty nice!

 

Anyway, the X performed incredibly well. Outside, the sound is muted, kind of like an Odyssey white hot insert. Doesn’t feel like that, but sounds like that. From a feel standpoint, it feels better than my trusty Spider Tour Black I’ve gamed for the last 3 years. 
 

I’m a golf degenerate so I almost always have my sticks…never know when a match will break out that I can lose some $$ in. Or when I’ll watch some stupid YouTube video and try what they said in the video. I play to an about a 4, just for background. And I would say putting is probably the strongest part of my game.
 

Having my gamer, I rolled it side by side with the BX, and the BX indeed felt better to my hands. I would say that distance control was slightly better, and my ability to line it up was almost identical. I typically don’t use Plumbers Neck putters, but, this one was intriguing enough to try. 
 

It’s a bigger blade, and substantially so. It was bigger than your typical Scotty Newport shape by probably close to an 5/8” or so. Was wider too, by maybe slightly less than 1/4”. It was gargantuan next to the Ping PLD, by a LOT. However, when you’re set up with it, because it’s black on black on black, it appears to be smaller than it actually is - at least to my eyes. The shape and size wasn’t off-putting at all. It was comfortable.
 

What I came away super impressed with from today’s adventure, was how consistent the X is. It rolls very true, and the Sik face is something I’m a fan of anyway. I didn’t see any delay in roll, and it didn’t skip or bounce at all. The distance control, again, was fantastic. I don’t think I can overstate that. The control was exceedingly good. I ran some really long putts in and that was very encouraging. But where it really shined for me, was inside 10’. The damn thing was basically point and shoot. I had to have made 90% of those I putted at that distance. No joke. It was F’n brilliant. 

Another area I thought it really kicked a** in, was feel across the face. I know I missed a few of those I hit, and the thing just rolls and feels the same. That’s impressive to me. Consistency is King, and I feel like this Bel-Air X has a TON of it. That could be the shaft, though. At $300 for an upgrade, it should feel like that I guess…
 

The feel outside with real balls was really good, and totally useable. I don’t like clicky putters, and prefer a muted sound, but soft at impact. And that’s exactly what this did. That said, I wouldn’t call it “soft”, to be honest. If you’re looking for that Scotty 303 Stainless, this isn’t your stick. I would call it “softer”, though. It feels good, and better than most other stuff I’ve rolled recently. It actually reminds me a lot of my Piretti Matera, which I haven’t used in years. 
 

I was tempted to just buy the thing, but, chose to wait. Typically, before I can buy a putter, I need to spend at least 8 hours with it, on different days, just to confirm it’s not that new putter mystique thing that’s speaking to me, and helping me roll it well.
 

I would be really interested to try one of the Malibu’s in a regular slant neck. If they have that, it could be a game changer for me. If they had one, I would likely end up buying it. But to be clear, the X is firmly in play.
 

One thing I didn’t like was the shaft logo being up. I found it to be somewhat distracting, honestly. One more thing I loved was the grip. Not sure who’s making it, but, it’s really, really good to my hands. Feels like a Scotty Matador, but with less “surface”, if that makes sense or if you’ve ever used one of those.

 

Overall, I’m pretty impressed. It was really good. I’ll also add, that I don’t feel like the BX looks cheap. The standard B, yeah, a little. The BX looks the part though and all of them they had were super clean and didn’t look inconsistent from a QC standpoint. I thought it looked pretty rad, actually.

 

Just my .02

 

Thanks for a great write up. 👍 And using paragraphs.  It's really amazing how much easier a long post is to read when it's broken up nicely. Some of the longer posts on here are one huge paragraph and I have to "give up" on them unless they are realllllly interesting.

 

Firstly, yes, the Malibu comes in a flange hosel as well as the plumber's neck and pseudo center shafted model (which also to me felt really weird). PGATSS by me has all 3 hosel types.

 

In the Bel-air, it seems the "X" model has a heavier feel/swingweight, as well as a camo type look. In the Malibu, there was no "X" at the store.

 

Anywho, LA Golf says these putters have the "largest sweet spot ever". I'm wondering why I can't seem to find feel it.

 

Although the feedback to my hands felt like I hit the sweet spot maybe 1 out of 5 putts the ball seemed to roll within a foot or so of my intended distance (the "progressive" head loft ?) time-after-time from about 15 feet or so - don't remember trying it at longer distances.

 

That said, I was able to hit my line pretty consistently with them (except the wacky pseudo-CS).

 

So with directional consistency being 1st rate, as well as distance control, what more could one want ?

 

But looks (which I have no problem with at all with these) are at least a somewhat important component.

 

And "feel", however one defines it, to me, is extremely important. I find it very difficult to trust a putter that just feels awful.

 

And the feel, to me, was awful. As mentioned, I seldom felt like I hit the SS and ALL the  models felt/sounded plastic-y. And, I believe the consensus is, "feel", however one actually describes it, has an aural component as well as a physical one.

 

I'll take your word for it that outside it sounds better, but since I'm unlikely to ever get to try it outside, that seems a moot point.

 

The very thought that I'm going to hate how it feels/sounds before I even strike the ball kinda sorta kills confidence before the putter face even strikes the ball.

 

I'll have to try that Bel-air X again.

 

Anyway, thanks again. 👍

 

[pak]

I tried the Belair at PGTSS yesterday and it was the worst feeling and sounding putter I ever demoed. The crazy thing is I kept making putts.

 

There might be something to LA Golf and maybe stepping up to the Belair X is the answer.

 

I don’t use this style of putter so I won’t be a customer but good luck to them in a really tough market.

[DaymonJ11]

1 hour ago, pak said:

I tried the Belair at PGTSS yesterday and it was the worst feeling and sounding putter I ever demoed. The crazy thing is I kept making putts.

 

There might be something to LA Golf and maybe stepping up to the Belair X is the answer.

 

I don’t use this style of putter so I won’t be a customer but good luck to them in a really tough market.

That’s what is so weird to me too. They just keep dropping balls in the hole.

 

A bit of an update from me - I went to Golf Galaxy today before my league, and was able to actually roll a Malibu X along with the standard Malibu, both with the “Non-Face Balanced slant neck” option. 

 

I’m kind of embarrassed to say this, but, I’m really, really impressed. To me, the MX is heavier and certainly looks cooler. But, there just wasn’t enough of a difference between that and the standard Malibu that I could justify the additional $100.

 

I didn’t buy anything today, because I was drooling over a Scotty Del Mar as well. But, man, that Malibu performed really well. I putted for a solid hour 15-20 in there. Rolled countless putts and I’m surprised that many of them went in. Against the Scotty, it won out. But the feel of a Scotty, frankly, I’m not sure can actually be beat.

 

I can definitely see myself rolling this putter. And honestly, I feel like it’s much better than it may look. The Belair is awful. Belair X is significantly better. But, the Malibu and Malibu X both flat out performed.

 

Golf Galaxy is running special that gets you a dozen of the LA Golf Balls if you buy a putter. Guy I golf with thought swears by that ball. So I got a chance to hit one tonight. Definitely low spin on the driver and very spinny green side. Was actually kind of impressed with the ball as well.

 

Not sure what I’m going to do. But, this Malibu with the slant neck is FOR SURE in the equation and under heavy consideration. Hope to decide by Friday!

Edited May 18, 2023 by DaymonJ11

[JoeFrigo]

PGA Store by me got 2 of each model in and wow do they suck. The Bel-Air Blade might be the worst feeling putter ive ever tried. Felt like I was putting a range ball. Something was way off

 

Also tried the Malibu mallet and it was much better. I did not care for the shape tho. Very long front to back for a fang style putter

 

Also why the hell did LA install the shafts logo up. A lot going on when looking down at the ball

[JoeFrigo]

7 hours ago, pak said:

I tried the Belair at PGTSS yesterday and it was the worst feeling and sounding putter I ever demoed. The crazy thing is I kept making putts.

 

There might be something to LA Golf and maybe stepping up to the Belair X is the answer.

 

I don’t use this style of putter so I won’t be a customer but good luck to them in a really tough market.

It's funny I commented the same thing before seeing your post. The Bel Air felt absolutely awful. The practice balls were even Chrome Soft's and it felt like a range ball

 

The Malibu was a big step up in performance but I didnt like how long it looks 

[nsxguy]

On 4/13/2023 at 3:06 PM, GrandpaRick said:

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

 

Hey Grandpa, you've had it for almost 5 weeks now.

 

How's it working out on real grass ?

 

TIA

[nsxguy]

Just an observation but this is about the only time I can remember so many posters posting pretty much the same observations as one another about ANY club.

 

With the exceptions of one(?) poster who didn't like "clicky putters and preferred a muted sound" saying "and that’s exactly what this did", pretty much everyone thought these putters pretty accurate and very good at distance control; 2 pretty important features.

 

About all most(?) objected to was the clicky sound, and therefore poor feel, as the 2 are rather interconnected.

 

Very interesting.

[DaymonJ11]

19 hours ago, nsxguy said:

Just an observation but this is about the only time I can remember so many posters posting pretty much the same observations as one another about ANY club.

 

With the exceptions of one(?) poster who didn't like "clicky putters and preferred a muted sound" saying "and that’s exactly what this did", pretty much everyone thought these putters pretty accurate and very good at distance control; 2 pretty important features.

 

About all most(?) objected to was the clicky sound, and therefore poor feel, as the 2 are rather interconnected.

 

Very interesting.

The Belair standard is flat out awful. The Belair X is significantly better. The Malibu and Malibu X, feel pretty good to my hands. Sound is interesting when you understand the correlation of the two and how that affects a golfers perspective of “feel”.

 

Honestly, because of that fact, I’m surprised that LA Golf would even put the Belair out. It really is the worst sounding/feeling putter I think I’ve ever used.

 

I was so very close to snagging a Malibu. And then I was able to lock down a Swag Cooler (Del Mar heel shafted shape) which is my favorite shape ever. So, my flirtations with LA Golf and the Malibu have ended.

 

[Steelhead]

Three Courses, four rounds in with the Belair X, using ProV1 on Bermuda greens and it’s solid with a smooth , true roll. Love the feel/sound. It’s a great stick and I’ve got enough in my garage to compare, having, TM SpiderX, PLD, Scottys, Odysseys, Slighter, Sik putters and the LA Belair is the equal or better than most every putter I own.  The Technology in this putter is real, on top of that,  try getting a Carbon Scotty for $600. Feels out of the box, like I’ve had it in the bag for years. The only rival for distance control on strikes is my Sik Flow and possibly the TM SpiderX.  Plus it looks damn cool. 
 

IMHO

[sheezymaneezy]

You LA Golf owners still playing them or have you moved on to something else?

[Locked]

I'm also curious if feel/sound is improved at all with the versions they had at the PGA show?  I like to support smaller companies like this that are trying to innovate.  been a bit confused about whether they had what is essentially a v3 of the putter at the show last week???  Went to order one online a few months ago and the website is awful.  No good visualization of what the different necks look like, literally no pics or details on what the grip options are.  Company is just still a bit immature.   Hope they make it long enough to keep innovating.  

[Walkerdb7]

Anyone know if this shaft is gonna be for sale solo?

 

[ChrisATL]

On 1/30/2024 at 3:29 PM, Walkerdb7 said:

Anyone know if this shaft is gonna be for sale solo?

 

Saw some buzz on this last week - looks WILD.  Would be interested to hear if its being sold separately as well (I'm guessing no)

[TiScape]

On 1/30/2024 at 12:29 PM, Walkerdb7 said:

Anyone know if this shaft is gonna be for sale solo?

 

Lady in the leggings has some nice hammies. . 

[Walkerdb7]

Per this pod, mid year after market. Mid March with an LA head