Golf Club Evaluation: LA Driver Examination

Taking a Deep Dive into LA Golf's Co-Designed Driver with Bryson DeChambeau

As someone who's been a touch nosy about Bryson DeChambeau's golf gear escapades, I was intrigued when I heard he'd be collaborating with LA Golf on a driver. And here we are, face-to-face with the new LA Golf driver, a blend of brains and brawn, courtesy of Bryson and LA Golf. So, does it hold its own against the big guns in the market? Let's find out...

The tech behind this bad boy is intriguing, to say the least, revolving around face curvature and gear effect – two factors that could potentially shake up the golfing world. According to the DeChambeau-LA Golf team, players with different clubhead speeds should not be stuck on the same face curvature for their drivers. A theory I can get on board with.

Now, if you're new to the lingo, the curvature is there to mitigate heel or toe hits and straighten them out somewhat through gear effect. However, extensive research by LA Golf has found that the less speed you have, the less gear effect kicks in. Consequently, using too much face curvature on slower-speed swings can result in dispersion issues. A discovery Bryson made firsthand during his speed-hunting days in the long drive scene.

Enter FACE ID, a matching-system that assigns drivers with a radius of face curvature based on your individual swing speed. With options like the 13-12 (for speeds below 90mph), 12-11 (90-109mph), 10-10 (110-124mph), 9-9 (125-134mph), and 8-7 (for the speed demons over 135mph), there's something for everyone. After completing the online fitting 'quiz,' I was recommended the 10-10 head.

Half-dozen questions later, I had my recommended driver on the way. But truth be told, I found the online fitting process a tad underwhelming. Perhaps it's because I've been a fitter throughout my career, knowing that properly identifying factors like loft and shaft profile requires more than just a few questions. However, LA Golf has reported some excellent results based on feedback from its users, so I decided to trust the process. Plus, I've got a feeling I might be an outlier here.

Now, some might complain about the lack of information provided on the LA Golf website and after the online fitting. For instance, I was given a recommended head but not included in the information about the suggested shaft or optimal loft based on my answers. Fortunately for me, I could ask questions and get answers from the PR team. But not everyone has that luxury, so a bit more transparency would go a long way for the average customer.

Visually, I'm a fan of the sleek clubhead. The sole features a small, repeated LA Golf text, which keeps things nice and tidy. And the crown, with its minimalistic design, is a breath of fresh air. It's a smooth black finish with a glossiness to it, but once it gets a spot of moisture or fingerprints, you can spot them a mile away.

Now, onto the crunch: the all-important performance. I had high hopes, but the raw data tells a different story. Compared to my current driver, the Callaway Elyte Triple Diamond, the LA Golf driver wasn't as impressive. In terms of ball speed and carry distance, the Callaway was ahead by a couple of mph and 13 yards, respectively. Spin was significantly higher on the LA Golf driver too. While the all-titanium head felt and looked fantastic, a 13-yard difference is hard to ignore, especially when it didn't seem to bring an improvement in accuracy – in fact, it was less accurate overall.

But here's the thing: I believe it was more of a fitting and shaft issue than a problem with the LA Golf driver itself. The shaft my driver came fitted with, while excellent quality, didn't feel like the best match for my timing and delivery. I think this compromised my strike location, affecting the overall results.

Another YouTube review I watched recently, featuring a high-speed player, presented better results when they used the LA Golf driver with their gamer shaft. This highlights a potential flaw in the current online fitting process that doesn't seem to be delivering the best performance for many users. But there's genuine potential here, and I'm looking forward to test-driving the LA Golf driver on a shaft that suits me better.

Final verdict? Slightly underwhelmed. But, like a good golfer, I've got to stick to my belief that I've got a good head on my hands and hope for an apples-to-apples comparison that proves it.

The driver is priced from $494, but there's a $150 upcharge for the Bryson Series shaft. Swing on over to the LA Golf website to nab one for yourself.

Four Weeks Later...

Kudos to LA Golf for delivering on their promise and sending me new shaft options and the 9-9 head in 8 ̊. I received two iterations of the A-Series Low 60-W-5 shaft – one with 1" tipping and one with zero tipping, along with a couple of adapters so I could experiment with different shafts.

I have to say, the results were vastly improved all around. The tipped version of the A-Series shaft felt more stable and suitable for my swing, and my old reliable pal – the Fujikura Ventus Black 6-X – worked a treat as well. Simply finding the center more often made a difference in my results. My ball speed consistently zoomed past 170mph, and most importantly, my dispersion tightened up significantly.

Now, despite my occasional skepticism about online fittings without a qualified fitter, I genuinely believe there's real merit to this progressive curvature story. If LA Golf can fine-tune the online fitting process to catch up to the technical innovation here, watch out, golfing universe!

The Skinny on LA Golf's Driver

The LA Golf driver with FACE ID technology is all about tailoring performance to individual swing speeds, promising maximum distance and control across a diverse range of golfers. Here's a rundown of its main highlights in comparison to other high-performance drivers:

Performance

LA Golf Driver with FACE ID: Offers optimal distance based on swing speed across various models, but might fall short compared to select drivers in terms of raw speed[1][2].
Other High-Performance Drivers: Drivers like the Krank Formula FIRE MINI Driver emphasize super-hot performance and accuracy, often boasting advanced materials and technologies for maximum ball speed and distance[5].

Accuracy

LA Golf Driver with FACE ID: Provides forgiveness and more consistent ball flights, thanks to its tailored bulge and roll profiles, which minimize side spin on off-center hits[2].
Other High-Performance Drivers: The Krank Formula FIRE MINI Driver features optimized face curvature, reduced back-spin, and a dual weight port system to produce straighter drives[5].

Fit

LA Golf Driver with FACE ID: Matches the shaft and face to the golfer's swing speed, ensuring optimized performance across different speed ranges, through its progressive curvature technology[4].
Other High-Performance Drivers: Customization options vary, but many high-performance drivers offer adjustable features like loft and lie, and different shaft choices for maximum performance for various swing styles. However, proper fitting is crucial to achieve the best results.

In a nutshell, the LA Golf driver with FACE ID technology is a solid choice for golfers wanting to match their performance and control more closely to their unique swing speeds. But for golfers chasing maximum ball speed and distance, other high-performance drivers like the Krank Formula FIRE MINI Driver might offer additional benefits.

The LA Golf driver, featuring Bryson DeChambeau's input, is not only a golf gear collaboration but also a sports equipment revolution, aimed at optimizing performance based on an individual's swing speed.

Moreover, this driver, with its FACE ID technology, is designed to offer golfers a more tailored experience, catering to different clubhead speeds and ensuring improved accuracy and distance for each user, setting it apart from other high-performance golf drivers in the market.