How to Store Golf Clubs: Ultimate Winter Guide

Louis Pringle

Oct 30, 2020

6 minutes

As the prime of golf season nears its end and courses are starting to shut their operations, it’s time for many of us golfers to put away our most prized possession for an extended period. This guide will show you the best practices when it comes to storing your golf clubs at the end of the season.

Now that you’ve put a bow on your season and that you’re ready to put away your golf clubs for a while, there are a few things you need to take care of before you can finally put away your golf clubs for the winter. Let’s explore the best ways to store golf clubs.

Cleaning Your Clubs

Before storing your clubs away for months, it is highly recommended you clean them. This will ensure that your clubs preserve their condition, that any creation of rust spots remains to a minimum, and that you’ll be able to simply pick up your bag free of any worries when the new season comes around.

If you’re looking for a complete step-by-step guide on how to clean your golf clubs, you can check out Golf Avenue’s article, but the following will provide you with a quick step-by-step process to clean your clubs before putting them in storage.

How to clean your golf clubs at the end of the golf season?

To thoroughly clean your clubs, you’ll start by dipping your clubs in the water bucket where you added some dish soap. After they’ve sat in the water for a while (enough to loosen the dirt off the clubface), take them out one at a time.

 

You might want to use the steel-bristled brush if some dirt gets stuck in the grooves after you’ve already wiped away the dirt.

How to avoid rust build-up when storing your golf clubs?

The most crucial step when cleaning your golf clubs is the drying process. Make sure to dry each of them with a towel so that humidity doesn’t seep into the ferrules or the clubhead. The accumulation of humidity inside the clubhead can develop rust, which in turn can weaken the quality of your clubs.

Another good way to limit the accumulation of humidity and the creation of oxidization in your golf clubs is to pick the right place to store your golf clubs during the colder months of the year.

Where should you store your golf clubs?

Ideally, your storage area will be a controlled environment where you can manage the temperature and where humidity is not prevalent. This is because prolonged exposure to humidity can contribute to the formation of rust inside your golf clubs.

By keeping your golf clubs in the house, you’re allowing yourself to have them handy at any moment, which also means that if you decide to head to the simulator or if you book a last-minute golf trip, you’ll have instant access to your clubs.

Should I store my golf clubs in my home?

To put it simply, your clubs should be stored in your home. This is the easiest way for you to keep an eye on them while making sure that they’ll remain in acceptable conditions in terms of temperature and humidity levels.

How to store golf clubs in the garage or the shed?

If you have a garage or a shed at home, you can strongly consider putting your clubs in there in the off-season. The main issue you need to keep in mind is humidity levels. The cold temperatures won’t be too much of an issue if your garage or shed is well-isolated.

In both cases, you’ll be better off if your garage or shed is not only well-isolated but heated as well. As mentioned, it’s always in your best interest to keep your clubs in a room where you can have control over the temperature.

Much like if you were to keep your clubs in your house, keeping them in your garage or your shed allows you to always be close to your clubs if you end up going on a surprise visit to the simulator.

Can I store my golf clubs in a paid storage locker?

There are many perks to storing your golf clubs in a paid storage locker. Most of these lockers are kept indoors, which means that you won’t have to worry about humidity build-up. Plus, if you keep paying for the locker, their protection is guaranteed.

However, there are some downsides to keeping your clubs in a paid storage locker such as having to pay for the locker during the off-season. This is not an issue if you’re already paying for a locker, but in any other case, it’s an extra expense.

Also, it needs to be said that contrary to keeping them at home, in the garage, or the shed, your clubs won’t be as easy to access when they are stored in a locker.

Wherever you end up storing your clubs in the off-season, consider throwing on the rain cover over the clubs to make sure they get as little exposure as possible to dust and insects. This will also help limit any direct impact damage to your clubs if something was to happen during the storage period.

The Do’s and Don’ts of Club Storage

Now that you know where you should keep your golf clubs this off-season, and that you know how to clean them properly, it’s time to look at some of the Do’s and Don’ts of golf clubs’ storage.

What you should DO when storing your golf clubs

Many helpful tips were already given to you on the best ways to store your golf clubs at the end of the season, but here are some extra tidbits that you will find useful when putting your clubs away for Winter.

What to do with the rest of the contents of your golf bag?

Empty the content of your golf bag. We often put stuff in there at the last minute or at some point when we’re playing and forget to take it out after the round. This way, you’ll avoid unwanted surprises in your bag, or attracting critters.

What is the best brush to clean my golf clubs?

Use a soft brush, much like a toothbrush, to clean the faces of your clubs. You can also use a steel brush when cleaning the grooves of your wedges and irons.

What you should NOT DO when storing your golf clubs

With all the helpful tips we've already given to you in this guide, we thougth it would be important to let you know what to avoid when storing your golf clubs.

Is it bad to keep golf clubs in the trunk of your car?

Do not store your clubs in your car! This is a cardinal sin for any golfer who identifies as such. First off, it’s not very secure. Yes, you may lock your car, but a window is not a great obstacle for a motivated thief. Second, the changing weather can end up being very costly on your grips and the epoxy that holds the parts of your clubs together.

Can you store your clubs in an environment where temperatures can’t be controlled?

Wherever you end up leaving your bag for the winter, it must be a place where you can be sure that there won’t be any sudden dip in temperature or a possibility of high levels of humidity. Your garage or your shed is heated? Lucky for you! You’ll get to store your clubs in there as you will.

If you follow the tips listed above, you should have no problem at all putting your clubs away. Finding the actual space to store your bag for the season might be more difficult, but if you follow our recommendations, you’ll be ready to go as soon as the course comes calling.

Finally, cleaning and putting away your clubs for a while is the perfect time to take a good look at your equipment. Is it time to change your golf clubs? Are you still getting the performance you want out of it? Make the most of this occasion and trade in your old golf clubs to fund your set ahead of the next season!

Until Next Time, 

The Golf Avenue Team