When LA GOLF hit the scene, they were met with reactions all over the place. From the simplest assumptions that they would just be a Matrix reboot, all the way to discussion of them trying to modernize the golf shaft segment with a deep ownership group that includes several PGA Tour players.
As it turns out, none of us had any clue just what LA GOLF planned on becoming, and realistically, we still may not know as this brand continues to dip its toes into a little bit of everything.
An example? How about them acquiring the SIK putter brand and then proceeding to release what they are calling the first all carbon putter head that is melded with the SIK Descending Loft Technology and the most expensive putter shaft on the market. There is a lot of technical design info in this one, it isn’t just another blade putter head design which feels at this point to be a dime-a-dozen sort of thing, and it sure isn’t priced like them either.
The LA GOLF Putter
Alright, lets get it out of the way, this one, is a $1,500.00 putter.
OK, do you have your breath? Have you collected your bearings a bit? Are you ready to learn why its priced as such, and even why LA GOLF is taking dead aim at Scotty Cameron in their marketing for it? Keep reading and we will break it down for you.
If you don’t realize it yet, LA GOLF is bold. They believe what they are doing is unlike anything else on the market, and are more than willing to say it, to anyone, including some of the biggest names in putter design. When LA GOLF dropped this putter on the world, it was a notable surprise as most of us believed we would simply see the SIK designs pushed more with the backing of LA GOLF and that they would naturally come standard with their putter shafts. Instead, we are getting what the company believes is one of the most technologically advanced putters ever made.
While the company might be slapping Bryson DeChambeau on their marketing for this putter, the story doesn’t really need the “mad scientist”, it’s pretty cool all on its own when you get down to the nitty gritty. This is an all-carbon fiber head. Why? Because LA GOLF is adamant that material technology in golf has surpassed traditional putter makers and their block of steel designs. The ability to take 435 layers of low fiber aerial weight carbon and CNC it into two putter shapes which allows precise weight placement and savings is the critical element in play here.
You see, the LA GOLF Putters (blade and mallet) can range from 350g to 400g depending on the head and which weights are installed. Those weights are either 70g or 90g and are in the sole of the putter heads at the heel and toe just as we have seen in many putter designs for several years. The difference? The MIM (metal injection molded) tungsten weights make up at least 40% of the putter’s overall weight. We are talking 140g to 180g at the perimeter of the designs but still in a traditionally weighted design. The lightweight carbon mixed with the tungsten means, according to LA GOLF, a sweet spot that is 50% larger than the most popular milled putters on the market. Which makes sense when you have the putter in hand because the overall blade length is quite large.
But wait, there’s more! That perimeter weighting means more MOI, or resistance to twisting at impact, but it is also being blended with an LA GOLF putter shaft designed just for these two heads. The company already makes some of the stoutest (four times what “X” flex would be), most vibration dampening, and stable putter shafts on the market, and according to them these blacked out designs take that to another lever making for a putter that is not only forgiving, but maybe the most stable through impact out there. You see, it is that stability which they believe helps limit variances in face angle at impact which lead to exponentially larger misses on the greens.
As mentioned, the LA GOLF putter comes in either a traditional plumber’s neck blade model or a mallet (more of a mid-mallet) with plumbers, slant, and face balanced slant neck options. The entirety of the putter is finished in black, including the Winn grip and the PVD finish on its CNC milled 303 Stainless SIK DLT insert which has scientifically proven to be one of the best pure-roll insert designs out there. The putters can be ordered in 33”-36”, but the MIM weights which are selected are not adjustable and neither is the 71-degree lie angle due to the materials and production methods in play here.
Like we said, LA GOLF is bold, and this is perhaps their most bold endeavor with a putter carrying a price tag which might send most golfers into shock. Something else it does, however, is create some interesting conversation with the brand taking aim at the exact companies who might otherwise offer their shafts as an upcharge option in their own putter lineups. Will this bold and brash stance with the LA GOLF putter have unintended consequences for the entire putter industry? Only time will tell, but it is going to be one heck of a fun discussion while we wait and see!
For more information on this putter or any of their offerings, check out their website at www.lagolf.co.
