L.A.B. Golf has done the unthinkable. They have released a putter that is not center-shafted! The “HS” in the name of the new OZ.1i HS stands for “heel-shafted.”

Does this mean that L.A.B. has abandoned their Lie Angle Balance technology?

Of course not. But the hosel position switch did require L.A.B. Golf to approach Lie Angle Balancing the putter from a different perspective. There are still lots of weights on the bottom but their pattern differs from that of the original OZ.1i.

Before we get to this new model, how about a quick refresher course on what makes L.A.B. Golf’s Lie Angle Balanced putters different from other zero-torque putters?

Lie Angle Balanced putters have torque

One of the common misconceptions about L.A.B. Golf putters is that they have no torque. In fact, they do have torque. That torque is what allows the putter to square to the path during the stroke. If they were truly zero-torque, the head would balance at any position when rotated 360 degrees.

Instead, L.A.B. Golf balances their putters so they achieve the desired torque profile at a specific lie angle. If you change the lie angle, that changes the balance profile, and the putter will need to be fitted with different weights.

Fun Fact: Every putter that L.A.B. Golf sells is balanced by hand. Every single putter. This is how L.A.B. Golf ensures that any putter that leaves their factory is balanced correctly. The person balancing the putter corrects any issues that could arise if there are inconsistencies in grips, shafts or any production step.

This explains why L.A.B. Golf putters take a while to get to you after ordering. They are not just bending stock putters and stuffing them into boxes. Multiple people handle every putter that leaves the L.A.B. Golf facility.

From balancing, to quality control, to order review, and off to shipping, L.A.B. Golf has real people making sure that your putter is built correctly.

Get to the new OZ.1i HS already

Sorry for the Lie Angle Balancing tangent, but I think that it was important to go over that a bit since the new OZ.1i HS has a new balancing recipe. Changing the shaft insertion point significantly changes how the head balances.

For our kinesthetic learners, try this. Grab a pen in the middle and feel the weight distribution. Now hold the same pen at the end. Did you feel the difference? When you hold it in the middle, the two sides balance each other. When you hold the pen at the end, the other end wants to drop.

Balancing that pen becomes a very different project depending upon where you are holding it.

This is why moving the neck required a whole new weighting scheme to make the OZ.1i HS Lie Angle Balanced.

The new HS riser system

L.A.B. Golf does not use the term “hosel” with the OZ.1i HS. Instead, L.A.B. Golf refers to the shaft attachment component as a “riser.” Once you understand how it works, this will make sense to you.

In order to achieve Lie Angle Balance, L.A.B. Golf needed the base of the shafts at different lie angles to point at the same position on the putter head. It is not necessarily at the center of gravity like it is with other companies’ putters, but that reference is a good place to start.

Imagine that you have a shaft that points at the desired spot from a 70-degree lie angle. If you increase that angle to 72, now the tip of the shaft is pointing closer to the heel of the putter. If you drop the lie angle to 68, the shaft tip now points toward the toe.

To keep the tip of the shaft pointing at the correct spot, L.A.B. Golf incorporated risers of different lengths. A longer riser will push upright lie angle shafts from the heel to the center and a shorter riser does the same with flat lie angles.

For all intents and purposes, the riser is a hosel as it connects the shaft to the head. However, each lie angle corresponds to a specific length riser. As you can imagine, the Lie Angle Balancing formula will vary with the length of the riser.

No wonder the overall balancing plan needed to differ from that of the original center-shafted OZ.1i.

Why make a heel-shafted putter?

Why has L.A.B. Golf has spent the time and effort developing this new version of their OZ.1i putter?

I’m purely speculating, but I think part of the motivation is to create a more traditional-looking L.A.B. Golf putter. L.A.B. Golf makes funky-looking center-shafted putters. For some, the looks are just too unusual for use.

It doesn’t matter that the L.A.B. Golf technologies work. Some folks won’t buy a center-shafted putter. Period.

Now you have a L.A.B. Golf putter that still packs 100 percent of the L.A.B. Golf assistive putter technologies, but with 73.3 percent more traditional looks. Yes, I made that number up, but the putter does look vastly more traditional than the original OZ.1i.

When you look at the OZ.1i HS, you will still see the quirky geometries of a L.A.B. Golf putter but the new shaft location and the head’s uninterrupted central profile are what one would expect in a traditional small round mallet.

The looks of the OZ.1i HS will be welcomed by folks who found other L.A.B. Golf putters too atypical.

Getting fitted for and rolling the L.A.B. Golf OZ.1i HS

A few weeks back, I made the trek to Creswell, Ore., to visit L.A.B. Golf HQ. While there, I went through a fitting for the new OZ.1i HS. If you are in the neighborhood, you should visit. Just add a day to your Bandon Dunes vacation and drive over just south of Eugene.

Since lie angle is what determines the balancing, having the putter fitted to your correct lie angle is of paramount importance.

The coolest thing about the in-person fitting was that I was fitted into the same lie angle that was determined through L.A.B. Golf’s free remote fitting. So, if you go the video route, you are getting solid information.

From there, we explored the wide range of shaft options. This is where the in-person fitting was super helpful. L.A.B. Golf does a solid job of describing the differences between shafts on their site, but it was great to feel them in person.

Another interesting thing the fitter determined was that I should play a putter with zero-degree shaft lean. This was unexpected since my gamer DF3 has two degrees of forward lean and a 1.5-degree Press Grip.

The zero-degree build put me into a more natural position at address and allowed me to go with the SuperStroke 2.0 grip, a favorite of mine.

As per usual, stock versions of the OZ.1i HS are black, but there are a bunch of colored options for custom builds.

Obviously, I requested purple, but that dream was crushed. Maybe purple will come again as a limited edition.

My purple dreams dashed, I decided to go with blue. Interestingly, I didn’t settle on that color until after I picked the alignment scheme.

So many alignment combinations

Like with most L.A.B. Golf putters, you have multiple options when it comes to alignment lines. There are multiple options for both the top line and the cavity. You can mix and match as you see fit.

FUN FACT 2: Did you know the alignment schemes are etched into the putters with lasers? Yep, L.A.B. Golf uses frickin’ laser beams on their putters.

I was drawn to the thick racing stripes. They reminded me of the hood stripes on a vintage SS Camaro. I went with the same lines on top and in the cavity to make a continuous aiming system.

Not having the shaft in the middle of the head makes the alignment lines look so much better. I love how the two large lines create a smaller line between them. Like I said, it’s a more traditional look.

Somewhere along the way, that central space between the lines made me think of a gap between two front teeth. At this point, I started thinking of this targeting system as the Strahan Alignment Scheme. That’s when I knew that the putter needed to be blue and white.

On the grass versus the original OZ.1i

Though they share a name and both are Lie Angle Balanced, the OZ.1i and OZ.1i HS are very different putters. The obvious difference is the shaft position and many of the other differences are the result of the new shaft placement.

Regardless, I enjoyed playing with one of these more than the other and putted better with it, too.

Getting to the point, the L.A.B. Golf OZ.1i HS is a better-feeling and better-performing putter than the original OZ.1i. Yes, I am well aware the OZ.1i was the Most Wanted Zero-Torque putter for 2025. Props for that. Even with that win, I still say the OZ.1i HS is a better putter.

Why am I spouting this nonsense, you ask?

First of all, getting the shaft out of the center of the putter makes the alignment so much better. Now you can build a continuous alignment path, uninterrupted by the shaft. I found this to be much more effective.

Rolling balls with them side by side made me realize I only use the front of the original OZ.1i for targeting. There is a line behind the shaft but I never look at it.

With the OZ.1i HS, the whole putter has the line and I now aim the whole putter at the target. It may be a honeymoon period but the Strahan Alignment Scheme delivers a truly point-and-shoot experience.

I also believe the shallow and square top edge of the OZ.1i HS aides targeting. It is easier to square that narrower top edge to the target than the extended top section of the original OZ.1i.

Additionally, since the face attachment screws are now in the bottom of the putter, there are no distracting cavity cutouts at address with the HS.

The second way the OZ.1i HS improves on the original is in the feel at impact. I believe the feel improvement ties into this geometric difference between the two heads.

Although they both have the stainless-steel inserts, the face of the OZ.1i HS feels hotter and provides more feedback about impact location. I know all of you only use the center of the face, but I am prone to wandering the surface on occasion. With the OZ.1i HS, you know if you hit it toward the heel or the toe. Head-to-head, the original OZ.1i feels more muted at impact.

You may find your feel preference goes in the opposite direction, and there is nothing wrong with that.

Outside of the shaft location, it is tough to pinpoint the singular most important difference between the two versions of the OZ.1i. In addition to what I mentioned above, my putters have two different shafts, one is two-degrees press and the other is zero, and their grips are different as well.

Ultimately, all I really know is that the OZ.1i HS is in my bag and the original OZ.1i is in my garage. My purple DF3 is in the garage as well, and not happy about it.

The L.A.B. Golf OZ.1i HS is really good

Like many of you, I saw the leaked photos of the OZ.1i HS long before I had one in my hands. Truth be told, I was a bit blase about the new putter. My initial reaction was something like, “Big deal. They moved the shaft to the heel.”

Now that sentiment has changed to: “They moved the shaft to the heel! Big deal!”

If you have the original OZ.1i and are loving it, keep right on loving it. Why fix what isn’t broken? If you tried the original and it didn’t quite work for you, give the new heel-shafted OZ.1i a roll. You may be in for a whole new experience with the new OZ.1i HS.

If nothing else, my experience with the OZ.1i HS tells me that L.A.B. Golf is not relying on their past successes for future revenues. They are still exploring new ideas and I’m looking forward to seeing what is next.

(As long as it is purple.)

Stock models and custom models are available for order at LabGolf.com

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