L.A.B. VZN.1i Review: An On-Course Diary
I played 18 holes with the new L.A.B. VZN.1i to answer the question golfers are actually asking
The VZN.1i is available in eight different head colors
The first round with a new putter is like a first date. There’s excitement, skepticism, attraction, curiosity, and a lot of questions to be answered in a short period of time.
If the answers are satisfactory, it could be the start of something great. If they’re not, it could be a disaster you’d rather soon forget.
So when the new L.A.B. VZN.1i putter arrived at my door, I got gussied up and headed to the course for our first date.
I’ve spent the first month-plus of the golf season posting scores on the wrong side of 90 thanks to an excess of double and triple bogeys. So my focus for this round is simple: avoid double bogeys and break 90.
Can the VZN.1i help me do that?
One Round With L.A.B. VZN.1i in The Bag
L.A.B tweaked the milling pattern on its insert for the VZN.1i
For most reviews, I’d list the specs and the features and try to translate them into something most golfers can understand, but I’m not going to do that here. I trust that information is readily available at dozens of other places, and you might even know most of it by now.
But I get countless questions from playing partners about L.A.B. putters, and a spec sheet doesn’t actually answer the thing that all of those questions revolve around: what is it like using that putter?
So I’m taking you inside one round with the L.A.B. VZN.1i putter in the bag. The good, the bad, and the ugly.
Hole 1 | 4 Feet for Bogey | Uphill, Left-to-Right
Standard alignment lines through the head are designed the make the VZN (think VISION) easy to align.
The first official duty of my VZN.1i is a pressure-packed, but otherwise simple, assignment. An uphill left-to-right four-foot putt. But it’s for bogey, and a miss would derail my mission to avoid double-bogeys before it even begins. Not to mention plant a seed of doubt that I’d rather live without.
I line up my ball as I always do, and take my stance. I notice that the three-line alignment and parallel lines that run through the head frame the ball nicely. It gives me a small shot of you got this confidence that helped me think less over the putt.
I pull the trigger and watch the ball roll straight into the cup. Bogey saved. Pressure relieved.
Hole 2 | 30 Feet for Birdie | Uphill, Left-to-Right
L.A.B. went back to its roots with a mallet that pulls weight far from the shaft axis
Distance control is always the trickiest part of bagging a new putter, and I’m putting the VZN.1i to the test on the second hole with a 30-footer that’s uphill the whole way.
L.A.B. putters have a history of running on the slow side, but L.A.B. introduced a stainless steel insert late in 2024 to increase ball speed and decrease that specific complaint. The VZN.1i has the insert.
I’m familiar with this insert from the OZ.1i and DF3.i, so I try not to hammer this one. I start the putt on a solid line, but the speed was no good. I begged for it to settle the second I hit it, but it didn’t listen.
I ran it about five feet past the hole, and went from hoping for a bonus birdie to fearing a 3-putt bogey in an instant.
Now I need to can a downhill, right-to-left slider from five feet to avoid bogey, but I give the break too much credit and miss it on the high side.
Two holes. Two bogeys. Zero two-putts.
Three-putts are never fun, but it helps when you can walk away knowing that you learned something. I knew that facing a long, uphill putt on the second hole with a new putter in the bag would be a challenging distance control test. Even though I failed the test, I left the hole with a better feel for the VZN’s speed than I started it with.
Hole 4 | 35 Feet for Birdie Off the Fringe | Downhill, Right-to-Left
My quest to avoid disaster holes has me looking for the simplest shot more often than the most aggressive one. That means if I can putt from off the green, I usually do. That’s the exact situation I find myself in on the fourth hole.
My approach rolled through the back of the green and finished a yard into the fringe about 35 feet from the hole. Time to see how the VZN.1i does from the fringe, and if I can improve my distance control after the lesson I learned two holes earlier.
A quick read tells me the putt is slightly downhill and breaking to the left, so I pick my line and address the putt. Up to this point in the season, I've been gaming the blade-style L.A.B. Link.2.2, but I'm enjoying the effortlessness that the mallet head on the VZN provides.
I pull the putter back and make my stroke. Putting from off the green feels stable and the ball rolls smoothly through the fringe and carries good pace onto the green. I can tell the speed is exactly what I wanted, but it’s obvious this one isn’t going in. I hit my line but played too much break again and missed it on the high side, leaving it a couple inches past the hole but almost three feet away.
The leave was what I call the Tweener Trap — too short to try hard but too long to tap it in — and I fell right in. I casually strolled up to the ball, took a half-hearted stance, and without much consideration, pulled my par putt right.
Another bogey.
While technically not a three-putt since the first putt came from off the green, this one stings. I executed the hard part, putting through the fringe from long range with good distance control. But I gave it away just as quickly by rushing my chance to pay it off.
Hole 8 | 18 Feet for Birdie Off the Fringe | Downhill, Right-to-Left
I hit my approach to the eighth hole to the back fringe, but it’s a good miss. The green is tiered with the back-third on a shelf, and that’s right where the hole is today. Anything short of the back tier is a tricky two-putt, but I’ve left myself less than 20 feet for birdie from the back tier.
However, once again, I’ll need to negotiate some fringe and keep the speed in check. If I hit this one too hard, I bring that tricky two-putt from the lower tier right back into play.
I pick my line and put a confident stroke on it, but I instantly know I’ve over-cooked it. Somehow, I kept it on the top shelf but I’m left with nine feet back up the hill for par. The good news is I’ve just seen the line.
I line up the come-backer quickly. Not rushed quickly. Confidently and without hesitation quickly. I’m starting to feel comfortable with the VZN.1i in my hands and I know exactly what this putt is going to do. I stand over the ball and frame it to my line with the VZN’s three-stripe alignment.
I see it in my mind, then I roll it, a no-doubter that drops for par. That’s what this putter is supposed to do. Not only stay square during the stroke, but give you the confidence at address that you’re keeping it square to your intended line.
I walked onto the green with confidence, and I walked off of it with trust.
Hole 12 | 30-Feet for Birdie | Downhill, Left-to-Right
Heading into the 12th hole I link up with the random single ahead of me. I manage to hit the green in regulation and as I walk up to the green, I wonder if he actually thinks I’m a good player. He’s seen me hit two shots, and neither were embarrassing. How long can I keep up this charade?
I get to my putt and I have about 30 feet for birdie. It reminds me of the one I had on the second hole.
In the back of my mind, I know there’s a lot riding on this putt. If I cozy it close, the narrative is that I learned from my mistake on the second hole and grasped the distance control pretty quickly. If I run it past, the story becomes that I simply can’t figure out how to control the speed with the VZN.
I pick my line and line up my ball. I don’t let the fear of running this one past the hole prevent me from making a confident stroke. It’s the first long putt of the day that I married good speed with the right line, and this one has a chance until finally breaking below the hole as it trickles past. It’s a tap-in par on the scorecard, and a reinforcement to the trust the VZN is building mentally.
Hole 13 | 12-Feet for Birdie | Left-to-Right
The VZN offers two ways to pick up your ball: scoop it (above) or use the pick up pocket.
Somewhere on the inside, I’m wondering when I’m going to blow up. But on the outside, it still looks like I’m playing decent golf. I’ve got my best look at birdie of the day, about 12 feet. The left-to-right break is so subtle that I can start this one inside the hole.
I slap the VZN’s magnetic head cover onto my bag and strut to the green. Not only do I trust my read, but I fully trust my putter. This is a putt I’m excited to hit.
I line it up and frame the ball on the exact line I like. I pull back the putter and stroke the putt. It starts on the exact line I chose, and it’s headed straight for the cup. But there was a shred of tentativeness in my stroke, and you can see it in the speed. My birdie try stops one inch short.
When you’re just trying to break 90, tap in pars are your friend, but leaving it short is not my MO, and as hard as I try to look on the bright side, I can’t help but feel the gut-punch of what could have been as I walk to the next tee.
Hole 15 | 7 Feet for Bogey | Right-to-Left
By the time I reach the 15th tee, my headspace has shifted.
The excitement of having a cool new putter in the bag has mostly evaporated, and after 14 holes with no doubles, I’m engulfed in a mental battle.
Consciously, I’m trying to keep hitting one shot at a time until there are none left to hit.
Subconsciously, my mind is swirling like a hurricane. It’s expecting to see a blow up that hasn’t come yet, and it’s getting restless. Despite my best efforts to stay focused and calm, I hit three shaky shots and leave myself in a tough spot, 25 yards from the hole in thick rough.
I pull it together enough to pitch it inside 10 feet, which sets up the VZN’s highest-pressure test of the day: seven feet to avoid my first double of the round.
There’s also the lingering notion that double bogeys are contagious, and if I make one here, there may be more to come.
I know that despite my best efforts, I won’t be able to shut off those unwanted thoughts, so I make a commitment. I refuse to hit this putt until I’m satisfied that I’ve executed my routine and I can live with whatever result I get.
I read the putt and pick my line. By the time I stand over it, I’m calm. I’ve done my homework. The putter will stay square. I can line it up to my line. Just roll it.
By now, I’m not thinking about the putter, just the putt.
I hit my line and the speed is good, but once again, I play too much break and narrowly miss it on the high side.
Hole 16 | 7 Feet for Bogey
I walked off the 15th green wishing I could have another chance to convert that bogey putt, and nine minutes later my wish came true. The 16th hole went a lot like the 15th hole did, and I found myself with another nervy putt for bogey — rather, to avoid double — from seven feet.
Again, I gave my routine the full attention and time it deserved. And again, the putt just missed.
Had the speed. Missed the line. Got the t-shirt.
Putting Uncluttered
I managed to chip it inside of a foot for bogey on both the 17th and 18th holes, and by the time I tapped in on the last, I hadn’t thought about the putter in three holes.
When I added it all up, I was satisfied with the results. I didn’t completely eliminate double bogeys, but I did well enough at avoiding them to card an 87.
That early three-putt on the second hole proved to be more learning-curve than unpredictable putter. It turned out to be my only three-jack of the day. In all, I needed 31 putts, and according to Shot Scope, I putted slightly better – a quarter of a stroke – than my season average.
Distance control improved quickly and for what it’s worth, the VZN’s insert cranked out enough speed to hit putts naturally without trying to manipulate the speed in any way.
It’s easy to line up putts with the VZN — which I found out later, is what it’s built to do — and even when I was missing those important putts inside 10 feet, I was comfortable standing over them and hit them where I was aimed.
I just need to pick better lines.
So what is it like putting with the new L.A.B. VZN.1i? If I had to describe the experience in one word, it would be uncluttered.
I don’t think about timing my stroke to get the face square at impact. I don’t think about aiming it at my intended line or hitting the lines I pick. I just pick the line, judge the distance, set up, and hit the putt.
Only time will tell if the VZN is my forever putter, but for now, we’ve got a second date planned.