MEMBER REVIEWS: L.A.B. Golf DF3 Putter Testing | See What Members Are Saying!

[gavinski91]

Phil potentially gaming the DF3 this weekend? Maybe we can get him to chime in on this thread with his review.

[coreyhr]

Received an email from Calvin that our putters are going in to production ASAP. So hopefully we'll have these in hand within the next 7 days or so. Just in time for more daylight after work and the ability to get out to the course to put the putter through the proper paces!

[SEP1006]

4 minutes ago, coreyhr said:

Received an email from Calvin that our putters are going in to production ASAP. So hopefully we'll have these in hand within the next 7 days or so. Just in time for more daylight after work and the ability to get out to the course to put the putter through the proper paces!

 

 

Yes Sir, got my email yesterday as well. The DF 3 I bought is supposed to arrive tomorrow by Fed Ex.

 

We'll see if Fed Ex can get this done without screwing it up as usual.

[molecularman]

 The putters are going into production, wooo!

Unfortunately I'll be out of town all of next week. I'm not sure how long the build process takes,   I'm hoping maybe it'll be ready to ship out next Friday so it'll get here right as I'm getting back in.

[B_of_H]

On 2/28/2024 at 6:11 PM, gavinski91 said:

Phil potentially gaming the DF3 this weekend? Maybe we can get him to chime in on this thread with his review.

 

shot 65 today (with a double) using the DF3

[BlkNGld]

Question for those chosen, during the fitting was there any discussion about what alignment lines work best, or was that left solely up to personal choice?

[coreyhr]

55 minutes ago, BlkNGld said:

Question for those chosen, during the fitting was there any discussion about what alignment lines work best, or was that left solely up to personal choice?

I personally didn't dive in to that topic with Calvin during my fitting, because I already had my heart set on the "C" alignment. If I had my guess though, he would have some answers in terms of experience from staff at HQ and what they're using based off being right eye/left eye dominant, etc. I was on the fence of going with traditional or counter-balanced, and Calvin helped nudge me in the counter-balance route base off how much the staff there was loving the DF3 in that build. So there are certain things he would be able to expand on based off their experience (such as head weight), but alignment lines are such a subjective preference that it might be one of the only things left up to the customer to really decide on.

Edited March 1 by coreyhr

[Rearviewmirror]

16 hours ago, coreyhr said:

I personally didn't dive in to that topic with Calvin during my fitting, because I already had my heart set on the "C" alignment. If I had my guess though, he would have some answers in terms of experience from staff at HQ and what they're using based off being right eye/left eye dominant, etc. I was on the fence of going with traditional or counter-balanced, and Calvin helped nudge me in the counter-balance route base off how much the staff there was loving the DF3 in that build. So there are certain things he would be able to expand on based off their experience (such as head weight), but alignment lines are such a subjective preference that it might be one of the only things left up to the customer to really decide on.

Have you used a CB before? I'm fascinated by the concept but have never tried it myself.

[coreyhr]

7 minutes ago, Rearviewmirror said:

Have you used a CB before? I'm fascinated by the concept but have never tried it myself.

Not in a LAB putter. I currently use the Odyssey Jailbird 380 counterbalance. So I’m pumped to do a comparison of it and the DF3 counterbalanced. I find that it definitely settles my stroke down. I have a tendency to come over the top and pull putts, counterbalance putters seem to help me mitigate that.

[molecularman]

18 hours ago, BlkNGld said:

Question for those chosen, during the fitting was there any discussion about what alignment lines work best, or was that left solely up to personal choice?

I kept going back and forth on several of the options.  I told Calvin my thought process behind selecting the F alignment mark and he said it sounded like a good choice based on what I told him.  So it wasn't a super in-depth discussion about the pros and cons of different ones,  but it sounds like if you aren't quite sure they can help guide you to something.

I went with the F alignment mark looking for something that blended a better reference point for start line without being overly busy or influencing my stroke too much like bolder solid lines might do.

[jasman29]

On 3/1/2024 at 12:17 PM, BlkNGld said:

Question for those chosen, during the fitting was there any discussion about what alignment lines work best, or was that left solely up to personal choice?

 

When I had the phone discussion with Calvin about the alignment choices he asked what I was used to, what I liked about my current setup. I use a 2012 Select GoLo and now an EVNROLL with single line alignment aid. I was talking through the option and potential combination of options for the head when he asked what my tendencies were. For me, when I have been fitted on Quintec, my stroke was pretty repeatable but I had a tendency to set the face slightly open. In going over the alignment options and me liking to not have too much going on as far as alignment lines are concerned, we settled on option B to help with squaring the face to target line. I was able to find a DF 2.1 at a local Golf Galaxy, I don't have a PGA SS near me, and I liked the long vertical line and had a better sense of when the face was slightly open.   

[ccape0328]

On 3/1/2024 at 3:17 PM, BlkNGld said:

Question for those chosen, during the fitting was there any discussion about what alignment lines work best, or was that left solely up to personal choice?

We didn’t really go into depth much about it. I told him I have played triple track balls and liked that alignment so we went with the “p” alignment marking. 
 

I am left eye dominant so any alignment aids on the back of the putter seem throw my aiming off. 
 

Can’t wait for this jewel to show up!

 

[ccape0328]

We are in production!

 

 

[molecularman]

4 hours ago, ccape0328 said:

We are in production!

 

 

Yep yep!  I got the same email.

After my first round of the season a few days ago,  I might even be more excited to give the DF3 a try.   I finished the day around par.  My game was really solid aside from the putter.   I could have easily been 3 or 4 under.  

[coreyhr]

Just received tracking info! 

[SEP1006]

2 hours ago, coreyhr said:

Just received tracking info! 

 

 

Same here. Now I just need the weather forecast to change for the upcoming weekend.

 

[rooski]

3 hours ago, coreyhr said:

Just received tracking info! 

 

Sweet! I haven't gotten tracking info yet but sounds like it may be soon. Weather down here is making a turn to Spring and will be 70 all weekend so could be perfect.

 

 

[molecularman]

Just got the email that mine is shipping.   Just in time for our streak of good weather here in MN to end.  😅      Hopefully it'll be nice enough to get some reps in as soon as I get it.

[rooski]

Just got my shipping notification as well! Awesome. I imagine there's a good chance I end up with it in hand first cause they only need to ship it about 2 hours south :)

[C_rad]

Will follow the thread closely. I decided to wait before ordering one  because no one had a df3 near me to try…. That was before my fitter texted me telling me he had open his account with LAB. 

[rooski]

 

It's getting real! There is a real benefit to being so close to their HQ, 1 day shipping is better than Amazon!

[molecularman]

15 hours ago, rooski said:

 

It's getting real! There is a real benefit to being so close to their HQ, 1 day shipping is better than Amazon!

Oh man!  Any time now you'll get getting it.   Excited for the first report!

[elbellet]

I got one from PGASS and so far so good - coming from an early Mezz and Link adopter, this has a ton of promise.

[rooski]

2 hours ago, molecularman said:

Oh man!  Any time now you'll get getting it.   Excited for the first report!

 

Can hardly focus at work, listening for the faint sounds of the FedEx truck

[rooski]

The putter fairy (FedEx) has arrived! This thing feels incredible so far, here are some first pics of the 38" counterbalance setup, should be done with work here before too long and the weather is sunny so will be getting out to the course today.

 

Included is a picture of the DF3 compared to a relatively small Ping DS72 mid-mallet. The DF3 is definitely noticeably smaller than the DF2.1's I've seen in golf shops before, it feels and looks very premium and perfectly sized. The images online comparing DF2.1 and DF3 don't really give you a sense of how nice of a difference the DF3 is for those who didn't like the shape of the DF2.1

 

 

Edited March 13 by rooski

[mkidding]

2 minutes ago, rooski said:

The putter fairy (FedEx) has arrived! This thing feels incredible so far, here are some first pics of the 38" counterbalance setup, should be done with work here before too long and the weather is sunny so will be getting out to the course today.

 

Included is a picture of the DF3 compared to a relatively small Ping DS72 mid-mallet. The DF3 is definitely noticeably smaller than the DF2.1's I've seen in golf shops before, it feels and looks very premium and perfectly sized. The images online comparing DF2.1 and DF3 don't really give you a sense of how nice of a difference the DF3 is for those who didn't like the shape of the DF2.1

 

 

 

Beauty!

[Bstein74]

27 minutes ago, rooski said:

The putter fairy (FedEx) has arrived! This thing feels incredible so far, here are some first pics of the 38" counterbalance setup, should be done with work here before too long and the weather is sunny so will be getting out to the course today.

 

Included is a picture of the DF3 compared to a relatively small Ping DS72 mid-mallet. The DF3 is definitely noticeably smaller than the DF2.1's I've seen in golf shops before, it feels and looks very premium and perfectly sized. The images online comparing DF2.1 and DF3 don't really give you a sense of how nice of a difference the DF3 is for those who didn't like the shape of the DF2.1

 

 

 

Just bought the 38" counterbalance from a WRX member this morning.  Can't wait to get it and try it out as well!

[jasman29]

My L.A.B. DF3 LA Dodger Blue

 

My First Impressions:

 

Out of the box I can tell you that this is putter is really really beautiful. Headcover is so sick and love that the colors match my putter color. I have pretty much only played black color putter heads but with so many color options I wanted something truly unique for me so I decided to go with that very nice Dodger Blue and it didn’t disappoint. When I unboxed and put on the carpet the head is not overwhelmingly large at all compared to the putters that are currently in my rotation. I exclusively play mallet style putters, if you are like me, this is a very easy transition which is what I was expecting it to be. I had mentioned in another post that I don’t have a PGA SS near me so I went to my local Golf Galaxy and they had 1 DF 2.1 and 1 Mezz in their stock. I rolled the 2.1 and didn’t have much issues, after a period of time, with the size of the head but still understand why people have their hesitancy to game. In fact when I asked the staffer there he said “that is one big ugly putter.

 

The milling looks really good on this putter and the depth of the grooves would lead me to believe the feeling would be on the softer side of the house. The shape and lines on the putter have a softness to them with the only real 90 degree angle would be the site line I choose.

 

These are the specs of my DF3:

Hand: Right
Putting Style: Standard
Shaft Selection: L.A.B. TPT

Shaft length: 35"
Lie Angle: 70

Head Weight: Heavy 
Grip Selection: Press II 3 Textured
Alignment Marking: B

 

 

 

View with a ball

 

 

The DF3 frames the ball nicely at address and like I mentioned with the softness of the lines this putter is very easy on the eyes front to back. The Blue color has no glare to it, it was overcast here yesterday so will need to see how it looks in the sunlight but all indications are that there will be no glare.

 

As you can see in the pics, the face, heel to toe, is not to large, In fact, when I compare to my gamers this one is slightly smaller heel to toe.

 

 

Side By Side with Gamers

The DF3 is great in terms of size as compared to my gamers as shown below. The DF3 is larger, front to back, than both, but not in depth heel to toe. To my eye it there is no real adjustment compared to what I would normally game in terms of size so the transition should be fairly easy.

 

 

 

 

First Impressions at my local putting green.

As soon as this thing arrived I sprinted out to the practice green where I live and spent about an hour before my sons junior golf class but only with this putter, didn’t take any gamers with me as I wanted to have just some 1:1 time for first impression. After putting for about an hour here is my feedback:

 

1.      Soling the putter. The putter just soles nice and flat and when lining up behind the ball I has zero issues squaring up to my intended line with the alignment aid I choose.

2.      Setup/Ball position. It took a few minutes to figure out how I wanted to setup to the ball and take my stance to get comfortable with where I sole the putter first next to the ball to get my setup and stance to then place the face behind the ball and fully address. Once I got that figured out, where I was consistently setting up and addressing the putts, I was on my way. Next, I already putt with the ball slightly more forward in my stance. I know that many have mentioned in other threads that this was a change that most had to make to allow the tech to do its work with how the shaft enters the head and the aid of the forward press grip. So when I setup and starting rolling it straight away, I had no issues with ball position and having an immediate sense of comfort on the greens.

3.      Feel. If had to compare the feel of this putter to my gamers, I would compare more towards the EVNRoll 5.1 I have and the depth of the milling in terms of feel are similar. For example. I play 2 different balls, either the TP5X or the ProV 1. I get a lot of crap from people telling how I can play to brands that have different feels but im trying to get though the last couple dozen TP5X balls I have and move back on to the Prov1 exclusively ( I get a lot of balls from playing in some member guest and I played TP5x for a long time till switching couple years back). Anyhow, with all my putter and the DF3 is no different, the TP5x has more a crisper sound of the putter face, much more audible ting, the Prov1 has a much softer feel off the putter face with almost no audible sound whatsoever. It is very soft feeling off the face and I really like that.

4.      Lag Putting.  I started with some 30 or so footers just to try to get a sense of how much adjustment I would need to make if any in my lag putting. After about 10-20 putts from this length, I didn’t feel any sense that I needed to do anything different than I normally do to get the ball to roll the desired distance. It was fairly easy to hit my lines and get within a 3 foot circle. I am typically a more aggressive putter and typically try to get the ball past the hole, Im not so much a die it at the hole putter unless playing in super fast greens. I also from this distance tried to hit the ball on the heel/toe purposefully to see how it performed and the tech did a lot of the work. It never really veered too far off line and most were within a makable circle, a lot where short of the hole which is what I would expect.  

5.      Putting 10Ft and In. Spent most of my time in this area. I always put with a line but for the first while from this distance I didn’t line the ball up and was just working on setup and pace. Putt after putt after putt I was rolling them on line consistently. There were a couple of my sons coaches who were arriving for the class and they came by to check out the new weapon I had. One of them asked if he could try and his comment was “this thing is stupid easy to roll straight” I had to concur. Particularly on the shorter distances on the practice green it was very easy to have the ball rolling end over end and online.

6.      Grip. The Press II 3 is a little larger than what I normally play, I normally play the SuperStroke Mid Slim 2.0. I do like the textured feel of the grip but on first impressions it does feel a little larger in the left hand than I am used to, the right hand feels pretty close to the same as I tend to grip down a bit on all my putters. It didn’t affect my stroke or distance control just how the putter feels mostly in my right hand.

7.      L.A.B. (Lie angle balance). I try to take a lighter grip typically when I putt or at least when I am putting my best. I can do that for the most part BUT it is on the shorter putts lately where the grip gets a little tighter at times. The one thing I tried to focus on, after watching some videos Sam has putt online about how to putt with his putters, was to not feel pressure in my thumbs during the stroke and let the putter swing more freely. When you do this, this putter just wants to rock back and forth. Let the putter/tech do the work for you without your brain trying to telling to manipulate the face in any way. It was a different feeling not having that “torque” working against your hands in the feel of the stroke.

8.      Weight. I ordered the heavy head and am very glad I did. I know these sometimes get called mental things but being so technical at times with weight on all my clubs it is comforting to know that this putter is close in weight to my other putters. Weight and swing weight matter to me mentally as well as what I feel in my hands.

a.      DF3 total weight 581grams  Swingweight -F5

b.      EVNROLL total weight 560 grams Swingweight F5

c.      Scotty Cameron GoLo total weight 563 grams SW F6

  

 

This is where I had to leave it for day 1. I am headed to a golf event at PGA West and I am throwing this bad boy into the fire for our tournament. Will have more feedback when I return.

 

Thanks again to GolfWRX and L.A.B. for this opportunity and cant wait to make lots of birdies down in the desert.  

 

 

To be continued...

 

Edited March 13 by jasman29

[SEP1006]

7 minutes ago, jasman29 said:

My L.A.B. DF3 LA Dodger Blue

 

My First Impressions:

 

Out of the box I can tell you that this is putter is really really beautiful. Headcover is so sick and love that the colors match my putter color. I have pretty much only played black color putter heads but with so many color options I wanted something truly unique for me so I decided to go with that very nice Dodger Blue and it didn’t disappoint. When I unboxed and put on the carpet the head is not overwhelmingly large at all compared to the putters that are currently in my rotation. I exclusively play mallet style putters, if you are like me, this is a very easy transition which is what I was expecting it to be. I had mentioned in another post that I don’t have a PGA SS near me so I went to my local Golf Galaxy and they had 1 DF 2.1 and 1 Mezz in their stock. I rolled the 2.1 and didn’t have much issues, after a period of time, with the size of the head but still understand why people have their hesitancy to game. In fact when I asked the staffer there he said “that is one big ugly putter.

 

The milling looks really good on this putter and the depth of the grooves would lead me to believe the feeling would be on the softer side of the house. The shape and lines on the putter have a softness to them with the only real 90 degree angle would be the site line I choose.

 

These are the specs of my DF3:

Hand: Right
Putting Style: Standard
Shaft Selection: L.A.B. TPT

Shaft length: 35"
Lie Angle: 70

Head Weight: Heavy 
Grip Selection: Press II 3 Textured
Alignment Marking: B

 

 

 

View with a ball

 

 

The DF3 frames the ball nicely at address and like I mentioned with the softness of the lines this putter is very easy on the eyes front to back. The Blue color has no glare to it, it was overcast here yesterday so will need to see how it looks in the sunlight but all indications are that there will be no glare.

 

As you can see in the pics, the face, heel to toe, is not to large, In fact, when I compare to my gamers this one is slightly smaller heel to toe.

 

 

Side By Side with Gamers

The DF3 is great in terms of size as compared to my gamers as shown below. The DF3 is larger, front to back, than both, but not in depth heel to toe. To my eye it there is no real adjustment compared to what I would normally game in terms of size so the transition should be fairly easy.

 

 

 

 

First Impressions at my local putting green.

As soon as this thing arrived I sprinted out to the practice green where I live and spent about an hour before my sons junior golf class but only with this putter, didn’t take any gamers with me as I wanted to have just some 1:1 time for first impression. After putting for about an hour here is my feedback:

 

1.      Soling the putter. The putter just soles nice and flat and when lining up behind the ball I has zero issues squaring up to my intended line with the alignment aid I choose.

2.      Setup/Ball position. It took a few minutes to figure out how I wanted to setup to the ball and take my stance to get comfortable with where I sole the putter first next to the ball to get my setup and stance to then place the face behind the ball and fully address. Once I got that figured out, where I was consistently setting up and addressing the putts, I was on my way. Next, I already putt with the ball slightly more forward in my stance. I know that many have mentioned in other threads that this was a change that most had to make to allow the tech to do its work with how the shaft enters the head and the aid of the forward press grip. So when I setup and starting rolling it straight away, I had no issues with ball position and having an immediate sense of comfort on the greens.

3.      Feel. If had to compare the feel of this putter to my gamers, I would compare more towards the EVNRoll 5.1 I have and the depth of the milling in terms of feel are similar. For example. I play 2 different balls, either the TP5X or the ProV 1. I get a lot of crap from people telling how I can play to brands that have different feels but im trying to get though the last couple dozen TP5X balls I have and move back on to the Prov1 exclusively ( I get a lot of balls from playing in some member guest and I played TP5x for a long time till switching couple years back). Anyhow, with all my putter and the DF3 is no different, the TP5x has more a crisper sound of the putter face, much more audible ting, the Prov1 has a much softer feel off the putter face with almost no audible sound whatsoever. It is very soft feeling off the face and I really like that.

4.      Lag Putting.  I started with some 30 or so footers just to try to get a sense of how much adjustment I would need to make if any in my lag putting. After about 10-20 putts from this length, I didn’t feel any sense that I needed to do anything different than I normally do to get the ball to roll the desired distance. It was fairly easy to hit my lines and get within a 3 foot circle. I am typically a more aggressive putter and typically try to get the ball past the hole, Im not so much a die it at the hole putter unless playing in super fast greens. I also from this distance tried to hit the ball on the heel/toe purposefully to see how it performed and the tech did a lot of the work. It never really veered too far off line and most were within a makable circle, a lot where short of the hole which is what I would expect.  

5.      Putting 10Ft and In. Spent most of my time in this area. I always put with a line but for the first while from this distance I didn’t line the ball up and was just working on setup and pace. Putt after putt after putt I was rolling them on line consistently. There were a couple of my sons coaches who were arriving for the class and they came by to check out the new weapon I had. One of them asked if he could try and his comment was “this thing is stupid easy to roll straight” I had to concur. Particularly on the shorter distances on the practice green it was very easy to have the ball rolling end over end and online.

6.      Grip. The Press II 3 is a little larger than what I normally play, I normally play the SuperStroke Mid Slim 2.0. I do like the textured feel of the grip but on first impressions it does feel a little larger in the left hand than I am used to, the right hand feels pretty close to the same as I tend to grip down a bit on all my putters. It didn’t affect my stroke or distance control just how the putter feels mostly in my right hand.

7.      L.A.B. (Lie angle balance). I try to take a lighter grip typically when I putt or at least when I am putting my best. I can do that for the most part BUT it is on the shorter putts lately where the grip gets a little tighter at times. The one thing I tried to focus on, after watching some videos Sam has putt online about how to putt with his putters, was to not feel pressure in my thumbs during the stroke and let the putter swing more freely. When you do this, this putter just wants to rock back and forth. Let the putter/tech do the work for you without your brain trying to telling to manipulate the face in any way. It was a different feeling not having that “torque” working against your hands in the feel of the stroke.

8.      Weight. I ordered the heavy head and am very glad I did. I know these sometimes get called mental things but being so technical at times with weight on all my clubs it is comforting to know that this putter is close in weight to my other putters. Weight and swing weight matter to me mentally as well as what I feel in my hands.

a.      DF3 total weight 581grams  Swingweight -F5

b.      EVNROLL total weight 560 grams Swingweight F5

c.      Scotty Cameron GoLo total weight 563 grams SW F6

  

 

This is where I had to leave it for day 1. I am headed to a golf event at PGA West and I am throwing this bad boy into the fire for our tournament. Will have more feedback when I return.

 

Thanks again to GolfWRX and L.A.B. for this opportunity and cant wait to make lots of birdies down in the desert.  

 

 

To be continued...

 

 

Now that's one helluva review.

 

Mine is supposed to arrive Friday and now I have to write a review to follow this?? You set me up, LOL.

 

 

[jasman29]

14 minutes ago, SEP1006 said:

 

Now that's one helluva review.

 

Mine is supposed to arrive Friday and now I have to write a review to follow this?? You set me up, LOL.

 

 

Oh yeah, my girl always give me the nodding off look when I start talking, I tend to get detailed. hahahahahaha It's part of my job and never accused of not giving enough information.