Taking care of new clubs

[RFKFREAK]

Hello, everyone.

So, after over a decade I finally decided to buy new irons rather than continue to use the box set I bought from Sports Authority (are they still in business?).

The new irons are scheduled to come in in about a week and a half and I had a couple of questions I was hoping people might be able to help me out with.

1) When I get the irons, is there anything I should do with them before I use them to practice or play?

2) Is there anything I can or should do to, for lack of a better phrase, keep them looking pretty and shiny?

Thanks for any advice! 

[saevel25]

5 minutes ago, RFKFREAK said:

1) When I get the irons, is there anything I should do with them before I use them to practice or play?

Nope

5 minutes ago, RFKFREAK said:

2) Is there anything I can or should do to, for lack of a better phrase, keep them looking pretty and shiny?

Not use them. Seriously, golf clubs are going to get little dings. The area where you hit the ball will start to discolor a bit. It just happens. You can just use soap water to clean them. If you want to go overboard you could but some metal polishing compound.

[Midpack]

If you wipe off your irons after every shot and use iron covers they will look “pretty and shiny” far, far longer - guaranteed. Everyone I play with is amazed that my 19 yo irons still look new! However, many/most players will consider you a nerd or worse if you have iron covers. There are some makes/models of bags that will keep your irons apart better, the Ogio Silencer is one example. With the latter you can keep your new irons shiny longer without others knowing you’re a nerd...

Riding in a cart with your clubs bouncing around will do more damage to irons than anything else - more than hitting them or carrying them.

Edited October 2, 2017 by Midpack

[Vinsk]

27 minutes ago, saevel25 said:

The area where you hit the ball will start to discolor a bit.

Which is why my hosels are vastly discolored.

[RFKFREAK]

31 minutes ago, saevel25 said:

Nope

Not use them. Seriously, golf clubs are going to get little dings. The area where you hit the ball will start to discolor a bit. It just happens. You can just use soap water to clean them. If you want to go overboard you could but some metal polishing compound.

Yeah, I don't expect them to remain pristine, I would just like them to look as good as possible and wanted to know what I could do to further than along.

26 minutes ago, Midpack said:

If you wipe off your irons after every shot and use iron covers they will look “pretty and shiny” far, far longer - guaranteed. Everyone I play with is amazed that my 19 yo irons still look new! However, many/most players will consider you a nerd or worse if you have iron covers. There are some makes/models of bags that will keep your irons apart better, the Ogio Silencer is one example. With the latter you can keep your new irons shiny longer without others knowing you’re a nerd...

Riding in a cart with your clubs bouncing around will do more damage to irons than anything else - more than hitting them or carrying them.

I don't necessarily think I'd care about what others think about my having head covers too much, tbh.  And whereas a a bag like the Ogio Silencer sounds like a great option, it would be fiscally irresponsible of me to spend $175-$250 on a bag right now. 

3 minutes ago, Vinsk said:

Which is why my hosels are vastly discolored.

[klineka]

You cant make a post like this and not share with us which irons you chose!!! 

That said, which irons did you choose?

[Groucho Valentine]

Maybe give the grips a gentle wipedown with some warm soapy water. Sometimes new grips have a weird slippery film on them. Besides that theres nothing unusual i do to care for my irons. I clean the heads with a damp towel after shots. You beat the things into the ground all the time, so aesthetics is the last of my concern with them. Stay away from iron covers, they're worthless IMO.  If they're forged clubs, make sure to get the lofts and lies checked once a year. 

[WUTiger]

New irons: hopefully you will get fitted for them....

As far as break-in...

• See if the golf shop will do a loft-and-lie check on the irons. Even with big-name manufacturers, a couple of the irons are often out of spec and need to be tweaked.
• Take a couple of the irons, get on square floor tiles, and see what the clubface looks like when it's square to the tile edge. |o|       I've had trouble with new irons with misses to left or right, because the new square didn't look like the old square. It's a matter of retraining your eyes.

As far as bright and shiny, this depends in part on the finish on the clubface. The brush-nickel finish on my X20 Tours has resisted bag wear and turf nicks very well. If you have a shiny chrome finish, it will show wear more quickly. General tips on cleaning:

• Wipe irons after each shot if you take big turf with it. This is especially important if the course has sandy soil - you don't want to pound little rocks stuck on the clubface into the grooves on your next shot.
• After round: Give the clubs a wipe off to get rid of major grime. Ideally you dip the clubheads into hot soapy water and brush them off. Rinse in hot water, which will evaporate quickly. (You don't want water stuck in crevices - this can start rust.)
• Grips: Do not smear chocolate candy on your hand, and then smear it on your grips. Likewise with mustard and barbecue sauce.* Wash grips in mild soap and warm water every few weeks, and rinse.

* Wierdest scramble snack of all times: On No. 15 tee, a restaurant was offering free barbecued spare ribs, slathered in brown sugar sauce. And, it was about 105 degrees that day. My golf glove and I said "no thanks."

1 hour ago, RFKFREAK said:

... Sports Authority (are they still in business?).

Went out of business last summer.

[RFKFREAK]

15 minutes ago, klineka said:

You cant make a post like this and not share with us which irons you chose!!! 

That said, which irons did you choose?

 

 

 

Just now, Groucho Valentine said:

Maybe give the grips a gentle wipedown with some warm soapy water. Sometimes new grips have a weird slippery film on them. Besides that theres nothing unusual i do to care for my irons. I clean the heads with a damp towel after shots. You beat the things into the ground all the time, so aesthetics is the last of my concern with them. Stay away from iron covers, they're worthless IMO.  If they're forged clubs, make sure to get the lofts and lies checked once a year. 

Yeah, they're forged.  I know they're beat into the ground but I care about their looks.  Thanks for the advice about getting the lofts and lies checked every year.

[billchao]

1 hour ago, RFKFREAK said:

When I get the irons, is there anything I should do with them before I use them to practice or play?

Hit them. Hit them everywhere, all the time, let them get dinged up so you stop worrying about how they look and focus on how they play 

1 hour ago, RFKFREAK said:

Is there anything I can or should do to, for lack of a better phrase, keep them looking pretty and shiny?

They'll honestly be fine as long as you wipe them off. I used to use a soft-bristled brush and warm water to clean the heads between rounds and towel dry. I don't do that anymore and they just have dirt on them which I could easily clean off if I cared to.

If you're really going with iron covers, you need to make sure you towel off your clubs after every shot or you'll actually end up trapping moisture inside them.

[jamo]

The only thing that comes to mind is to put in grips that you like better if they come with the stock ones.

[allenc]

42 minutes ago, RFKFREAK said:

 

 

 

Yeah, they're forged.  I know they're beat into the ground but I care about their looks.  Thanks for the advice about getting the lofts and lies checked every year.

Wow those are some nice (and expensive) irons.  You must be rich.  You can afford that Ogio Silencer bag for them.

[Midpack]

1 hour ago, RFKFREAK said:

 

 

 

Yeah, they're forged.  I know they're beat into the ground but I care about their looks.  Thanks for the advice about getting the lofts and lies checked every year.

Gorgeous. Those are on my short list, though probably won't win out only because I'm not consistent enough.

[Groucho Valentine]

1 hour ago, RFKFREAK said:

 

 

 

Yeah, they're forged.  I know they're beat into the ground but I care about their looks.  Thanks for the advice about getting the lofts and lies checked every year.

Fancy. They'll look better with a couple dings on em. Trust me. 

Chicks dig scars. 

[RFKFREAK]

1 hour ago, allenc said:

Wow those are some nice (and expensive) irons.  You must be rich.  You can afford that Ogio Silencer bag for them.

Def not rich.  Part of it was a birthday gift and decided to splurge and dedicated resources that I had allocated to an Edel putter towards the irons instead. 

Bag would be overboard.

2 hours ago, WUTiger said:

New irons: hopefully you will get fitted for them....

As far as break-in...

• See if the golf shop will do a loft-and-lie check on the irons. Even with big-name manufacturers, a couple of the irons are often out of spec and need to be tweaked.
• Take a couple of the irons, get on square floor tiles, and see what the clubface looks like when it's square to the tile edge. |o|       I've had trouble with new irons with misses to left or right, because the new square didn't look like the old square. It's a matter of retraining your eyes.

As far as bright and shiny, this depends in part on the finish on the clubface. The brush-nickel finish on my X20 Tours has resisted bag wear and turf nicks very well. If you have a shiny chrome finish, it will show wear more quickly. General tips on cleaning:

• Wipe irons after each shot if you take big turf with it. This is especially important if the course has sandy soil - you don't want to pound little rocks stuck on the clubface into the grooves on your next shot.
• After round: Give the clubs a wipe off to get rid of major grime. Ideally you dip the clubheads into hot soapy water and brush them off. Rinse in hot water, which will evaporate quickly. (You don't want water stuck in crevices - this can start rust.)
• Grips: Do not smear chocolate candy on your hand, and then smear it on your grips. Likewise with mustard and barbecue sauce.* Wash grips in mild soap and warm water every few weeks, and rinse.

* Wierdest scramble snack of all times: On No. 15 tee, a restaurant was offering free barbecued spare ribs, slathered in brown sugar sauce. And, it was about 105 degrees that day. My golf glove and I said "no thanks."

Went out of business last summer.

Def got fitted.

Was actually fitted by one of the Titleist reps on their Titleist Thursday events.