How to Properly Store Your Golf Clubs

There is a chill in the air, footballs are flying and golfers in the northern part of the country have to start thinking about the end of the golf season. Sigh!

Very few golfers look forward to it, but soon it will be time to put away the golf clubs until next year. While club storage is not a welcome endeavor, it is important to take care of the clubs and do it right, so at the beginning of next season, we are ready to go when the practice ranges open. To help, here are some tips for how to properly store your golf clubs during the off-season.

Clean Your Clubs

The first step is to clean your clubs. Give them a thorough cleaning with a soft bristle brush and a mild detergent, working to clean out the caked-on dirt in the grooves and club company name on the bottom of the clubs to make them look great. You will want to make sure they are completely dry before returning them to your golf bag.

Hireko, a company that sells professional golf equipment, offers further advice for treating specialty clubs:

Add Baby Oil or Vaseline to Certain Putters and Wedges

“If you own one of those expensive milled putters, you might also add baby oil or Vaseline all over before putting on the head cover. This tip will also work on unplated carbon steel wedges to prevent them from pitting and rusting.”

Inspect for Damage, Wear and Tear

The cleaning process is a great time to really give your equipment a good inspection for damage or wear and tear. You may have gotten some nicks on the blades of your irons that might need attention, or you want to make sure the shafts of your clubs aren’t bent or damaged in any way. Taking care of the shafts is vital to quality performance next season.

Don’t Forget to Clean the Grips

Even more important is an examination and cleaning of your golf club grips to see what kind of shape they’re in. Golfweek has advice on when the grips should be replaced. Hint: it depends on the amount of play. The website offers the following rule of thumb:

“Change your grips every 18 months if you play golf two or three times a week and you live in a temperate climate that does not allow year-round golf. You are not overusing your clubs and you are not wearing down your grips. They should last you at least 18 months.”

Store Your Clubs in a Dry, Temperature-Controlled Environment

Now that your clubs are ready for storage, you need to find the right place for their long-term health. A look around the internet on discussion boards shows plenty of back and forth on what temperature variances might do to your clubs. Some people say nothing while others claim a long-term effect. I say if you live in the northland, why take a chance? And so does ThoughtCo:

“Forget about the trunk of your car. Get those clubs out of there! A garage or storage facility? If the location is humidity and temperature-controlled, yes. Otherwise, no. For long-term storage, bring those golf clubs into your home, or put them in some other interior location that is dry and temperature-controlled.”

They say “constant exposure to cold won’t damage the clubhead or shaft, but could dry out the grips and cause them to harden or crack.” And when you pull out those clubs next spring, you won’t want to delay the start of the season by having to replace the grips.

The bottom line is to clean the clubs from top to bottom. Make sure they’re dry and then cover and protect them before finding a decent room in your house that is climate controlled and not overly dry. Make sure the landing spot is out of the way of traffic so they don’t get banged around. Your clubs will be there waiting, ready to go, next spring when you bring them out and start getting them dirty again.