KBS Tour FLT Iron Shafts
The KBS Tour is easily one of the most popular steel iron shafts in the game of golf. Known for its smooth feel and versatility, players have sworn by this shaft for years. KBS has made an updated version of this shaft to offer an option to fit a wider range of players’ needs – the KBS Tour FLT. The main idea is that the longer irons fly higher and the shorter irons fly lower for more distance and control.
How Does it Feel?
My thoughts on the KBS Tour FLT feel require a little bit of awareness for how the original Tour model feels. Where the Tour feels fairly neutral with a smooth release, the Tour FLT feels a little more dynamic with more snap to it. The overall feel is still very smooth like the original, but you can feel the FLT come to life and kick a little more. As always, feel is extremely subjective whether it’s based on your hands or your swing. You may have a totally different sense for either shaft. Try them both, but make sure you do so all the way through the set if you want an accurate A/B comparison.
On-Course Performance
KBS designed the Tour FLT to fly higher from 6 iron down and lower from 8 on up. This flight is also supposed to come with more distance and spin. I actually found the Tour FLT and standard Tour to be pretty close when it came to spin. However, the Tour FLT definitely launched higher for me. While KBS wants the Tour FLT to launch lower in the shorter irons, I found them to launch higher as well. Keep in mind, this will be heavily dependent on a player’s specific swing. I just so happened to hit them higher than the the standard Tour.
From a performance perspective, where I really thought the FLT flourished was the control and ease of play. Between the feel and launch, I generally found the Tour FLT very easy to strike the ball well with. It was easy to get the ball comfortably in the air and just easy to control the shot. My dispersion was tight and I felt like I could change trajectories and shapes as needed. In short, the FLT played more forgiving to me than the original Tour.
Final Thoughts – KBS Tour FLT
I believe that KBS succeeded in creating a more user-friendly version of their signature Tour shaft in the FLT model. It’s just flat out easy to hit and feels good. That said, I think if you looked at the spectrum of players that more prefer the FLT, the majority will fall on the amateur side. I could see better players launching these a bit too high or maybe finding some extra spin that I didn’t necessarily experience. That’s the beauty of the fitting industry today, though. You’ll be able to figure that out. I liked this shaft a lot. It even saw quite some time in my bag, and I think others will benefit from it too.
Hi Bill,
How do you think these compare to the C-taper lite?
Thanks!
Nothing alike. C-Taper Lite has a more stout feel and less spin. It just flights a little higher than the regular C-Taper as a result of the lighter weight. That said, that also heavily depends on you actually swing the club.
Tour FLT is going to play a lot like the KBS Tour. They’re designed to be very similar except the FLT will flight the long irons a little higher and the short irons a little flatter.
Great, thanks!
What shaft is the equivelent of the the flt? flt is out of stock. In my club fitting stats the flt was by far the best results for the p770 that I was hitting
I wouldn’t say there is an equivalent. Unfortunately, due to the same supply chain issues impacting all industries, I know steel shafts, grips, etc have been difficult for vendors to restock.
Could a person tip the KBS 120 to make it resemble a FLT?
I suppose it’s possible, but I don’t think you’d get the same profiles necessarily and it would be tough to figure out for each club, in my opinion. At very best, you’d likely not match the FLT all the close and just be changing the profile of the basic Tour to something else.
How do these compare to $taper
Will vary player to player but I think $ Taper feels and a bit tighter. FLT feels softer (to me) and easier to get up in the air.