L.A.B. Golf, the hottest putter company in golf and an overnight sensation nearly a decade in the making, just had its financial ship come in. And by the looks of things, that boat is darn near the QE2.
According to a report in the Wall Street Journal, a majority stake in L.A.B. Golf has been acquired by L Catterton, the private-equity firm backed by LVMH. LVMH is the French conglomerate comprised of high-end brands like Louis Vuitton, Christian Dior, Moet & Chandon, Glenmorangie, Tag Heuer and Hublot. The report cited “people familiar with the matter” and put the valuation at more than $US200 million ($A306 million).
RELATED: Adam Scott: ‘My heart wanted to change and give it a go’
When contacted by Golf Digest, L.A.B. Golf chief executive Sam Hahn declined to make an immediate comment, although the WSJ story indicated that its sources expected Hahn to remain as chief executive. Hahn, a music promoter and bar owner who fell in love with one of the company’s original putters, took over the fledgling L.A.B. brand from founder Bill Presse in 2018 after buying out Presse’s original investors in the struggling company. In the ensuing seven years, Hahn says the company’s sales have grown 18,000 percent.
The L.A.B. Golf philosophy is found in its abbreviated name, “lie angle balance.” It refers to the combination of the head’s collection of sole weights and the head’s centre of gravity’s relationship to the angle and placement of the shaft. That mix creates a putter that significantly reduces or eliminates the torsional forces on the golfer’s hands found in typical putters that require manipulating the face angle back to square.
L.A.B. putters have become increasingly popular on tour and in the marketplace with dozens in play on professional tours around the world despite their distinctly non-traditional shapes. The company is now based outside Eugene, Oregon, in Creswell.
Photo: Golf Digest
The company’s biggest moment came in June when J.J. Spaun rolled in a 64-foot putt on the final hole to clinch the US Open at Oakmont, a moment that led Hahn to say on the morning after, “It is a special technology, it is a special company, and, and now there’s an immortal moment that included a funny-looking putter with a big hole in it, and it feels really good.”
Presse took to social media to reference the new private-equity owners, writing on Reddit, “Yes, we sold the majority shares of Lab. From start to finish my dreams have all been realised… The new owners are incredible. Because of the Lab story and the culture I want everybody to know that I am also a shareholder in the new company and hopefully very much involved going forward to really see this to the end. Please, no hard feeling just because they’re PE. They’ve gone above and beyond to do the right things. Truly couldn’t be happier.”
According to the WSJ story, Spaun’s victory is pushing sales and demand exponentially. The story indicates that L.A.B. sold “about 130,000 units” in 2024 and could “triple that in 2025”, which includes its latest models, the Oz.1 and Oz.1i. L.A.B. Golf putters have been named to the Golf Digest Hot List since 2017, including Spaun’s version the DF3.
L Catterton currently has major investments in Restoration Hardware, Peloton and West Marine, as well as Flexjet and exercise chain Solidcore. Neither LVMH or L Catterton currently appear to be significantly invested in any golf club companies.
This would be the largest purchase of a significant putter brand since Callaway bought the top-performing Odyssey brand for $US130 million in cash in 1997.