Blog/Gear Care
What to Do With Your Gear After a Wet Round
The twenty minutes after a rainy round decide whether your shoes, grips and bag survive the season. Here is the order that actually matters.
You finish a wet round, put everything in the trunk, and deal with it later. Later turns into next weekend. By then the shoes have dried stiff, the grips have a film on them, and the bag smells. Almost all of that damage happens in the hours right after the round, not during it.
The trunk is the worst place for any of it
A closed trunk is dark, warm and has no airflow. Wet leather stiffens, damp grips bake in whatever residue is on them, and a wet bag lining stays wet for days. Everything else in this article matters less than simply not leaving the gear in there overnight.
Do it in this order
- Clubs first: dry the heads, especially around the hosel, where rust starts
- Grips next: wipe the full length and dry them, while the film is still fresh
- Shoes: knock off the mud, pull the insoles, open them up fully
- Bag: empty the pockets and leave them unzipped to air out
The order is not arbitrary. Metal is what rusts, so it goes first. Grips are what you touch on every swing, and residue lifts easily while it is still damp. Shoes and bag take the longest to dry, so they go last and get the most air time.
Never speed it up with heat
A heater, a hair dryer or a sunny dashboard will dry wet golf shoes faster and damage them doing it. Leather cracks, adhesives let go, and synthetic uppers warp out of shape. Room temperature and airflow are slower and they are the only method that does not cost you the shoe.
Wet rounds are when gear either lasts or does not
Dry rounds are forgiving. Wet ones are what separates gear that lasts three seasons from gear that lasts one. The twenty minutes you spend when you get home are worth more than anything you buy to fix it afterward.