LAB OZ.1i HS PUTTER | The Swing Report

The new LAB Oz.1i HS putter delivers all of the feel, performance, and technology as the rest of the lineup of LAB putters, but now in a more traditional heel-shafted design that will appeal to a wider range of golfers. Also of note, the LAB Oz.1i HS putter also includes a stainless steel face insert that provides a feel golfers are more accustomed to. The result is the most user-friendly LAB putter to date.

0:00 Intro and Key Details
3:33 Testing the LAB Oz.1i HS
6:30 Final Thoughts & Who It’s For

In this edition of The Swing Report, 2nd Swing’s Drew Mahowald and Jake Montgomery test and review the new LAB Oz.1i HS putter on the practice green at Braemar Golf Course.

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Hey golfers, I’m Drew Mahol, the second swing golf. We’re out here on the short game area at Braar Golf Course. I’m joined by Jake Montgomery because we have a new lab putter in the mix here towards the second half of 2025. Um it’s we have Jake is as the perfect person to join us today because Jake is playing the lab. This is the Oz One and we now have an Oz One HS in my hand here. And the HS not uh rocket science or anything although a lot of what lab does seems like rocket science but um HS is for heel shaft. So the or heel shafted putter. This is new from lab. They everything in terms of their kind of low torque or zero torque uh or low angle balance stuff has been pretty much a center shafted design. Um but everything works the same. You can get the toe up. I mean you can spin the thing around right as uh as normal. So um but I guess what what is so intriguing to you about this because I know you’re very excited about this one, Jake. Yes. So, I mean, I have been using a lab putter for the better part of two years at this point. I have the DF3. I have this Oz here. I was lost on the putting green. My stroke felt horrendous. I felt like I couldn’t control the club face at all. And then I found a DF3 sitting in the basement of our store a couple years back when we first got our demos in and it just felt like the putter was on rails. Like it just didn’t want to go anywhere. And ever since then, I’ve been pretty loyal to my lab putters. um that zero torque really just kind of helps keep the face square to your club path. Whether you’re very kind of inside out, very arcy, or very straight back, straight through. Now, the number one hurdle for most golfers is the shaft being in the center like this. They’re just not used to seeing something like that, right? So, the fact that they have a she heel shafted putter coming to market, I think, will be huge. It’s going to kind of help people get over that hurdle a little bit of the look. Um I love the Oz shape. Um, it’s just a lot more of a traditional mallet. And now that you add a heel shaft there, I mean, there’s going to really be no barrier for entry for golfers getting into the style putter anymore. Yeah. So, so I want to have you just set them down. Both down and uh kind of just now that you’re looking at both options. Um, tell me what are the big differences that you see with the the heel shafted design versus what your gamer looks like. So, I mean the perimeter it’s the exact same shape. Where I really noticed the difference is here is kind of the top line. they step it down because they no longer have to put a shaft in the middle there. Uh this says a couple things. One, it allows an alignment aid to go all the way across in an unbroken manner. But the heel shaft the because the heel is in the center, there will be kind of a gap in your alignment line. So I think alignment on that alone is going to help a lot. Um Lab offers many many alignment options. Um another thing with that is because the line will be stepped one portion will be higher than the other. You have to have the putter perfectly flat on the ground for that to make a straight solid line. So it almost kind of keeps you in check on how you’re addressing the ball with toe up or toe down. Right. Right. If you have if you have some toe up, you know, as you’re setting up, you’re going to see that that alignment line, depending on what option you choose, but that alignment line, if you choose the one that goes across the entire club head, it’s going to be a little bit um offkilter, so to speak. Yes, 100%. Um I would also say that because again it has that step down, you get more of a ball width alignment aid going all the way across there. The Oz has it on the back portion, but that just gets a little bit closer to the face. Got it. Otherwise, I mean, the look is pretty similar, and I would say I hit a couple putts a bit. It It feels very similar as well, which is good. I mean, I don’t want it to Yeah. really change things up too much there. Perfect. Well, we’re not going to do anything super scientific as far as testing, but we have this little kind of downhill slider out here, and we’re going to have you hit a few of them, and just kind of give us your your thoughts, your feedback on how it performs here. Absolutely. Unfortunately, with the way we’re set up here, you’re have to put right through my shadow if you’re okay with that. So, that won’t bug me too much. Um, but so talk to me about this insert, too. How like, cuz again, there’s the there’s also the Oz model that does not have the insert. So, what do you like about the insert versus the the traditional? So, another one of the complaints that people had with Lab is that because it’s an aluminum chassis, the face feels very very soft. Yeah. Um, so they wanted to give people an insert option that’s going to feel more like their stainless steel mallets. Um, which I am very fond of as well. I feel like it helps me a lot with pace control cuz I tend to leave putts a little short like that. Okay. Um, so it just feels a little bit more controlled for me, just more responsive. Something that someone most golfers are more used to maybe than using a traditional mil putter, you’re going to like the insert. Yeah, cuz I think that’s a lot of what golfers, again, you talked about the hurdle is just like it seems like, you know, especially a couple years ago, switching to a lab was going to be a huge change visually, feel the whole thing. But now they’re getting into stuff that’s a lot more traditional looking. Um, and of course now and feeling as well with this insert. Yeah. I mean, this will be a very palatable putter for people. Oh, yeah. We’ll count it. We’ll count it. In terms of audio, it it sounds a lot more, you know, classic, so to speak, too, just from listening to it. There’s not it’s not like super loud, but it’s like the it’s kind of that it’s not a click or anything that No. Um, you know, some like I I I I hear a click a little bit with like the DF3 or the DF2.1 even. Sure. You hear a little bit of that kind of higher pitch noise, but this is just kind of a classic almost a thud to it. Yeah, absolutely. There it is. That’s another thing with labs is they do a really good job of showing you that you’re not lining the putter up right. Yeah. Because I I can’t tell you many times like I put a good stroke on it, I hit my line, it just misses. I’m like I just did not aim. Yeah. Because that’s and you know and I you know Andy Thompson over at the Minneapolis store. We’ve done some content with him in the past putter fitter. But he’s his large focus is alignment. And so, um, that’s one thing that, you know, you’re going to probably learn about yourself as you get into a lab putter is also how well a you read greens, but b your your alignment as well. There’s so many factors that go into putting. Yeah. One thing that he’s helped me find is that inside 10 feet, I need to use a sharpie line on my ball. Cuz from like 15 to 20 feet, I line the putter up. Great. Yeah. When I get closer, for some reason, I just can’t quite see that line anymore. So, I’ve gone to using a Sharpie line on there, and it has helped me drastically. We got this one dialed in. Can you make another one here? I’ll try my best. Oh, just a touch firm on that one. So, okay. Again, not a super scientific test, but in terms of like does it have kind of everything that you like about your putter just with that visual change is kind of essentially what I’m hearing is your is your analysis? 100%. I mean, it still has that lab, like I like to say, kind of on rails feel where it just feels like the putter wants to go straight back and straight through. Uh, so it it feels like it’s helping me a lot. I do really like the look of it. I mean, I like I said, I’ve been using a lab for two years. I center shaft is not my favorite thing in the world, but I can get over it because the putter works so well, right? So, the fact that they now have a heel shaft adoption where I can get that solid line going all the way back, I love. I mean, in the past, I’ve used like a tailor made spider that had that one long continuous line. Yeah. And I feel like I lined that putter up very well. So this I mean kind of has the all-in-one package really. I mean it’s it’s going to give you all the benefits of a line angle putter, but really none of the drawbacks as far as look or aesthetics go. Yeah. So kind of in wrapping, let’s again, let’s go through it. I know we’ve talked a lot over this topic throughout uh the video, but you know, a golfer out there that’s not in a lap putter or that’s interested in something like this is kind of like I don’t know if it’s for me. Let’s talk about the golfers that would be best fit into especially this one now with the the heel shaft. So, the Lab Oz One HS. Um, what golfers are going to be best uh to play that one? I would say anyone that doesn’t like the feel of their stroke is going to enjoy putter like this cuz it it definitely is a different sensation. Like my biggest struggle was it felt like every time I was coming through I was really flipping left and if I tried to hold it out it was a big push right. Like I just couldn’t quite get that stroke right. And then I got into something like this and that feel just kind of went away. Um I would also say anyone that really struggles with face angle control, face angle stability, um the automatic press of this grip really helps me cuz I still forward press a little bit, but in the past I was kind of here, here, here, here, which gets the face left, right. Exactly. It It makes the setup a lot more automatic, especially if you get that continuous line. Line is going to be the same. As long as you just let the press do its thing, your setup’s going to be very consistent, which will lead to more consistent face angles. Yeah, it’s it just removes some variables from the from the the the putting setup and the putting stroke as well. Um, so anybody that feels like they might need to hone that in a little bit probably can get some benefit out of uh well, any lab putter, but especially now this one that looks a little bit more traditional. And if anybody that’s afraid of that kind of hurdle that we talked about, uh, the Oz, you know, the HS models are going to be really good for that. So, golfers lab, this is the Oz, well, the O1i we have here, the HS. Um, it’s got the heel shafted setup now. So, if you’re if the look of a center shafted putter was maybe something that you couldn’t quite get yourself into, this is definitely one worth trying. Also, just the entire lab um lineup of putters has been fantastic from a tech perspective. So, try one out if you feel like you can help your putting. Um, it’ll help you shoot better scores. So, Jake, thank you so much for joining us today and giving your insight. Thank you for having me. Yeah. Heat. [Music]