Your new golf clubs are so bright and fresh when you first acquire them that using them hurts a bit. The golf clubs are the golfer’s assistants to win the game. As the golf courses are wide and open spaces, it is a matter of fact that everything and everyone involved in the game will be affected by dirt and other environmental factors. So, the main action in golf is to hit the ball using the golf clubs. When your swinging club and the ball touch each other is called “impact” or “contact. And if your golf clubs were not clean and tidy, your shot would not be efficient or accurate.
Hence, it would help if you remembered that no matter how experienced you are, your swing speed and general golfing ability can only accomplish so much. That is, the quality of your equipment is essential when it comes to playing golf like a pro. Instead of looking worn and mud-caked, golf clubs should look dazzling clean! That is why this article will tell you how to polish golf clubs in an ideal way.
Why Polish The Golf Clubs?
The Appearance Matters
After a hard day of swinging, chipping, and putting on the golf course, your club will look greasy and terrible. Whether you like it or not, polishing your golf club should be a regular part of your gaming routine to prevent it from looking bad. If you are a serious golfer who appreciates the game, you wouldn’t want to show out on the course with a golf club that was filthy, disorganized, and unattractive. Therefore, learning how to polish golf clubs is essential for regular maintenance.
It will Improve the Quality of Your Shots
Make sure there is no obstruction on the clubface that might interfere with the ball-striking motion or impact the ball’s spin. Your shots will generate more spin if your club face is cleaner. The purpose of a club’s grooves is to remove grass and water from the face, but they are useless if they are covered with mud and grass. When you’re angry because your ball hasn’t sat on the green despite a pure stroke, you know why: dirty grooves create a lack of control. The secret to controlling is to have clean tracks since they produce more spin. Hence, knowing how to polish golf clubs is vital.
Give the Other Golfers a Good Impression of You (a sense of pride)
Professional golfers can tell if someone is serious about their game by the look of their golf clubs. Dirty clubs with numerous rounds of caked-on dirt conceal sloppiness. Those poor habits are almost certainly infiltrating every area of their game. Furthermore, it indicates the golfer’s likely inability to recall and apply the instruction supplied to them and their practice habits to do this.
Generally speaking, golfers take great pride in their looks. Like your personal hygiene, you should be proud of your cleanliness and the knowledge of how to polish golf clubs correctly. You may increase your chances of hitting solid shots with each swing by keeping your golf clubs clean by doing a 5-7 second routine after each shot. Put your golf club back in the bag after cleaning it in an orderly fashion. By doing this, the search time for a club you might think is missing is shortened. Hence, performing these two quick activities improves your game and sends an excellent non-verbal message to other golfers.
Increases the Store Value of Clubs
Additionally, dirty club faces hasten a golf club’s nicking, scratching, and general wear, which lowers its resale value. If you opt to trade in your clubs while getting a new set, ensure the set you are dealing with is in better shape than usual. It guarantees that the set’s subsequent owner will enjoy the club’s remaining useful life.
Thus, you need to know how to polish golf clubs efficiently. Also, you might not be considering resale value right now. And you might not intend to swap your clubs once you get new ones. So, keeping them clean is an unavoidable habit regardless of your long-term plans for your clubs. You may want to save the former set for a family member or to have it on hand in case a guest needs a set. Don’t disgrace yourself by lending or providing a damaged set of clubs that might interfere with the enjoyment of the golfer who will use it.
Things You Need to Polish and Clean Clubs
Wear protective equipment before knowing how to polish your golf clubs so you can start immediately. Gloves, eye protection, and ear protection are popular safety equipment items. Also, when using power tools, these are needed. Now, before you know how to polish your golf clubs, you need at least the following supplies in addition to the protective equipment:
- movable drill
- soft sponge or cloth for cleaning
- a clean bucket
- metal rubbing (Chrome or steel polish)
- a metal clamp or vice
How To Polish Golf Clubs
Getting to know how to polish golf is a sensitive process that needs to be maintained carefully. And it would be best if you treat your clubs gently while polishing them. So, without further ado, here’s how to polish golf clubs. There are three primary phases you should go through to get golf clubs with a bright finish. You may also read before polishing a golf club how to clean rusty golf clubs.
Cleaning Phase 1
Basic Manual Cleaning:
- Prepare a mixture of hot water and mild soap:
Fill the bucket halfway with cold water. Make sure the water isn’t too hot because the ferrule on the golf club may loosen, and the hassle may get a space to move and be unstable. Even though a bucket is ideal since it provides ample area for washing the club, you only immerse the head of the club and ensure that water does not rise till the ferrule. So, this is the first crucial step of how to polish your golf clubs.
- For 5 to 10 minutes, submerge the club multiple times:
If your clubs are not very soiled, you may soak the heads for only 5 minutes. However, if it is heavily soiled due to use during the wet season, soaking the head of the club in warm water for 10 minutes is advised. It is essential to dampen only the outer face of the club head.
- Clubheads should be removed and cleaned:
After soaking the clubhead in warm water, carefully extract and scrub the face with a stiff-bristled brush or a toothbrush. Important: Do not use wire-bristle brushes since they harm the club’s face. A club head with a damaged face may underperform. Brush the club carefully until all dirt is gone if it seems particularly filthy. Rusting can occur when dirt becomes hardened.
- Use cold water to clean the club:
Make sure the ferrules don’t get left when cleaning the club. Ferrules that unintentionally become wet should be wiped until they dry. Dry the club with a gentle cloth after rinsing. Know you need to move on to cleaning the grip which is also an important part of knowing how to polish golf clubs.
Cleaning the Grip
It’s also crucial to clean the grips of your clubs when you wash them. Grips absorb sweat, mud, oil, and moisture to prevent losing control of the club throughout your swing. Your holds will eventually have absorbed too much water, which will start to impair how tightly you can grasp the club. Although it may be extremely subtle and not seem like you are losing control while swinging, it will significantly impact you.
It would be best to have a toothbrush, washing liquid, bucket, towel, and warm water to clean the grip. It is with noting that you should wash all the club parts along with the grip. So, it might be considered a general cleaning process, emphasizing the grip.
First, add washing liquid to the heated water in the bucket and mix until the water bubbles. Second, Secure the ferrules while dipping the golf club into the water.
After soaking the clubs in water for a bit, use a toothbrush to remove the dirt while applying additional pressure to the grips. You should clean the grips first, then the head and sole of the club if needed. Then, rinse the club with clean water after cleaning all the components. Finally, the excess water should be wiped off the club with a dry towel (Exactly the grip) before letting it air dry.
In this method, we do not soak the club in the water but dip it. It is the main difference between it and the general cleaning method of the club. So, after this, you can finally know how to polish golf clubs as you have finally prepared the clubs to be polished thoroughly.
Polishing Phase – 2
You Can Polish the Steel with Chrome
Here’s a nifty way how to polish golf clubs nicely. First, use a cloth to buff the club with steel or chrome polish. Apply some pressure while making small circles. Allow it to air dry for a brief time after polishing before applying another gentle, clean rub. You’ll see that it shines more.
2 in 1 (Cleaning and Polishing)
A cordless drill is a tool you may use to clean your golf clubs, especially if they are scratchy and worn out. To clean your golf club using this technique, follow these steps:
- To wipe off any dirt and rust that may have gathered on the surface of the clubs, use a soft sponge or cleaning rag. You may also use a soft brush if the dirt is very resistant.
- Using the drill-attached cotton polishing wheel, apply the polishing compound to the golf club. Since the polish will be applied wholly and extensively to cover all the stains and scratches, use less mixture in this area.
- Wipe the club’s surface with a rug to ensure you get rid of all the last scuffs and stains.
- Apply the white compound and carefully massage it on the surface of the club to give it a final shiny appearance. Remember that the club will get smoother with repeated use, making washing it simpler with time.
So, these are the ways to polish your clubs accurately to make them shine as new! Hopefully, the instructions were clear enough for you to understand. Congratulations are in order! Because you now know how to polish golf clubs. We are not done yet though! There are some post things you need to do as well.
Post-Polishing Cleaning – 3
Store the bag in a secure location
Now the final thing to do after knowing how to polish your clubs and doing them, you should keep them in a suitable place till your next game. It is excellent if you have a cabinet where you keep your clubs. Store them there but make sure that the cabinet is not wet. If you do not have one, put the golf clubs back in their bag and wrap them in fabric or cellophane. Keep it somewhere dry and cold.
Common Mistakes: When Golfers Cleaning Golf Clubs
Even though you now know how to polish golf clubs here are some common mistakes you should keep in mind. These are:
- Golfers always underestimate the importance of a clean grid. A golfer needs to know that not cleaning the grid will save its lifespan. However, maintaining it by cleaning it when needed will save their money because they will not be in need to change it for a more extended period.
- Some golfers have long nails and clean their clubs with bare hands. It does not matter how careful they are while cleaning; the nails might scratch the club. If the scratch is on the shaft, it does not significantly impact the clubs. However, if they scratched the head of the club by mistake, that might affect the club’s performance in contact with the ball.
Things to Keep Always in Mind
After knowing how to polish golf clubs, here are the things to need to always keep in mind. And these are:
- Aside from the routine cleaning, you should do now and then; a towel overcomes the problem of the spin lake caused by a filthy club. To maintain a club face clean, wipe it a couple of times in all directions. It’s also an excellent technique to keep the club’s scoring lines clear of dirt. A little brush connected to the bag is also an affordable add-on that aids in thoroughly cleaning the grooves. A brush not only cleans the grooves but also restricts the amount of filth the towel has to tolerate.
- Although some individuals prefer to clean their clubs after every usage, others don’t have the time or don’t play golf frequently enough for it to make a significant difference. However, if you start cleaning your clubs at least once a month or after every three rounds, you’ll begin to see the advantages.
- If you use improper materials to polish a golf club, you may have several drawbacks that influence playability.
- If you tend to clean and polish more than one club, you do not have to prepare a cleaning solution for each one and soak it alone. You can put all the clubs in the same basket and clean them one by one. In this case, please start with the less dirty ones and use the time to soak the ones with more dirt on them. So, thank you for reading this article till the end. Now here’s a simple question for you, do you know how to polish golf clubs? Hopefully, you now have that answer!
Frequently Asked Questions
Is it necessary to polish my golf clubs?
Ans: Polishing your golf clubs should be a regular part of your routine.
Polishing golf clubs not only improve their cosmetic appearance but also protects them from environmental factors like dirt and water.
How can I make my golf clubs shine like new?
Ans: Apply a steel or chrome polish to the club with a rag and rub it in. Apply pressure while creating small swirls. Allow it to dry for a few minutes after polishing, then rub it with another soft and clean rag. You’ll notice how it shines up.
How do you polish golf clubs at home?
Ans: Lemon juice and vinegar. The acidity of Vinegar and Lemon Juice, like Coca-Cola, works to break down and remove rust. A quick soak can easily loosen surface rust and allow your club to be cleaned with a brush.