My golf irons, after the range

[Aquarium_5]

Hello all,

I have a question, wondering if someone can help.

My clubs seem to accumulate quite a bit of "golf mat residue" after each session at the range.  See picture after only one trip to the range ~100 balls.

It's not particularly difficult to remove the gook, but more importantly, I'm wondering what it may say about my swing.  For you sub 10 indexer's, does this happen to your clubs too?  If so, more or less than the picture shown?

Thanks in advance!

Greg

Index: 14

[iacas]

Just rub it off.

[David in FL]

...and it has nothing to do with your handicap.  

[jkelley9]

I HATE that crap. Not even soap and water cuts through it. You literally have to rub it off with abrasion. It takes some elbow grease. Now that I think about it, maybe a Magic Eraser would work well... hmm. I'll have to try that next time.

But you won't hear from me about this problem until at least next winter! LOL. No mats here during the spring 

[chilepepper]

 Prefer mats to a certain extent. A couple of the courses I practice at seem to use a really coarse sand/ small gravel mix to fix divots . That's worse than the mat skid marks on the bottom

[Buckeyebowman]

Doesn't seem like you have a lie problem. Just scrub them off! Clubs get dirty, no matter where you hit them! What are you gonna do?

[lastings]

some mats seem to be worse than others.   don't know why.   I have a swing mat at home that I hit practice balls off.   It was cheap, and my clubs get a ton of this crap from it.   The mat at my local range, however, my clubs come off clean as a whistle.  

That would lead me to believe that cheaper mats have this problem.   but, heck if I know.  I don't make mats.  

[rehmwa]

19 hours ago, jkelley9 said:

I HATE that crap. Not even soap and water cuts through it. You literally have to rub it off with abrasion. It takes some elbow grease. Now that I think about it, maybe a Magic Eraser would work well... hmm. I'll have to try that next time.

But you won't hear from me about this problem until at least next winter! LOL. No mats here during the spring 

wierd,  even a tiny bit of moisture does the trick for me.  It just peels right off.

[David in FL]

2 minutes ago, rehmwa said:

wierd,  even a tiny bit of moisture does the trick for me.  It just peels right off.

Yep.  Damp towel and it wipes right off.

[Lihu]

3 minutes ago, rehmwa said:

wierd,  even a tiny bit of moisture does the trick for me.  It just peels right off.

 

Just now, David in FL said:

Yep.  Damp towel and it wipes right off.

 

Yeah, same here. I used to hit hundreds of balls and collect a complete layer of plastic on the bottoms.

However, if the mat is just a little damp the stuff comes off on the next strike.

[rehmwa]

3 minutes ago, David in FL said:

Yep.  Damp towel and it wipes right off.

heck, I barely breathe on my thumb and it pushes off the sole

maybe if the OP does it immediately and not wait....?

Edited April 17, 2017 by rehmwa

[Architex]

This is common. At least you didn't do what I did. I was bored one day so I decided to hit some foam balls in my garage. I don't have a mat so I used my welcome mat. Wrong answer. After around 5 swings I smelled burning rubber. I looked at my club and I guess from the friction it melted part of my mat into the club. Took forever to get that off.

[Grinde6]

I wouldn't worry about what the green mat residue on the bottom of your club means.  If you want to know that, go get some cheap foot spray powder and spray it on your clubface before hitting your shots with that club...that will tell you where you are hitting it which is much better than trying to decipher what is going on from mat residue on the bottom of the club.

[krupa]

Green plastic stuff is common.  I usually dip my clubs in water then use a stiff plastic bristled brush to get it off.

17 hours ago, Architex said:

This is common. At least you didn't do what I did. I was bored one day so I decided to hit some foam balls in my garage. I don't have a mat so I used my welcome mat. Wrong answer. After around 5 swings I smelled burning rubber. I looked at my club and I guess from the friction it melted part of my mat into the club. Took forever to get that off.

I stay loose by swinging an old wedge in a patio room that has a stone tile floor.  If I'm not paying attention, the wedge will hit the tile creating some sparks.

[MRR]

On 4/16/2017 at 5:04 PM, Aquarium_5 said:

My clubs seem to accumulate quite a bit of "golf mat residue" after each session at the range.

I'm wondering what it may say about my swing. 

#6 and #7 seem to say that you are hitting with an open face.  The others look square to closed.

[shanksalot]

I won't hit off mats. Dislike the interaction between the club and mat. It is also possible to screw up your lie angle/loft on the irons with repeated hitting off mats. In our area they use the mats from around November to late April. I refuse to hit off mats so I don't get to go to the range until they go back to grass again.  When you get older this can cause some problems with your wrists and elbows because of hitting down on the ball. I used to use soap and hot water and scrub the sole with a stiff brush.

[Dave2512]

Nothing to do with handicap and I'd rather that than wiping sand off between shots. I'd like it if our range left the mats out all year. If I can find a spot that hasn't been hacked to bits I am usually standing in a spot that was hacked to bits.

[70sSanO]

The marks are angled from the club face which may mean that you are not hitting the ball square.  Are you pushing or slicing the ball to the right.

If you are hitting behind the ball the may may be driving the club open before you hit the ball.

Hopefully someone will chime in on figuring out if the direction of the mat marks are an indication of something.

Johm