Latest news with #LABGolf
Yahoo
01-08-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Charlie Woods said his putter 'finally woke up' on Day 2 of Junior PGA. What's in his bag?
Charlie Woods is charging up the leaderboard at the 49th Junior PGA Championships in no small part thanks to sensational putting in the second round on July 30. Woods, a rising junior at the Benjamin School and son of legendary golfer Tiger Woods, shot 66 (6-under) in the second round on Wednesday at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana. He entered the clubhouse at 7-under for the tournament and in fourth place overall. Woods had his putter working early in the round. He sank a long birdie putt on the third hole and went on to shoot 31 on the front nine, carding six birdies along the way. "I hit it about the same as I did in the first round, but the putter finally woke up today," Woods told Ethan Hanson of Lafayette's Journal & Courier after the round. "It felt really good in my hands, and I was able to roll a few in after some solid iron shots. "Nice to get myself back in the mix and looking forward to getting after it tomorrow (Thursday)." Woods' putter of choice at the Junior PGA Championships appears to be a custom L.A.B. DF3, an unconventional putter brand that is growing in prominence after J.J. Spaun's win at the 2025 U.S. Open and a $200-million dollar private equity deal. 49th Junior PGA Championships: How did Charlie Woods fare in the second round Charlie Woods putter at Junior PGA Championship L.A.B. Golf, which stands for 'Lie Angle Balance," is a rapidly rising name in golf gear circles thanks to its distinctive designs and technological innovations. The company claims its designs eliminate torque during the putting stroke, helping to keep the club face square to the arc of a player's putting motion. L.A.B. offers pre-built putters but has also specialized in a custom-fitting process to deliver personalized putters to golfers. Recent adoptees on the professional circuit Rickie Fowler, Dustin Johnson and J.J. Spaun, who handed the company its biggest breakthrough with his victory at Oakmont Country Club in June. On July 28, the Wall Street Journal reported L. Catterton, a private equity firm, acquired a majority stake in L.A.B. Golf for an estimated $200 million. L. Catterton, which also has stakes in major brands like Peloton and Birkenstock, is expected to help bring the Oregon-based company to a wider audience and address a number of issues, including lead time in the production process. From Golfweek: L. Catterton acquires majority stake in L.A.B. Golf Eric J. Wallace is deputy sports editor for The Palm Beach Post. He can be reached at ejwallace@ This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Charlie Woods' putter 'woke up' at Junior PGA. What's in his bag?
Forbes
01-08-2025
- Automotive
- Forbes
Can Cleveland Golf's Triangular-Shaped Hibore XL Start A Trend?
'Innovation is the ability to see change as an opportunity—not a threat.' That quote from Steve Jobs, one of the greatest innovators ever, is relevant across all industries, including golf. As original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) leverage new materials, technologies and testing in the arms race for golf's growing demographics, some are leading the pack. L.A.B. Golf, which recently sold to private equity firm L Catterton for a reported $200 million, innovated the modern-day putter. The brand sparked the zero-torque movement which was quickly mimicked by legacy golf OEMs including Odyssey, TaylorMade and Bettinardi. J.J. Spaun's 64-foot putt on the 18th hole to win the 2025 U.S. Open at Oakmont only validated L.A.B. Golf's innovation. Since its release in late 2024, Cleveland Golf's Hibore XL driver has been met with both hesitation and obsession over its design, which bucks the trend from modern-day drivers. 'The unique look of the club has certainly turned some heads and struck people as something unique and different from anything they had seen before,' said Casey Schultz, Cleveland Golf senior product manager. 'The surprising thing about the product to many has been just how good it sounds. Golfers expect odd-looking drivers from the past to have loud, unappealing sounds, but the sound of the HiBore XL driver has certainly been a massive positive this generation.' Cleveland Golf started searching for an alternative partner for its impact simulations and pre-processing around 2008 or '09. Altair, a global technology company known for its software and cloud solutions in simulation as well as high-performance computing, AI and data analytics, provided Cleveland Golf with more efficient, effective and detailed solutions, particularly around club engineering and testing. As golf continues to explode in popularity—47.2 million Americans age 6+ played both on- and off-course golf in 2024 according to the National Golf Foundation—OEMs like Cleveland Golf are prioritizing solutions for the game's growing demos and novices. Bringing back one of the brand's beloved classics with a modern twist, the Hibore XL features a narrowed chassis to maintain the desired head volume, while placing weight low and deep, and tapering the rear of the club to create its triangular shape to help support its extra-large face. The larger club face translates into an expanded sweet spot for players with a 19% increase in size compared to the brand's previous driver (Launcher XL 2). 'The goal with this product was to improve sound, but we did not want to sacrifice forgiveness to get there,' said Jacob Lambeth, Cleveland Golf research engineering supervisor. 'So we developed a new optimization process with Altair software to help us identify any alternative designs that could stiffen the sole and maintain forgiveness. To our surprise, the simulation converged on a very triangular shape and decreased the clubhead's volume. 'It drastically increased stiffness—leading to better sound—and maintained forgiveness—measured by MOI (moment of inertia). The lower volume opened the door for us to increase the face size, which helps forgiveness on large mishits. In the end, you have a product that sounds better, feels better and performs better.' While the triangular clubhead shape isn't completely revolutionary (see also: Titleist 907 D1, Callaway FT-iZ, Big Bertha Fusion and COBRA LTDx and LTDx Max), Cleveland Golf's emphasis on providing golfers with as massive of clubface as possible within USGA regulations, could reignite the triangular trend as OEMs engineer clubs specifically for novice golfers, who are getting into the game through Topgolf and other golf-entertainment venues, shows and movies like Full Swing and Happy Gilmore 2, or streetwear-inspired brands including Malbon. 'Altair created a set of engineering tools that allows companies to bring physical testing into the digital realm, not simply to analyze, but to optimize,' Altair account manager Ryan Samuels said. 'We didn't just focus on one physics type like structural analysis, but many that are relevant to the product design like aerodynamics and acoustics. That allows companies like Cleveland Golf to simulate and optimize on a multi-disciplinary basis to develop a club that not only sounds good but feels and performs at a high-level.'
Wall Street Journal
28-07-2025
- Business
- Wall Street Journal
The Oddball Golf Putter Company That Private Equity Just Bought for $200 Million
Just over a month ago, L.A.B. Golf was a niche company that sold bizarre looking putters. Then millions of golf fans watched J.J. Spaun use one to sink a 64-footer and win the U.S. Open. And now private equity has scooped up L.A.B.
Fast Company
21-06-2025
- Automotive
- Fast Company
The story behind the innovative L.A.B. putter that just won the U.S. Open
On Sunday, J.J. Spaun sank a 64-foot putt to win the U.S. Open, one of the PGA Tour's four major tournaments. Over the final seven holes, he made more than 136 feet of putts, including that curling 64-footer on 18. He was the only player to finish the U.S. Open under par, and it was his first career major win. It was also the first major win for L.A.B. Golf, the boutique manufacturer that outfitted Spaun with his DF3 custom putter. L.A.B. Golf is the new company shaking up the putter circuit, and its innovation is simple. Traditional putters have shafts that attach in front of the clubface or at the heel, creating twisting forces during the stroke. L.A.B. putters position the shaft directly through the putter's center of gravity, behind the face, the shaft stabbing the putter head like a toothpick spearing a square of cheese. This creates a nontraditional forward shaft lean that eliminates torque and helps the face naturally stay square throughout the putting motion. 'Every other putter you've used, you're trying to keep it square,' Sam Hahn, L.A.B. Golf cofounder and CEO, says. 'With L.A.B., you're trying to let it stay square. So it becomes more like so many other stroke sports out there—throwing darts, shooting a free throw, throwing a ball—where you're not thinking about managing the instrument, you're thinking about the target.' The company has been built on one simple philosophy: Putting doesn't have to suck. An accidental garage innovation In 2014, a Reno-based club builder named Bill Presse made an accidental discovery in his garage. While testing new designs, he stripped the grip from a putter, and when he grabbed the slick, ungripped shaft, his hand slipped and the putter face flopped open, almost instinctively. The putter head wanted to twist and turn on its own. This sparked Presse's curiosity. Using a makeshift device crafted from a crutch and fishing wire, he tested every putter in his collection to see if any would remain square when properly suspended. None did. So he drilled holes in dozens of putter heads to find the precise shaft placement that would eliminate the unwanted rotation. This led him to design (and patent) the first lie angle balance putter, the Directed Force. He sold his L.A.B. putter directly out of his garage and at golf events and showcases. A key early adopter In 2017, Hahn acquired one of Presse's putters from a golf instructor and experienced dramatic improvement on the greens. (For you golf nerds, he went from a 1 handicap to plus 3.5 in six weeks.) Then, the club's head fell off. When Hahn called customer service and sent in his broken L.A.B. putter, Presse personally called to apologize. 'We hit it off instantly,' Hahn says. 'We talked for hours on the phone and learned that we're kindred golf spirits.' A few months later, Bill's club-making company was struggling and was about to close its doors. Hahn, a music venue owner in Eugene, Oregon, and a closet golf addict, saw an opportunity and partnered with Bill in 2018 to form L.A.B. Golf. 'The lie angle balancing concept was there, but nothing else really was,' Hahn says. 'The marketing wasn't there, the manufacturing wasn't there, the infrastructure, the branding, the general vibe—there simply wasn't a company there. But there was a concept.' The L.A.B. Rats With no marketing budget, L.A.B.'s growth had to happen organically. Hahn spent time jumping between golf forums and online groups, explaining the physics behind lie angle balance and taking a humble approach when skeptical golfers said their putters looked like branding irons. 'We knew we had to be a little self-deprecating and a little humble at first when we were out there making some pretty bold claims,' Hahn says. Then, in 2021, Hahn discovered something unexpected: Two L.A.B. customers had created a Facebook group for L.A.B. fans. The group exploded into a thriving community where golfers share putting tips and success stories, many singing L.A.B.'s praises. Hahn and his team began engaging with members, answering questions, and gathering feedback to inform their product design. It's a real-time focus group that Hahn and his team have leveraged to not only continue to iterate and innovate, but to build putters that golfers actually want to use. 'I log on to Facebook at night and see what's going on,' Hahn says. 'So when we sit in a product meeting and try to figure out what we should do next, it's easy, because the customers are telling us every day what they want next.' Today, the group has been rebranded as the 'Lab Rats.' It has more than 32,000 members and has been a critical component of the company's organic growth in popularity among amateur golfers. L.A.B. cracks the PGA tour Pro golfers are notoriously traditional and skeptical toward innovation. Yes, there are outliers, like Bryson DeChambeau, a famous tinkerer who has even used 3D-printed irons. Then there's Adam Scott: 2013 Masters champion, former World No. 1, and son of a club manufacturer. Scott first saw L.A.B. design in action during the 2019 Pebble Beach Pro-Am, when surfing legend Kelly Slater used the Directed Force to dominate putting competitions. 'Kelly rolled it better than anyone in our group—the two pros, the other amateur,' Scott recalls. 'You couldn't help but take notice.' Scott began using the putter on the Tour in 2019, pivoting to the L.A.B. Golf Mezz.1 putter in 2022. The following year, Scott's curiosity evolved into collaboration when he and Hahn met at the L.A. Country Club for a couple of beers, talking putters and sketching designs on cocktail napkins. The result: the L.A.B. OZ.1. 'The initial inspiration for the OZ.1 started far away from putters and was more about classic, timeless designs that I like, like a Porsche 911 or a Rolex Datejust watch,' Scott explains. 'That was the starting point, and then the nice thing was that we got to include some of the real L.A.B. look in this more conventional design.' Scott became L.A.B.'s first official brand ambassador, and it's easy to see why. Since switching to L.A.B. putters full-time in 2022, Scott has achieved remarkable consistency, ranking 19th and 27th on tour in strokes gained putting the last two years, a significant improvement from his previous putting struggles that once saw him rank as low as 188th. And when one golfer tries something new and has success, others take note. Phil Mickelson, Rickie Fowler, and Lucas Glover are among roughly a dozen PGA Tour pros who have used L.A.B. putters. With them, of course, is Spaun, who wielded L.A.B.'s DF3 model on Sunday, a refined version of the company's original Direct Force design. Span's specific setup includes a 34-inch length, 70-degree lie angle, TPT graphite shaft, and two-degree shaft lean customized with a blacked-out Scotty Cameron grip. The putter paid dividends throughout the tournament, where he gained over 10 strokes on the field with his putting—the second-best performance in the tournament. His final-round heroics included not just the tournament-clinching bomb, but also crucial birdies from 40 and 22 feet on the back nine. 'It's been really good for me lately,' Spaun said in a press conference earlier this year after The Players Championship, where he lost to Rory McIlroy in a playoff. 'Hopefully it keeps doing what it's supposed to be doing.' Spaun's win puts L.A.B. on the map L.A.B. placed two players in Sunday's final groups with Spaun and Scott each starting the final round in the top four, demonstrating the technology's growing acceptance among golf's elite performers, despite resistance from both players and manufacturers. 'The whole environment is wildly competitive, cutthroat even,' Hahn says. 'The other reps actively work to keep their product in people's hands, and they don't like it when nobody from nowhere starts taking market share.' Still, performance trumps politics. In addition to the dozen players on the Tour who have used L.A.B. putters, the company's European tour rep reports 16 putters in play on the DP World Tour, signaling the putter's slow but steady adoption. Spaun's U.S. Open win is yet another windfall for the young company looking to earn a larger share of golf's massive equipment market, valued at $11.7 billion globally in 2025. The company itself has grown anywhere from 150 to 300% every year since inception, according to Hahn, quadrupling its employee headcount to 225 over the last two and a half years. Sales tripled in both 2023 and 2024, and the company is currently on pace to double sales in 2025, though Spaun's win could accelerate that trajectory. And they've done it all while maintaining complete financial independence, and by defying conventional industry wisdom about marketing and endorsements—which Hahn says they'll continue doing, as long as it keeps working. 'We don't create product in the name of growth,' Hahn says. 'We create product in the name of making a better product. The growth just kind of takes care of itself if you honor the consumer.'
Irish Times
17-06-2025
- Automotive
- Irish Times
JJ Spaun's putt of a lifetime puts LAB putters on the map
What's in a name? Well, JJ Spaun's dramatic win in the US Open – where he used his putter like a magic wand, especially his dramatic 65 feet birdie putt to seal the deal on the 18th at Oakmont – has firmly put L.A.B. putters, the new kids on the block, very much on the map. Spaun used a L.A.B. Golf DF3 putter, notable for being a zero-torque design, which gave the US company its first Major victory. L.A.B. stands for Lie Angle Balance for which the company has a patented technology aimed at, yes, eliminating torque in putting. The mission statement of the brand – emerging as a rival to traditional powerhouses Scotty Cameron and Ping – is straight to the point: READ MORE 'The best golfers in the world have mastered nearly every shot in the game, but even for them putting is an entirely separate challenge. One day they make everything, and the next day they can't buy a putt. And if they can't hole putts with consistency, what chance does the average golfer have?' Spaun's wizardry with the putter at Oakmont, where he holed a number of long putts on the homeward stretch, let actions speak louder than any words. Leona Maguire heads to Major week struggling for form Leona Maguire. Photograph: Mike Stobe/Getty Leona Maguire will seek to end a poor run of form – which has seen her suffer four successive missed cuts – at this week's KPMG Women's PGA Championship at Frisco resort in Texas, a course co-designed by Gil Hanse who was also responsible for the remodelling of Oakmont. The 29-year-old Cavan golfer's season has flipped in the past month: where she hadn't missed a cut in her opening nine tournaments of the season, Maguire has missed consecutive cuts at the Mizuho Americas Open, the Mexico Open, the US Women's Open and last week's Meijer Classic, after which she fell a further five places to 57th on the latest LPGA Tour rankings. Maguire is the lone Irish player in the field at Frisco, a venue which is making its Major debut and already named as a future host for the men's PGA Championship in 2027 and again in 2034. By the Numbers: 4,300,000 That's the amount – in US$ – which JJ Spaun won for claiming the US Open at Oakmont. It was thee same pay-day as Bryson DeChambeau received for his win at Pinehurst last year, after the USGA opted not to increase the purse for this year's championship. Next year's US Open takes place at Shinnecock Hills on Long Island, New York. Word of Mouth 'It was borderline unplayable. The water was like so close to the surface. I just don't know. It was like an aquaplane on the ground' – Adam Scott, ever the diplomat, providing his interpretation of the Sam Burns request for casual water relief on the 15th hole of the final round. Burns twice sought relief, from two different rules officials, but was denied and would double-bogey the hole, effectively ending his bid to catch Spaun. On this day ... June 17th 1990 Rodger Davis was a colourful member of the European Tour, with a fashion sense that included wearing distinctive plus-fours and sporting an equally distinctive moustache. The Aussie's fifth of seven career wins on what is now the DP World Tour came in the Wang Four Stars tournament, an event which started off as the Bob Hope British Classic and, in its 11 years on the circuit, had no fewer than six different tournament names. Davis had to win the tournament at Moor Park on the outskirts of London the hard way, his second win in the celebrity pro-am (having also triumphed in 1988) that numbered such personalities as Terry Wogan and Ronnie Corbett among its players. Having edged out Eamonn Darcy by a shot two years previously, Davis claimed a second title in a four-man playoff – also involving Mike Clayton, Bill Malley and Mark McNulty – that would only see him emerge the victor at the seventh hole of sudden death with a par to finally overcome Clayton, the other two having departed at the first playoff hole. In the Bag JJ Spaun – US Open Driver: Titleist GT3 (9 degrees) 3-wood: TaylorMade Qi10 (15 degrees) 5-wood: TaylorMade Qi10 (18 degrees) Irons: Srixon ZXi5 (4) Srixon ZXi7 (5-PW) Wedges: Cleveland RTX ZipCore (50 degrees), Cleveland RTZ (54 degrees), Cleveland RTX 6 ZipCore (60 degrees) Putter: L.A.B. Golf DF3 Ball: Srixon Z-Star Diamond Social Scene After (kind of) playing it for 2 days, and watching over the weekend ... it's hard to express how difficult/borderline impossible Oakmont would be if it was firm. Not even rock hard, but just the slightest bit of firmness in the greens would make it (crazy) – Justin Thomas Is Oakmont even fun to play? I'd shoot 130 easily – US basketball star Caitlin Clark – a very keen golfer – on the challenge of Oakmont. My new swing thought ... 'Adam Scott' – an oldie but one with significance, the post from JJ Spaun (back in April 2020) of how he intended to base his swing on that of Adam Scott. Good karma. Know the Rules Q The player's second shot lands in the greenside bunker. The player hits the ball out of the bunker and it comes to rest just short of the green. The player removes the sand that landed both on the green and off the green using a towel as it was on their line of play. What is the ruling in stroke play? A There is no penalty for removing sand that lies on the putting green (Rule 13.1c) but the player gets the general penalty (two penalty strokes) for improving their line of play by removing sand in the general area (see Rule 8.1a (4)).
