LA Golf has been a player in the golf equipment industry for quite some time now—almost seven years to be precise. However, I’m still trying to pinpoint exactly what their role is or even how to react to their existence.
As the company prepares to introduce its first driver, it’s a great moment to retrace LA Golf’s journey to understand how they’ve arrived at this milestone.
### A Brief History of LA Golf
LA Golf stepped onto the golfing equipment scene in early 2018, when it swooped in to acquire the inventory, assets, and patents of Matrix shafts—a company that had folded only months beforehand.
Reed Dickens, the man behind LA Golf and its CEO, pledged that the company wouldn’t just be another generic shaft manufacturer. Dickens drew inspiration from his successful Marucci (baseball bats) model, aiming to build a player-owned framework where the athletes themselves boost brand visibility.
Their shafts have found their way into the bags of golfing elite like Dustin Johnson, Bryson DeChambeau, and Michelle Wie West. Yet, despite high-profile users, LA Golf hasn’t fully stepped into the mainstream. To achieve widespread recognition in the shaft world usually requires extensive OEM adoption, and you won’t find LA Golf’s $300+ shafts as standard in many club sets. As such, while LA Golf may not be mundane, it is definitely more of a niche brand.
In 2021, LA Golf acquired SIK Golf, largely for its “descending loft” technology—an innovation also utilized by COBRA in its 3D-printed putters. This technology stands out as a significant asset in the LA Golf lineup, though whether it can justify their $500-$600 putter pricing is debatable.
By early 2023, LA Golf expanded its portfolio with the LA Golf ball. Our testing found it performed impressively, holding its own against other top direct-to-consumer balls like Maxfli and Vice. However, with a price tag of $70, it faced stiff competition—especially when considering the added value that comes with purchasing premium OEM options known for factory-level quality.
Now, LA Golf lists the ball at $54.99, but with no stock available. It’s uncertain whether it’s a temporary shortage, a newer version is in the works, or if it’s a permanent result of the fire at Launch Technologies.
Combining all of this, LA Golf’s journey seems more about acquisitions, like remnants of a shaft business and a putter brand, than groundbreaking innovations. Their reputation seems built more on pricing and the famous names backing them than on well-documented performance benefits.
Their notoriety largely stems from their roster of “Player Partners” like Bryson and DJ. This brings us to the present day and the announcement that LA Golf’s new driver lineup is now available for pre-sale, presenting a fresh chance to introduce a uniquely LA Golf product.
These new drivers come with a hefty price of $650. While steep for a newcomer lacking prior products or extensive R&D in drivers, it aligns with their premium brand positioning.
LA Golf claims their drivers are “the first driver to deliver a face and performance shaft to match your swing.” Rumor has it that the tagline ties back to DeChambeau, making sense given his well-known fascination with golf club design intricacies, especially bulge and roll, and his belief that a driver could be designed to correct shots regardless of where the ball is struck on the face.
This concept is intriguing but not exactly groundbreaking. It’s crucial for LA Golf to explain how their approach diverges from what’s already been explored.
Right now, the information skews more toward potential promises without solid details.
### About LA Golf Drivers
The LA Golf driver collection will feature five models, apparently linked to their distinctive bulge and roll profiles. They carry the designations: 13-12, 12-11, 10-10, 9-9, 8-7.
For the uninitiated: “bulge” refers to the heel-to-toe curvature of the face while “roll” is the top-to-bottom curvature. These work together to offset the “gear effect” and aim to create the best possible launch conditions, even with less-than-perfect contact.
Bulge aims to manage side spin, while roll adjusts launch angle, working with spin to balance off-center hits.
With just the model names, it might not be entirely clear which option suits you best. Luckily, LA Golf has introduced a fitting tool.
The versatile design accommodates a range of players, catering to those with swing speeds as low as 89 mph up to those exceeding 135 mph, like professional long drivers.
For context, the 9-9 model targets swing speeds of 125-135 mph and recommends a nominal loft of eight degrees; the 8-7 is for the big hitters (135 mph and above), suggesting a loft as low as four degrees—certainly not designed for every golfer.
Most ordinary golfers with swing speeds above 89 mph will fall into the 13-12 or 12-11 category.
From the looks of it, the heads appear uniform in shape and design, differing only in their bulge and roll characteristics.
However, as these drivers go from pre-sales to being widely available, more specifics may emerge. Ideally, the photos already available offer an accurate depiction of these clubs.
Still, $650 is a big sell when it seems like LA Golf is modifying just one design aspect (bulge and roll) compared to other industry players who juggle multiple elements.
Even if LA Golf ends up promoting its bulge and roll customization as a superior design feature, it feels off to claim they’re the first to consider varying club face characteristics for tailored swings.
Historically, creating designs tailored to specific swing characteristics has been commonplace, with Callaway’s Paradym Ai Smoke lineup also offering tailored face designs optimized for specific player groups. Meanwhile, PING’s G440 engaged in similar strategies by tailoring face designs informed by extensive data analysis.
And to conclude, optimizing shafts for diverse player profiles has been a staple for as long as most of us remember. This is far from revolutionary.
### More Details to Follow?
It’s definitely possible that more clarity will come as the launch progresses, but initially, the offerings don’t appear groundbreaking, apart from the focus on bulge and roll specifics.
The real surprise could come from how they implement these principles.
Bryson’s longstanding views on optimizing bulge and roll might mean that LA Golf’s take could differ significantly from prior interpretations. If such innovation exists, we might indeed have a game-changer worth examining.
However, there’s also considerable risk in trying to generalize something that works specifically for Bryson to the golfing masses.
With all this on the table, the curiosity about how LA Golf approaches bulge and roll differently from what we’ve seen is real. Still, I’m skeptical about embracing this as the primary distinguishing factor between different models for different audiences.
It might not be enough to justify a $650 spend during the pre-sale phase for a driver from a company with no previous track record in this area.
Certainly, more details and analyses await.
