Sometimes there's really nothing you can do. If you're in a place with sandy soil that gets year round play, it's almost impossible to use a range and not get sand on a range ball.
Unless the balls have dirt embedded in them, they will not wear the clubs one bit. For a ball to wear the clubface, it has to be harder than the chrome plating.
Because most people are not very smart. I think it was back in 4th grade where you learn about a material's Hardness.
There is no plastic or rubber material that can leave the slightest mark on carbon steel. Chrome plating is moire than 5x harder still.
Here's a picture of my VR Pro blades before I sold them. They had been played \~300 rounds, and hit about 75 buckets of balls at the range.
https://preview.redd.it/2ix4mkhlofkc1.jpeg?width=4032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=60d70803cbb26b649200427bc96efb548812ec7f
What if the range balls are scuffed and have plastic abrasions sticking out? Does that change anything? I would assume it would scratch the club face a little more if the ball isn’t in great condition. Truly just asking so I know if I need to switch my ball out more often once I hit a cart path or two
The majority of wear on golf clubs, specifically irons and wedges, comes from dirt and sand being between the ball and face at impact. Sand is hard and will scratch through chrome over time. The other thing noteworthy about iron faces is that almost all have a coating or some form of sanded finish on the surface. This is to improve spin rates and performance. These surfaces will smooth out over time due to wear and tear.
If you only hit clean balls on a clean mat, you could hit an iron 7000 times and lily not do any damage to the surface or grooves.
Edit: Scuffed balls don’t matter as the material is all much softer than the club surface.
Honestly, don’t worry about wear and tear on irons. They will wear over time but are unlikely to wear out for most golfers. You have to hit a ton of balls every day and every week to truly wear out irons. That’s why you typically only see worn out used irons with players irons, typically using stiff to xstiff shafts. These are the players that swing fast enough and are typically hitting a ton of balls on sandy range grass.
Watch any pro on the range. Their caddies are not cleaning the faces between shots. And you'll se the pro roll the ball into position, which causes the ball to pick up sand, which get's between the ball and face.
If you don't want wear, you need to clean the face after each shot, and place a clean ball on the ground.
Caddies aren’t even there for the majority of the golf a pro will play during the year. These guys play casual rounds with their friends, practice rounds/sessions with their swing coach, sponsor exhibitions, on home simulators. Pros play a lot of golf. They only have their caddies around for tournaments.
Every word in this comment is incorrect. Irons wear from use. I’ve cleaned my club after every shot (even on the range) my entire life and every set ends up looking like that picture. Balls have to be harder than the chrome plating??? What
Doesn't matter if you hit the ball first. The wear is caused by sand between the face and the ball. On a typical "good" shot, the ball is gone before the club hits the ground.
I banged a lot of shitty balls for a couple years. I did struggle with my swing and strike location especially with my shorter irons. All rounds played in Florida where the soil is sand basically. 4 handicap
It’s not like the Japanese steel makers have ever falsified metallurgical test results. Look up Kobe steel or Japan steel works. Just saying that’s not normal wear for proper forging. Played staff tour blades fg-17 from early 80s until 2019. Still have them 50-65 rounds a year. Grooves still look decent except wedges. Play callaway mbs since. Not the same metal. Not even close. Everything is designed for planned obsolescence now.
Those are not my irons.
It means whoever had them first played the hell out of these clubs. Grooves may be worn down
The grooves you’ll use are like new
Ouch
Perfection.
Pay for it all use it all.
This guy gets it
Sweet grinder work!
2x divorced?
You play/practice somewhere that has a lot of sand in the soil. You are a 6-9 handicap
That 4i wear mark is not one of a 6-9hc
6-9 handicaps don’t need to be amazing ball strikers or have good swings.
I'm assuming he's saying they're better than 6-9
lol, bro has a quarter sized wear mark on his 4i…
Is the wear wider on the more lofted clubs because more ground gets taken on those shots?
My guess is that the shorter irons are used quite a bit more, so even the areas where the ball is struck less frequently have wear.
Typically steeper therefore taking bigger divots, so yes. Also got hit more
1) They don't care about their clubs. 2) They don't clean their clubs when at the range.
Sometimes there's really nothing you can do. If you're in a place with sandy soil that gets year round play, it's almost impossible to use a range and not get sand on a range ball.
I think maybe just shitty range balls over time will wear any club down even if you wipe the face after each swing
Unless the balls have dirt embedded in them, they will not wear the clubs one bit. For a ball to wear the clubface, it has to be harder than the chrome plating.
Wild this is downvoted, this is entirely the result of sandy range/balls and not wiping the ball or face off and pounding balls
Not sure why this is downvoted. It's 100% true. You can bash clean balls all day and you're not gonig to wear out the chrome plating.
Because most people are not very smart. I think it was back in 4th grade where you learn about a material's Hardness. There is no plastic or rubber material that can leave the slightest mark on carbon steel. Chrome plating is moire than 5x harder still. Here's a picture of my VR Pro blades before I sold them. They had been played \~300 rounds, and hit about 75 buckets of balls at the range. https://preview.redd.it/2ix4mkhlofkc1.jpeg?width=4032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=60d70803cbb26b649200427bc96efb548812ec7f
I want those clubs 🥲
Sold them for $900 2 years ago.
I got some mp-33s I’m playin now but those nikes are just too pretty
https://preview.redd.it/y1d6663cnmkc1.jpeg?width=3394&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=53e8f27953ec689341399a4dd9efd32e618dcadd
You tryna get me hard?
What if the range balls are scuffed and have plastic abrasions sticking out? Does that change anything? I would assume it would scratch the club face a little more if the ball isn’t in great condition. Truly just asking so I know if I need to switch my ball out more often once I hit a cart path or two
The majority of wear on golf clubs, specifically irons and wedges, comes from dirt and sand being between the ball and face at impact. Sand is hard and will scratch through chrome over time. The other thing noteworthy about iron faces is that almost all have a coating or some form of sanded finish on the surface. This is to improve spin rates and performance. These surfaces will smooth out over time due to wear and tear. If you only hit clean balls on a clean mat, you could hit an iron 7000 times and lily not do any damage to the surface or grooves. Edit: Scuffed balls don’t matter as the material is all much softer than the club surface. Honestly, don’t worry about wear and tear on irons. They will wear over time but are unlikely to wear out for most golfers. You have to hit a ton of balls every day and every week to truly wear out irons. That’s why you typically only see worn out used irons with players irons, typically using stiff to xstiff shafts. These are the players that swing fast enough and are typically hitting a ton of balls on sandy range grass.
The commenter specifically said unless there was dirt embedded. A ball alone will do nothing.
I understand that. Doesn’t change why I asked the question.. So changing out a scuffed ball makes no difference to the club. Only the balls integrity?
true in theory, but pga pros have professional caddies cleaning their clubs 24/7 and they still have wear marks. idk?
Watch any pro on the range. Their caddies are not cleaning the faces between shots. And you'll se the pro roll the ball into position, which causes the ball to pick up sand, which get's between the ball and face. If you don't want wear, you need to clean the face after each shot, and place a clean ball on the ground.
Caddies aren’t even there for the majority of the golf a pro will play during the year. These guys play casual rounds with their friends, practice rounds/sessions with their swing coach, sponsor exhibitions, on home simulators. Pros play a lot of golf. They only have their caddies around for tournaments.
You have no clue
What doesn't he know?
Every word in this comment is incorrect. Irons wear from use. I’ve cleaned my club after every shot (even on the range) my entire life and every set ends up looking like that picture. Balls have to be harder than the chrome plating??? What
Trust me they're not even close to that hard.
Why is this an issue? I just got new clubs
Or they play somewhere with a lot of sand or rocks in the soil.
Doesn't matter if you hit the ball first. The wear is caused by sand between the face and the ball. On a typical "good" shot, the ball is gone before the club hits the ground.
When the ball rolls on the sandy grass, sand sticks to it.
I see you hit your long irons a bit more towards the toe than you’d like.
Somebody used the crap outta these but was a good ball striker
How many rounds/years does to take to see wear like this? Or is this more a matter of consistency in strike location?
I banged a lot of shitty balls for a couple years. I did struggle with my swing and strike location especially with my shorter irons. All rounds played in Florida where the soil is sand basically. 4 handicap
That you play your golf in Florida or somewhere with a lot of sand in the soil.
Nailed it on the head
That you like to take a blowtorch to the face of your irons?
Will that help hit more GIR’s?
No but it’ll help you brag to strangers on Reddit. Far more valuable and relevant
That's your wife hasn't cleaned your clubs in a while.
Club maker used crappy steel and/or did not properly flash chrome them.
Japanese brand Grindworks. Don’t think the faces came painted or brushed with chrome
It’s not like the Japanese steel makers have ever falsified metallurgical test results. Look up Kobe steel or Japan steel works. Just saying that’s not normal wear for proper forging. Played staff tour blades fg-17 from early 80s until 2019. Still have them 50-65 rounds a year. Grooves still look decent except wedges. Play callaway mbs since. Not the same metal. Not even close. Everything is designed for planned obsolescence now.
Grass/dirt driving range without cleaning the clubs between shots. I hate this, but what the heck.
Someone cooked here….
It tells me you maybe didn’t clean the grooves all that often lol
You’re taking too much land with the swing
Doesn’t have kids