Do irons and/or wedges really wear out and when?

rollin

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The other thread about frequent club changes got me wondering. I did find a thread on drivers weakening etc. But do the groves on our irons really ware down significantly enough to make any big difference? Most people usually worry more about the shorter wedges obviously due to spin. But the irons have the groves for spin too and be just as important. Do they ware down more on wedges or is it just that the wedges get the most use? But overall if they do ware down (or ware out) Is it really that significant? Is it also the faces of the irons and wedges where as they start to reshape at the most repetitive hitting area and not just the grove edges?

Just how long or how much golf does it take to do any of this significantly? Perhaps the initial grove edge ware down is relatively quicker on a new iron or wedge then we think it is and then it settles to a point of longevity before anymore can occur. I don't know. Is there any real data on that and/or any real data on any of this? You get the point to the questions.
 
They do, when I was playing and practicing a lot, I would close the grooves on my wedges every year, now every two years with wedges and my 8 iron through wedge are beginning to close up after 3 years. I had a set of titleist 962b's that the short irons closed up after a year. When I say closed up,I mean that the grooves almost completely closed with a dimple in the center of the club face the size of a quarter or so. I've seen others do the same thing.
 
Yes they do.
And there has been numerous tests showing it by just about every company.
Grooves channel away debris, so depending on where you are playing from will have a factor, but less spin will not only alter control of the ball, but flight as well.
 
Everything wears down eventually and having grooves that are worn down will effect spin and how well the grooves channel away dirt, grass and water. Think of it like the tires on your car.


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I'd have to say yes for sure. Grooves can wear out and that effects spin, flight, and consistency.
 
They really do wear out. I had a driver for 9 years and the face was finally about to cave in....not to mention there weren't much in terms of grooves left.

I do have a SW that I've had for 12 years+ and bought a sharpener and it's worked pretty well.

But yes, clubs do wear down and grooves get dull....of course depending on how much you play, that
process can lengthen out quite a bit.
 
So does that mean you should have your irons re-grooved very couple years or when they start to wear out? Do those services work? It would seem pretty expensive to buy a whole new set of irons every couple of years.
 
Of course forged will ware and even cup too from what Ive read much faster than cast. But overall I winder just how much golf it takes for this to actually happen and then also happen to a point that it is of great significance to ones game? I would think for those that are able to obtain good spin and stopping power you would notice its affect before those of us who don't generate such spin. But even then, just how much golf does it take? Depending on how much one golfs and practices I imagine it could be quite number of years for many of us.
 
Guess its time for a new 60°.
 
I probably hit 1000 golf balls a week. 90% of my work on the range is with my 8,9, and all my wedges. I replace my 4 wedges each year and my 8 and 9 iron every other year.
But, i play forged heads and they are soft.
I have a regroove tool, but it is more fun to buy and build new.
 
I probably hit 1000 golf balls a week. 90% of my work on the range is with my 8,9, and all my wedges. I replace my 4 wedges each year and my 8 and 9 iron every other year.
But, i play forged heads and they are soft.
I have a regroove tool, but it is more fun to buy and build new.

although they are wearing down are you replacing them because at that point you want to or because after that amount of use they are worn enough to require the change? Perhaps you may feel that they are even worn for quite some time before you are replacing them.

That is a lot of smacks in a year and being they are forged I'd imagine my casts combined with very much less strikes than your forged ones are being hit tells me a set of casts should go many years before a difference would be noticeable enough to require a change.
 
I was actually planning to post a "how often to irons wear out and need to be replaced?" question today [and I don't mean regripping] but OP beat me to it. This is very interesting!

What sort of wear means that it's time to replace rather than regroove?

I assume that a good cleaning makes them last longer?
 
When I played everyday I went through a set a year and wedges twice a year. My range was sandy and I wore the faces out on all my short and mid irons.
 
When I played everyday I went through a set a year and wedges twice a year. My range was sandy and I wore the faces out on all my short and mid irons.

And you are talking forged? vs cast? and playing everyday is a ton of smacks.
I'll ask the same question I asked "kmanc" above.
Replaced your wedges twice a year you say and were they in significant need of change?

You see not only am I curious here but also more to it. I have new clubs this past winter. I've played about 45 rounds this year with them plus some range time too. That is actually more than double the golf I ever played before in any year. I cannot afford to be replacing clubs every couple years or even every 3 or 4 years.

So to me its a big investment and If I continued this trend next year (if able to do so) and play 50 rounds with some range time too, would my irons and wedges be worn out at this rate in only a couple/few years? And remember they are cast. Just kind of a bummer and mind blower to think my new investment and what they cost that they would only last so long.
 
Absolutely. Much less so on irons, obviously, but I swap my wedges twice per season and irons every other.
 
And you are talking forged? vs cast? and playing everyday is a ton of smacks.
I'll ask the same question I asked "kmanc" above.
Replaced your wedges twice a year you say and were they in significant need of change?

You see not only am I curious here but also more to it. I have new clubs this past winter. I've played about 45 rounds this year with them plus some range time too. That is actually more than double the golf I ever played before in any year. I cannot afford to be replacing clubs every couple years or even every 3 or 4 years.

So to me its a big investment and If I continued this trend next year (if able to do so) and play 50 rounds with some range time too, would my irons and wedges be worn out at this rate in only a couple/few years? And remember they are cast. Just kind of a bummer and mind blower to think my new investment and what they cost that they would only last so long.

I had worn black circles in the face of the clubs from sand, water and everyday use. Your 45 rounds is no where near enough to even worry about it. I would gather to say you could game your current set, sell them and they still would be a good shape.

Regardless if your clubs are cast or forged, you won't have near enough reps in the same spot on the face to cause worry
 
Interesting thread, I play roughly 25 tournaments a year and I never had to change a club due to wear


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Its not a cast vs forged thing.
There are plenty of cast wedges (and irons) that wear down just as quickly as anything else.
 
I had worn black circles in the face of the clubs from sand, water and everyday use. Your 45 rounds is no where near enough to even worry about it. I would gather to say you could game your current set, sell them and they still would be a good shape.

Regardless if your clubs are cast or forged, you won't have near enough reps in the same spot on the face to cause worry

no, I certainly wont be hitting the same spot all the time, or even half, or etc...lol. And thanks I do feel better about my investment. And I couldn't picture telling the wife I'm getting new clubs again in just another year or so.lol

Its not a cast vs forged thing.
There are plenty of cast wedges (and irons) that wear down just as quickly as anything else.

From the little info I was able to find it was suggested that forged (being softer) would wear quicker than cast. True or not IDK and if true then how much faster I also don't know but thought I'd include it in the questioning. And although simply an interesting subject I did hope having cast clubs worked towards my advantage as far as my concern with longevity with my clubs. lol.
 
From the little info I was able to find it was suggested that forged (being softer) would wear quicker than cast. True or not IDK and if true then how much faster I also don't know but thought I'd include it in the questioning. And although simply an interesting subject I did hope having cast clubs worked towards my advantage as far as my concern with longevity with my clubs. lol.

The manufacturing process of an iron does not deem how soft that iron is. That would be about style, shape and most importantly the metal used. Some of the softest wedges out there are cast in terms of this discussion.
 
I purposely miss high low left and right just for this reason
 
The manufacturing process of an iron does not deem how soft that iron is. That would be about style, shape and most importantly the metal used. Some of the softest wedges out there are cast in terms of this discussion.

that's very interesting info (to me) that I did not know. I was always thinking (assuming) it automatic that any specific set of irons is softer if in the forged version vs its sister set in cast version. I have heard before of people conversing about recheck their lofts and lie angles and its often mentioned (perhaps wrongfully) more so with forged sets at least I thought. But I guess (or see now) that all depends on the metals used to make them. And I also actually assumed that many such sister sets were made from the same steel. . I just never looked into this to this detail or had any much strong reason to do so. But I am finding it interesting as I do with most info people offer.
 
Hi I replace because, I regroove until I feel it is useless. I seem to have a very low tolerance for wear on a golf club especially my wedges.
Cast clubs typically wear a lot longer.
 
So does that mean you should have your irons re-grooved very couple years or when they start to wear out? Do those services work? It would seem pretty expensive to buy a whole new set of irons every couple of years.
If you are going to do that, they need to skim mill the face, not just cut the grooves deeper. You can find there groove tools on Ebay but if you use those, all it does is cut the grooves deeper, which doesnt really improve the spin because the loss of spin comes from the shoulder of the grooves getting worn and rounded off.
 
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