The LA Golf Driver: Whats It Really All About?

For all makers of mass-marketed golf equipment, drivers play an extremely important role in how equipment manufacturers are perceived. Are top players using certain models? Are they creating buzz or falling flat? How are golf media talking about them? Are they available in the market? What technology does it have? And does it perform?

It’s a lot of questions to ask, but each one offers insights into a product's potential for success and performance. In the case of the recently released LA Golf driver, which included an endorsement from one of golf’s biggest names, Bryson DeChambeau, I wanted to search for some answers.

Are players using it?

As of publication, DeChambeau hasn’t made the switch to the LA Golf driver and is still using a Krank. There could be any number of reasons for this, and it takes time for clubs to work their way into players' bags (look no further than our tracking of driver wins this year on tour). But considering he's had so much input into the design, it seems at least a little odd.

Creating Buzz

Look, I don’t care too much about this category. Buzz is (at its core) simply about demonstrating who can spend money and get their products into the hands of the biggest and most influential voices to talk about it. Overanalyzing this element of it would defeat the purpose, which is to report on what happens when the rubber meets the road, so to speak. But LA Golf did create some notable buzz (and spend some money)on this launch.

Media Coverage

Since the initial chatter of launch day, I haven't encountered a single review to compare my personal data to. Don't worry; we’ll get to the numbers in a minute. Instead, it has just been a lot of talk about the story behind the LA Golf driver, including some cool unboxing. No shade, they sent out a very cool press kit.

But this lack of continued conversation usually means a couple of things. Are you ready for some inside baseball stuff?

If a product comes out and people are afraid to talk about its performance - especially in the world of drivers where ball speed and spin numbers go under a microscope. Then there is a good chance it probably doesn't quite stack up.

This is why the DTC (direct to consumer) equipment manufacturers focus so much on irons and wedges instead of drivers because the amount of resources and technology needed to produce irons is way lower than drivers, and performance variables are much less distance focused.

Market Availability

To be fair, it's way too early to know if LA Golf drivers are going to find their way into fitting studios and big box retailers, but if LA Golf follows the game plan they have enacted so far, it's likely that only select fitting studios will get them.

Instead, they have elected to offer a quiz based on a number of factors includnig swing speed, shot shape, and tempo, to recommend a fitted club.

Technology and performance

This category is the biggest reason I used to work as a club fitter and builder—and why I cover golf equipment now. The goal is to help golfers find better results!

LA Golf has been pretty quiet in explaining exactly how their driver is designed to work beyond the story of the evolving face shape designed to help golfers based on swing speed. No word on face technology or materials beyond its titanium. It has hosel adjustability, plus a weight in the back to fine-tune head weight.

As for the evolved face shape, it’s something Bryson has talked about for years (going back to his Cobra days) and is something designers generally factor into products with much less fanfare. Think Ping’s “spinsistency” face with a modified roll from top to bottom to keep spin in a lower window on lower face strikes, or TaylorMade’s twist face to help bring shots back to center.

So, about performance.

I went through LA Golf’s online driver fitting quiz and answered everything inline with my current off-the-tee performance. The end result was a 12-11 head with a Gold series 65g X-stiff shaft.

I tested it against several current drivers including my “gamer” driver from last year. (NOTE: all drivers were correctly fit for me) and here are the end results.

LA Golf Driver

TaylorMade Qi35 LS

Cobra DarkSpeed Adapt X

Ping G440 LST

PXG Black Ops Tour-1

Conclusion

As it stands the LA Golf driver isn’t for me, but from an optimistic point of view, that doesn’t mean it won’t work for other golfers.

Even though I didn't have the opportunity to try it with other shafts (since this is the one their online fitting algorithm recommended) I still went through the process of trying different hosel configurations with the best results being used in the final comparison.

As for other observations, it looks nice and has a pleasing classic shape behind the ball in the address position. Something I often hear from golfers it that driver crowns have gotten a little busy—don't get me started on driver and fairway wood color schemes—and with its matte black crown and flat graphics on the sole it without a doubt looks sleek.

Whether it's the all-titanium construction or the internal goemetry, the LA Golf driver was noticeably louder compared to the others in the test that utilize carbon in their construction, and had a higher pitch sound at impact. Nothing crazy or unpleasant like some of those early 460cc drivers, but something most will notice. Since the test was conducted inside, it could be that it amplified the noise compared to what it would be like outside instead.

So, did LA Golf just introduce their first driver? They sure did. But it didn't hold up against the drivers I've been fitted for. This was a good reminder of just how crucial in-person fittings are for maximizing driver performance—online fitting tools are just a starting point. And, without the ability to go through that process, the results have to stand.