Groove Sharpening

[sean_miller]

Nobody is going to measure your grooves, but you WILL be changing the characteristics during play.

Who would sharpen their grooves

during play? Now that's crazy.

[Fat Slice]

My guess is with a soft clubhead that repeated ball striking will somewhat flatten the raised parts between the grooves making the size of the grooves *smaller*. If that is the case, then careful sharpening would both restore the edge and return the grooves to the factory sizing.

Now, using a screwdriver to dig trenches in your clubhead is not legal.

[trickymicky69]

People that do that kind of thing kills me.

Not as much as the idiots that "adjust" their movable drivers on every hole or change their brand of ball on purpose mid round

[Fourputt]

People that do that kind of thing kills me.

Nothing against the rules with this. Unless you are playing in a competition where the "One ball" condition has been implemented by the committee, you can change brands and types of balls as often as you like between holes.

[Bullitt5339]

My guess is with a soft clubhead that repeated ball striking will somewhat flatten the raised parts between the grooves making the size of the grooves *smaller*. If that is the case, then careful sharpening would both restore the edge and return the grooves to the factory sizing.

That is the way I look at it as well. A friend of mine has a groove sharpener, and (because of this thread) I went out and stuck it in one of my new wedges that only have one round on them. It wasn't wider than the grooves, it fit perfectly in there and would not have made the grooves larger at all. I then stuck it in my 2 year old 60* forged wedge, and where the contact was, it took some metal out, but on the grooves where I don't hit the ball constantly, it fit right in there and did not take any additional material out.

So based on this, I would say you are correct. It restores old smashed in grooves, but does not cut them larger than they came when they were new. (At least when used properly for this purpose) So the way the rules are written, I assume that sharpening them back to their original legal state is fine as long as you do it before the round starts. If you alter the club during play, you're violating the rules.

[trickymicky69]

Nothing against the rules with this. Unless you are playing in a competition where the "One ball" condition has been implemented by the committee, you can change brands and types of balls as often as you like between holes.

Sorry I should have said.

"People that use a distance ball off the tee, then pick and replace with a Pro V1 on the approach"

[MikeBuch]

Golf is about playing by the rules, if you don't bother playing by the rules what's the point in playing golf?

I think the point for most people is enjoyment. If someone can have more enjoyment playing by non-USGA or no rules, and isn't deceiving anyone about it, then why not do it?

[etlreams]

I sware - it seems like someone posts a question about groove sharpeners every month and we have this same debate over and over.

[James_Black]

I think the point for most people is enjoyment. If someone can have more enjoyment playing by non-USGA or no rules, and isn't deceiving anyone about it, then why not do it?

You can have enjoyment by taking mulligans and not counting your scores correctly.

That's fine by me, but don't do that in a competition. The same principle applies to groove sharpeners.

[nokmond]

People that do that kind of thing kills me.

Holy shit mate! Do you take your rulebook to the bog with you? Chill out!

[Weezy]

If the regroover restores the grooves to usga approved size rather than making them larger then what is the problem? And before anyone says that its impossible for the grooves to get smaller well smash an old wedge with a hammer a few times, you can basically collapse the groove onto itself making it pretty much nonexistent.

[footlong]

Thanks for the input guys,

Especially to the 2 Mikes - Buch & Mossey.

Mike Buch - thanks for clarifying the rule for me - looks like there is no problems as long as you trust the tool to do what the makers claim.

Mike Mossey - thanks for providing the www.groovesharpener.net link. When I looked at that site the groove sharpener was the same as my buddy had.

OK - So I will now buy one from the site above and will post again as soon as I have used the tool and played a few shots.

Now onto my next gadget - but don't tell the wife LOL !

[CrazyXGolfer]

Clear up this for me then..... if I use a tee to scrap out the dirt in between my grooves..... Can I do this?

[ddalet]

Clear up this for me then..... if I use a tee to scrap out the dirt in between my grooves..... Can I do this?

of course you can LOL.

I don't know about you but the guys that I play with are pretty lenient even while playing money on some of the less significant details of the rules... and these guys are all scratch players. I think the higher handicaps take the rules way to far on casual round. For example; we'll play hazards on OB instead of stroke and distance just for the sake of speeding up the round. Then again, nobody really hits an OB frequently, at the most one of the four will hit an OB during a round.

[footlong]

Hi Guys,

Well my groove sharpener arrived a few days ago - I followed the simple user instructions that came with it - all in all it took me around 15 mins to regroove all my irons ( mizuno ) and wedges ( vokey ).

Played a round yesterday - and like wow - it really does work - my control has never been better - my golf buddies were suprised to say the least. I won't let on to them about the tool until the next round we play - I want to kick their asses 1 more time LOL.

I appreciate all the feedback you guys gave to me - thanks again.

[Crushalot]

Today, picked up, used, Acer XP 905 tour iron set model #I3322CS 4-SW for 25.00 total.  Great deal, right? The shafts are good length and grips almost decent, too.

I'd like to  sharpen the  grooves on the wedge and a few others but I am concerned about the notorious rusting I have read in some reviews.

Is there a proper tool I could buy at a local retailer or online?   Do these have to be taken to a shop..

Also, are there any good reads on beginning club customizing or service 101?

[The Gill]

Ones like these seem to work the best. Golfsmith used to have one just like it, but it appears that they have dropped it. What kind of customizing are you looking to do?

[Crushalot]

shaft repair, re grip, eventually be able build clubs