After the last round of the season, the gear can be a little “dishevelled”. Hanging them up for the season needs to be a bit of an event to avoid season-opening search parties in the garage. Make sure you take a short part of an autumn afternoon and do some golf bag maintenance and equipment checks before storing your clubs away for the summer. Here are the 6 steps you need to make sure you can hit the links at the first sign of pin placements in the spring.

1. Empty the bag and cart. This sounds easy enough but while the weather is still nice and the cars aren’t in the garage yet use the space you have. Spread your gear out on the the front lawn and get rid of the garbage from all the pockets. Granola bar wrappers, aluminum cans who knows. Now is the best time to cull the herd of broken tees small pencils. You don’t need another mouse house in the garage this winter so make sure you tip that bag upside down and give it a shake no doubt your friends put their garbage in there when you werent looking.
2. Sort the golf balls. Get rid of the cuts, bruises and bad blood that those balls you found along the ditch. An empty milk crate is a great place to store balls that are going to refill the shag bag for the spring.
3. Wash away to mud and grease the wheels. Get rid of mud and grime on the bag and the cart and don’t be shy to squirt some WD40 on the axles this winter. You can prevent rust and squiky wheels.
4. Clean the clubs. There are two parts to the detailing of your clubs. Soak them in soapy water and while they soak give every grip a wash too. The dirt on the grips is one area that many golfers overlook. Use a wire brush to clean your grooves and make sure the grips are good and dry before replacing them in the bag.
5. Clean the shoes with the wire brush too. Use the shoe tool and pull the cleat out of the shoes. Best store them “cleatless” so that next season it isn’t a wrestling match trying to replace the cleats.
6. Pack em up and hang em high. Pack everything back away and use your water proof club cover to keep them safe for the winter. Get them off the ground by hanging them up in the basement or garage. As for your putter. . . best bring that into the house. You are gonna need it.

Even if you plan on playing winter golf or indoor golf it is still a great idea to do a fall cleaning for everyone. Having your gear ready to go in the spring doesn’t need to be stressful. Practise the tips above and be ready when the course opens!