L.A.B. Putters – “Feels like I’m cheating!”

I’ve been writing about golf equipment for almost 30 years. In that time, I have tested and reviewed close to 100 putters, ranging from household name brands to boutique start-ups. Many – by which I mean most – new putter companies fail within a few years. But every now and then, one of these plucky newcomers really moves the needle and shakes up the market. L.A.B. Golf is one of these movers and shakers. L.A.B.’s radical designs and precision engineering are creating tsunami-like waves through all levels of the game, from weekend warriors to the PGA Tour.

What sets L.A.B. Putters apart is their balancing. Putters can be “balanced” several ways. If you balance your putter on your finger, lying the shaft perpendicular across your outstretched digit, you can determine its weighting scheme. If the face points upward, it’s “face-balanced.” If the toe hangs straight down, it’s “toe-balanced.” If the toe hangs down at an angle, there is some degree of “toe-hang.” L.A.B. stands for Lie Angle Balanced. Company founder and L.A.B. inventor, Bill Presse, was a mini-tour player who wanted to simplify his putting stroke. He reasoned that lie-angle balancing would most easily allow the putter to balance such that the face is dead-square with the target line, promoting a consistently square face at impact.

A number of design features combine to create this lie-angle balancing. In L.A.B.’s first models, a key feature – along with numerous adjustable weights and an aluminum chassis wrapped around a steel putterhead and insert – was center-shafting. In other words, the straight shaft was inserted into the center of the putterhead. Combined with some radical head shapes (think branding irons – big branding irons), the initial L.A.B. putters were easy to recognize.

The unique profile of the original L.A.B. offering was polarizing, however. Even golfers who appreciated the consistency with which they stroked their putts were sometimes put off by the head shape or size. The center-shafting, too, if you’re not used to it, can make alignment tricky. In 2025, L.A.B. introduced its first non-center-shafted model, the OZ.1i HS ($499), where “HS” stands for “heel-shafted.”

Playing the L.A.B. OZ.1i HS

I recently played the undisputed king of public golf in Illinois, Cog Hill #4, a.k.a. Dubsdread, where the greens are fast and dramatically contoured. Before the round, I met up with an old buddy of mine who is currently a 2-handicap. When he arrived, he couldn’t wait to show me his L.A.B. DF3 Putter, a smaller, slightly less radical version of the original L.A.B. DF2.1. “This putter shaved two strokes off my score,” he said. “I feel like I’m cheating!”

I then pulled the L.A.B. OZ.1i HS out of my bag and asked, “Have you seen their new heel-shafted model?” (OK, so I can be a little smug sometimes. But this situation called for smugness!) He took it to the practice green and proceeded to run in 3 6-foot putts in a row. We both just smiled and shook our heads at the consistency. And he had to admit that the heel-shafted design fits the eye more naturally than the center-shafted version.

The ball comes off the steel insert incredibly softly, allowing for confident, even aggressive, strokes. Within 8 feet of the cup, the OZ.1i HS instills incredible confidence: I just set the putter behind the ball on the line I want it to begin on, take my stance, and swing – as long as I don’t get handsy, the ball rolls exactly on-line. Even my misses go where I want them to – can’t blame a misread on the putter!

Between the exquisite lie-angle balancing, the Press pistol grip, and the premium steel shaft, I’m not sure I’ve ever tested a putter that immediately fit my eye so well. During the last few rounds with the OZ.1i HS, I feel like everything inside 10 feet should drop, and 3-putting is basically a foreign concept.

For players with exacting standards, L.A.B. offers myriad custom-fitting options on their website and a variety of putterhead shapes (including an Anser-style blade) and colors (the purple ones are back!). There are even shaft options that can add close to $400 to the price tag. Although it is true that L.A.B. Putters aren’t cheap, developing supreme confidence on the green is nearly priceless.