Author Archives: Russ

KBS Wedge Golf Shafts

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Wedge Golf Shafts – KBS Tour, KBS Hi-Rev, KBS CTaper, KBS Tour V

By Russ Ryden, A Golf Digest America’s 100 Best Clubfitter
Fit2Score, Dallas Fort Worth, Texas

Golf wedge shafts, unlike driver shafts, do not get updated every year. When some prototypes arrived recently I realized I had not looked at wedge profiles in several years. Nothing had changed during that time. This year, the KBS Tour V and the Modus3 Tour 130 brought an entirely new profile to iron shafts. This profile is very interesting as a stand alone wedge shaft. Before we get to it, lets look at the KBS golf wedge shafts.

KBS Tour Wedges EiGjTb
The KBS Tour was the first shaft introduced by Kim Braly. The wedge shaft from that model is offered as a stand alone wedge shaft. It is a mid high launch design. The KBS tour is available in 5 weights, R, R+, S, S+ and X. starting at 110 grams and ascending in 5 gram increments. When the new groove rule was introduced, Kim introduced the KBS Hi-Rev wedge shaft to get back some of the spin lost from the softening of the wedge edges.

The KBS Tour C Taper came next. It is modeled on the Project X which Kim Braly designed at Royal Precision. It is stepless and is designed to create a lower launch lower spin ball flight. While not offered as a stand alone wedge shaft product, the wedge shaft in the sets is a great choice for someone looking to lower wedge ball flight. Like the KBS Tour, the KBS Tour C Taper is available in 5 weights.

KBS Tour Wedge EI ProgressionKBS Tour shafts have consistent bend profiles from flex to flex. The R is the same design as the S, just a little heavier and a little stiffer. With 5 flex/weight combinations, I fine tune flight and feel by moving up or down between weights. This illustration shows the KBS Tour wedge stiffness progressions. The same relationships are true for all KBS iron golf shafts. The KBS Tour 90 is a lighter weight version of the KBS Tour, adding two more weight options. Likewise, the KBS Tour C Taper Lite adds 3 additional weigh options to the C Taper design.

KBS Tour HiRevvsX8iMany years ago I learned in Royal Precision Rifle Shaft Certification class how to create the Rifle Spinner Wedge Shaft. The formula was simple, go up a flex and use the 8 iron. The Rifle Golf Shaft has a parallel tip, designed to be trimmed by the club maker. I now use constant weight taper shafts exclusively. But, that lesson prompted me to look at closely at the design of the KBS Tour Hi-Rev Wedge shaft when it was introduced. And I found the designer of the Rifle product, Kim Braly, used the same principle in constant weight shafts. Knowing this, I have built countless ‘Spinner’ wedges in sets applying the same principle with all of the KBS shafts, C Tapers and C Taper Lite’s included. The feedback from my customers is universal, they love the feel of the wedge shafts on partial shots.

KBS Tour V Wedge Shaft

KBS Tour V Wedge EiGjTbIn 2014 the KBS Tour V design was introduced. The KBS Tour V is available in three weights, 110, 115 120. There are also two professional club maker, only KBS Tour V Tour weight/flex models, 125 and 130 grams. This chart shows the 130 gram V X flex and the two Tour flex models. This is a unique design. When Mark Maness tested the Tour V design his immediate reaction was to change his release because he did not like the height of the ball flight. The Tour V design is a high launch, high spin shaft. It promotes a drop and stop ball flight. That makes it an interesting wedge shaft choice.

KBS TourV Deflection Here is a look at the deflection profiles derived from the EI profiles of the KBS Tour, KBS Hi-Rev and the KBS Tour V wedge shafts of similar weight and flex. There is not a lot of difference between the KBS Tour and the KBS Hi-Rev. But, the Tour V deflects significantly more. Based on our experience, the KBS Tour V creates a higher flight. With higher flight come more spin. That combination creates the drop and stop shot we look for from our wedges. If you are looking to add trajectory and spin to your wedges, the KBS Tour V shaft will deliver.

Hogan Apex Lightweight Golf Shaft Review

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Iron Golf Shafts – Hogan Apex LightWeight Steel

By Russ Ryden, A Golf Digest America’s 100 Best Clubfitter
Fit2Score, Dallas Fort Worth, Texas

In my search for a replacement shaft that was no long available I was referred to J. J. Hill by my friends at UST Mamiya. J.J. has been in the club fitting and club repair business for 25+ years in Southern Minnesota and the Central US. He visits courses in the area with his trailer conducting fittings and doing club repair. During a long discussion of the history of shafts, J.J. told me he had a stockpile of light weight Hogan Apex iron sets.

EIVersion6A box arrived at my door a few days later and after sitting on the to do pile for months I decided to profile them on the redesignd EI instrument. That instrument has now moved from proto to manufacturing and will be available in a few weeks.  We have repositioned the gauge, giving us more consistent and accurate readings. The weigh and weigh bearing surface are now machined. The shaft guides self center the shaft. The updated instrument is faster and more accurate. Most current owners are upgrading their instruments.

In May, Perry Ellis International announced that the Ben Hogan brand will return to the business of club-making in 2015 via a licensing agreement with EIDOLON Brands, LLC. Terry Koehler, president and chief executive officer of EIDOLON Brands, is a lifelong Ben Hogan devotee and former director of marketing of the Ben Hogan Company. He is also the architect of the SCOR Golf wedges and set-match short irons. This re-introduction of Ben Hogan golf clubs coincides with the 60(th) anniversary of the first Ben Hogan irons in the fall of 1954. Terry Koehler has assembled a world class Research and Development team based in Fort Worth, Texas, where Ben Hogan golf clubs were first produced. The new Ben Hogan clubs will be introduced in 2015.

It was that announcement that got that box of shafts from the to do pile into the shop. I am told the Lightweight Apex iron shaft was introduced by the Hogan company in 1968. The sets of shafts I tested were made for Callaway when it took over the Hogan brand. We believe these were made around 10 years ago. Much has change in steel shaft manufacturing over that time. The radial integrity of the shafts I tested was excellent, 99.8% with a 0.1% standard deviation. It does not get much better than that. Aligning these is a waste of time and effort.

HogenApexLightweight_EiGjTbHogenApexLightweightSetCertificationThe numbers speak for themselves. This weight has proven to be a good fit for many golfers today. I ran the S Flex set through the certification process available from club builders equipped with the Fit2Score EI instrument. Respectable results, a slight anomaly on the 8i shaft. I have seen worse in current products. This highlights why you should have your iron shaft sets tested.  The radial quality of this set is perfect, alignment will do nothing for this set. But that 8i is likely to launch a little higher than the rest of the set.

My primary interest in any new set of shafts I look at is howthey compare to the shafts I know. Looking up the EI profile gives a fitter the insight of his experience with familiar shafts when he first encounters a shaft he does not ‘know’.

HogenApexLightweightvsXP105The lightweight Hogan Apex iron is a very close match to this years True Temper XP105. The XP105 is about 10 grams lighter and therefore a little softer. When I looked at hard stepping the XP105 S flex twice it came very close to the profile of the LightWeight Apex shaft.

 

If you are interested in this shaft, J.J. Hill has them available. He can be reached at jjhillgolf@yahoo.com or by phone at 507 271 2215. He is also a good resource for UST Mamiya shafts that are no longer available. Thanks JJ for making this little piece of shaft history available.