So you’ve had a great season with your golf clubs. You hit many knock down 7 irons into well protected greens. You stuck your wedges close to the cup from 70 yards out. And you drained that 55 foot birdie putt.
Or, if you’re more like me, you chipped back into the fairway off of that tree root with your 4 iron. You hit that sand wedge off the hozel and almost took out your playing partner. And you tried to squeeze in one more round before the rains completely took over and now all of your grooves are full of mud.
It’s important to properly clean and store your clubs at the end of the golf season so when the sun starts coming back out for longer than 6 hours a day, you’ll be there with your clubs and ready to attack those plush, early season greens.
You should gather these items before you begin:
- Bucket with 2-3 inches of warm water in it
- Mild Dish Soap
- A golf brush or old toothbrush
- A towel
- A rag (optional, only needed if your grips need extra care)
Cleaning Wedges and Irons
After you get the warm water in the bucket, put one iron in to test how deep it is. The water should be deep enough to cover the club head but it should not be so deep that the water starts to go up the shaft. You should take extra care to make sure that the water does not reach the ferrules (the plastic sleeves/caps that transition from the club head to the shaft).
First, you need to add a pump of dish soap to the warm water in the bucket. Agitate it to get it to mix and start to suds up. You can even do this with one of your clubs to start the cleaning process. Once that water is sudsy, put all of your irons and wedges in and let them soak for a few minutes.
As your clubs are soaking, now is a good time to inspect your shafts for dirt. Dip a corner of the towel into the soapy water to remove any mud or debris that may have accumulated on your shafts. Make sure you dry the shaft thoroughly if there is mud to be removed.
Now is also a good time to go through your bag to remove any garbage, scorecards, or balls that are damaged or that you may have picked up over the season but you wouldn’t want to play a round with it. There’s no point in carrying all this stuff around in your bag another season.
One by one, take your clubs out of the water and inspect it to see if it still has mud and grass in the grooves to be brushed out. If yes, brush it until the grooves are clean. You can dunk the club back in the bucket as you brush it to help wash away any loosened material. After it is all clean, set it aside and move on to the next club.
After all of the clubs have had a bath and the mud brushed out of the grooves, empty the bucket and refill it with fresh water. Put all of your clubs back in the bucket for a final rinsing. This will help to ensure all of the material you removed from them is washed away, and will also make sure all of the soap is washed off. You can grab all of the clubs in one big bunch and move them up and down in the clear water to really give them a thorough rinsing. Then one by one again, take them out and dry them thoroughly with the towel. Make sure you really rub them out and get the towel into the grooves and any other lines, inserts, or embellishments that may be on the back or bottom of the club.
Cleaning Drivers, Woods, Hybrids and Putter
You should not leave these clubs submerged in water. They may have tiny cracks or gaps in the club heads and if you get water inside it will be a nightmare to get out. Instead, get a new towel. You can submerge one end of the towel in the soapy liquid and rub down any dirty spots on the club heads and shafts. Make sure you dry these clubs well after they get rubbed down.
Cleaning Your Grips
A season’s worth of sweat and sunscreen can leave your grips slick and looking dirty. Over time, leaving the sweat and sunscreen on the grips could deteriorate them and cause them to prematurely tear and need to be replaced. So while you have all of your cleaning items assembled, now is the perfect time to freshen up your grips.
Depending on their age and condition, you may or may not need to use soap on them. You could take a first swing at cleaning them with just a wet rag and some elbow grease. Make sure you thoroughly dry them after rubbing them down. If your grips are still looking like they need some work, move on to the next paragraph.
If your grips are still dirty after rubbing them down with just water, put some more water in your bucket and a squirt of soap. Mix it up to get sudsy. Dip your rag in the sudsy water and rub your grips down again to remove the dirty spots. Now, you’ll need to rinse off your grips well to remove the soap. You can do this either in the hose or inside in the sink. You can use warm water to rinse them off, but not hot water as this can loosen the glue and tape holding your grips on. After rinsing, rub your grips down with a dry towel to dry them.
So now you’ve cleaned all of your clubs, you’ve cleaned your grips, and you’ve cleaned out your bag. You and your clubs are now ready to go track down some birdies! Only problem is you have four months of winter still to go before you can get back out there and play. At this stage, it is critical that you properly store your clubs for the winter.
