norcaltrojan

Is there any proof that LAB still mills their heads in the US? A buddy with a wholesale account and years of experience following LAB mentioned that the DF3 heads are milled in Mexico. My DF3 also doesn't have anything on it saying that it was milled/built/assembled in the USA. I feel like at 160,000 units last year the narrative around all the heads being milled in small shops in Oregon is completely unrealistic and that ship has already sailed

Given their rapid growth and inability to scale production, this outcome was inevitable. LAB was at an inflection point, with two options: load the company with debt to scale production and hire the required experts on their own, or bring on a PE partner. By bringing on a PE partner, they get their windfall, experts in-house, and access to cheap capital to help them scale. They diversify the risk while taking a reward. I've seen numbers in the 12-14x profit range for the $200M valuation. With that level of multiple, this isn't going to be a Toys R Us type of pillage. Most of the negative PE stories involve vulture funds buying established companies and stripping them for parts. LAB lacks the necessary footprint and assets for that model to be effective. To make this deal work, L Catteron needs to 2-3x revenue while holding or improving margins. Having just waited 12W for my custom DF3, the low-hanging fruit is to inject significant investment into scaling production to get the lead time down to 2-3 weeks. In doing so, they will also be able to fulfill wholesale orders for big box stores. The other part of this is that the capital and production will enable them to develop new models faster without compromising their current lines. More products, higher "stock" availability, and faster "custom" delivery times are how they accomplish that. Overall, I'm excited to see where they can take LAB over the next few years. Yes, there is a chance they'll implode, but I don't think those chances are any worse than if they had stayed solo and let the current production issues drive them into the ground, or had decided to load the company with debt and been left holding the bag themselves.

Pulled the trigger on a Golfworks swingweight scale and with the standard red 8g I'm at D2.5 and with the 4g green I'm at D0. When hitting the D0, the club feels hollow, but the shaft seems happier. I need to get it on the launch monitor to get numbers on if the poor feel equals poor resutls. Next step is to add some lead tape to the Green setup to get it closer to dumina's recommended D1.5. Will report back once I have numbers!

I'm 99% sure it's Winston Collection. I have a white leather headcover embroidered with my club's logo, and the template and leather look identical. IMO Winston makes the best headcovers on the market

I picked up an SF505XX Rainbow back in May and the shaft has been a homerun so far. My SS is ~115, and I've been fitted across the Low/Low matrix for the last 5 years, but the results were always great or a hard left snap. With autoflex my miss is now a flat push right, which is much more playable, but introduces a new variable to my game. I have the AF in a Titleist GT3 8' with a Green weight that is D1. I've also tested the standard weight but that pushes the SW to D3. I've adjusted the hosel settings and internal weight in the GT3, but I'm curious if anyone else has had success overcoming the push-right miss. I've spent my entire golf career not trying to hit the ball left, so this is a new territory for me! Any help is greatly appreciated!

One of the most shocking things about the OG 17' is that, even though it was 1.5in shorter and 2' weaker, it knocked my TSr3 3W out of the bag. The topline numbers for the 3W were higher, but dispersion was better, averages were in line, and the UW is much easier to hit off the deck, so it was a no-brainer. If they can balance the higher spin of the Gen2 UW with a 15/16' it could be a monster. Hell, it could be a mini-driver killer

I was lucky to get "inside the ropes" on Wednesday at the Barracuda Championship. While I didn't recognize most of the PING players (a lot of DPWT invites), and the cursive on the bags is difficult to read from a distance, there were several players with BPS in the bottom of the bag and i240s on top. Hamish Brown, who was hitting balls next to us, is one that I can call out by name. This aligns with the Hatton setup from the US Open. Mattieu Pavon had a full set in the bag at the Open this week as well. Not the best validation considering the results, but it appears they are starting to gain some traction on tour.