L.A.B. Golf BLaD1 Putter
The L.A.B. Golf BLaD1 putter offers an innovative and outside the box approach to the most important club in your bag. It combines outstanding craftsmanship, some interesting approaches to fitting, and some thoughtful and unconventional features.
The Looks
Where. Do. I. Start?
In a world of unique and sometimes crazy putter designs, the L.A.B. Golf BLaD1 putter takes a utilitarian approach to the putter game. It’s a sharp angled, solid rectangle with a centered shaft and subtle alignment marks. That’s it! They go for a minimal look here – no distractions or optical aids.
I think most players will find the simple, geometric looks of the BLaD1 putter to be quite pleasing. One thing you will notice is that it is perfectly crafted. The putter is finely milled from stainless steel or brass and polished. They have very subtle curves and a sole that sits effortlessly on the turf. It’s a fascinating looking piece of golf gear. I’m interested in hearing what you think!
How Does it Feel?
Quick science thought: One of L.A.B. Golf’s major thoughts is that putters of all shapes and sizes over rotate. It’s torque to blame. Physics majors will understand that many of the putters in stores today will twist and turn throughout your swing. Face balanced and counter balanced – it does not really matter. What L.A.B. sought out was a solution to that. They found it in what they call “lie angle balance.” They define it as “the putter head’s ability to stay square through the ball during the putting stroke without any adjustments from your hands” and say it creates a pendulum like feel in your stroke.
The BLaD1 putter is incredibly stable in your stroke. You honestly have to mess it up to get this thing to go off-line. That creates a dynamic that I’ll go over in a bit…
For me, the L.A.B. Golf BLaD1 Putter is a tale of two “feels.” When you’re striking it dead center, it’s a pleasant, soft connection with your ball. I think this putter does well when you give it a little gas. BUT, should you miss the sweet spot, the feel gets noticeably firmer. Is it bad? No, not at all. It feels quite noticeable, and at times tried to miss the sweet spot (I know, I know, I say that all the time) to test it out. Thing is, I’m not seeing any significant misses out of it. If you’re on the button, or close enough, you’re going to get a good result here.
How Does it Sound?
I may let you down here. Out of all my finely-tuned golf senses, sound is probably the one I care about the least. I don’t worry much about my drivers (unless it sounds like The Hammer) and I’m not swayed much either way by putter sound. I’m going to say the BLaD1 has a medium firm click to it. It’s nice. Hopefully you’ll all like it.
On-Course Performance
I talked earlier about how you pretty much have to mess up your stroke to get the L.A.B. Golf BLaD1 Putter to go offline. It’s true. As any true athlete or Driving Range Hero will tell you, the more variables you can remove from your athletic motion, the more control you have. What happens here is that when you’re looking at a short, mid-range, or lag putt, you just pick your spot and and go. It’s as easy as setting up, and kind of “lobbing” it the right distance. You don’t have to fight it. If you’re a reasonable ball striker, it becomes all about feel.
L.A.B Golf Remote Fitting
L.A.B. Golf suggests a simple fitting session to truly customize your putter. What they had me do was choose a length that felt good to me (34″) and shoot a quick video. They tell you to put on your favorite golf shoes and take a few smooth strokes while you’re lined up with a door, or some other vertical surface. They use that to calculate your exact lie angle.
They’ve now got your measurements and built your custom putter, and you are going to notice a couple things. It’s center shafted, and will obviously sit dead flat for your perfect lie-angle balance. They also install an interesting PressGrip, which features a 1.5° forward press to it. Not gonna lie, it’s kinda funky, but that’s ok and you can get used to it. This PressGrip feels way different than mainstream grips, but as I said above – it gives you the confidence to line it up and let it rip.
Final Thoughts – L.A.B. Golf BLaD1 Putter
The L.A.B. Golf BLaD1 putter is one of the most unconventional putters I’ve ever used. It’s filled with tons of tech and unusual, but useful features. With its personalized fit and high quality materials, it’s a playable and fun club to have in the bag. I think many players will be delighted with the performance you’ll get from the lie-angle balance concept. Give it a try!
