For whatever reason many of us could look after our golf equipment a lot better.
We spend hours on end in the elements, hitting shots around courses in the middle of nowhere and then we expect our kit to stay shiny and new.
To help perform and play better, we could easily improve our on and off-course habits.
Clubs
– Use a wet towel during every round and wipe the clubface after every shot. You see the tour players’ caddies never miss a shot whereas the majority of us are poor in our behaviour.
– Use a groove cleaner and, again, use it on every shot.
– Clean clubs are far more visually appealing and, more importantly, having fresh grooves are crucial to get the correct amount of spin on the ball. When you are cleaning your clubs use warm water, mild soap and a soft brush. You will quickly notice the difference clean grooves will make on a shot.
– Not many of us pay attention to cleaning our grips. This is where dirt, sweat and oils can gather so clean them with a damp cloth and mild soap which will encourage the grip and tackiness. By looking after your grips it’s going to help your scoring and longevity of the grip.
– Don’t keep your clubs in extreme or moist temperatures as this can damage the grips or weaken the glue that connects the clubhead and shaft. Do keep your clubs in a cool, dry spot.
– Use headcovers and even iron covers. They’re there to stop your clubs getting scratched.
– Use your local PGA Pro to give your clubs a check-up. They will be able to tell you about your lofts and lies and make sure that the club is doing what it should be doing.
Shoes
A quality golf shoe can cost £200 and are therefore worth looking after. They will also look, feel and perform better, all of which will help you lower your scores. The easy wins (these are the things that we should but rarely do) are:
– Use a shoe tree to maintain the shape of the shoe and to not leave your shoes in the boot of the car where high temperatures can break down shoe materials
– It’s well worth getting a second pair of shoes as two pairs will last longer than twice the length of one pair. Have one cheaper pair for those holes after work or your practice and save the better pair for your regular golf.
– Check your cleats between rounds to make sure that they are secured properly and never over tighten them.
– Use a shoe horn when putting on your shoes to protect the heel. Damage to the heel can cause an improper fit and lead to blistering.
– Use the shoe cleaners which are tucked away near the 18th green. There’s no real excuse not to spend two minutes getting rid of the excess dirt from a £200 pair of shoes. And use a wet wipe to remove any excess dirt from the uppers.
– Use mild soap and warm water if cleaning the shoes away from the course. Remove the laces when cleaning and remove the inner sole. To dry, never place in direct sunlight or use a hairdryer/radiator as excessive heat will damage both the uppers and the outsoles.
– If they do get wet, roll up some newspaper and dry the shoes overnight. Then, to help restore the shoes back to their original shape, use a wooden shoe tree.
Glove
These days a quality glove will cost £20 so, if you are playing a lot of golf, you want to be looking after it.
– One misconception is that a glove cannot get wet but they should be washed. Read the label to see how best to look after it but handwashing is likely to be the best way forward as this is softer process than a washing machine.
– Use a mild soap and warm water and avoid detergents as these will damage the materials. Look at where the glove comes into contact with the club and massage this with your hands. If the glove is fully leather, as many are, they should never be fully submerged in water so use a damp cloth.
– Once clean, rinse the solution and pat dry with a towel and air dry it. While it’s damp reshape your glove to prevent it from stiffening. One vital ingredient is to never use a machine or hairdryer as these will damage the leather and synthetic materials. Likewise don’t leave it in direct sunlight.
– The ideal is to wipe off the dirt and particularly the sweat after each round with a damp cloth. And to store it back in its packet to retain the shape and avoid just sticking it back in your bag with a collection of other old gloves where it will just lose shape. For whatever reason this simple practice is beyond many of us but it will save you a few quid.
– One good idea is to rotate two gloves so you give the other one a chance to dry out properly.
– It’s time to change glove when there are torn or thin spots, it becomes slippery or loose or stiffness or cracking develops.
