How To Store Golf Clubs Over Winter: 6 Rules To Protect Them
If you are wondering how to store golf clubs over winter, start by checking where they are right now. For a lot of golfers that is the trunk of the car, still damp from the last round in October, with a glove balled up in the side pocket and a sleeve of balls rattling around underneath.
The good news is that cold does very little to a golf club. Moisture is what does the damage. Clean everything, dry it properly, and keep it indoors somewhere the humidity stays under 60 percent, and your clubs will come out in spring exactly as they went in. The six rules below cover where to put them, what to take out of the bag first, and what to check before your first round back.
Cold Is Not The Problem, Moisture Is
Frank Thomas spent 26 years as the USGA's technical director and invented the graphite shaft, so his answer to a reader asking about an unheated garage carries some weight. In a Golf Channel Q&A on cold-weather storage, he said temperatures around 40 degrees "will do them no harm," adding that "you will probably be more brittle than they will at such temperatures."
What he did warn about was condensation. In a garage that is not heated or cooled, the daily swing in temperature and humidity can leave moisture on the clubs, and Thomas said that can mean "rust pitting on the steel shafts or forged blade heads." His conclusion was simple: the den beats the garage. GOLF.com's equipment team has made a similar point about the epoxy that holds the head on, noting that unless your clubs are more than a decade old, it should cope with temperature changes without trouble.
A cold club is fine. A cold club that keeps getting damp is not. The clubs most at risk are forged carbon steel irons, steel shafts and raw wedges. Bob Vokey has described the raw finish as 8620 carbon steel with no additional finish that will start to rust after some use, which some players love on the course and nobody loves after four months in a damp shed. Titanium drivers and cast stainless steel irons are far less fussy, but their steel shafts and grips still prefer a dry room.
1. Clean And Dry Every Club Before It Goes Away
Dirt left on a clubface or packed into the grooves holds moisture against the metal all winter. GOLF.com's Jonathan Wall keeps the routine simple: wipe the grips and clubface with a towel to remove oil and dirt, then run a tee through the grooves to clear out debris. For irons that saw a muddy autumn, a bucket of warm, soapy water and a soft brush on the heads does the job. Keep the water away from the ferrules and the joint where the head meets the shaft, and do not leave clubs standing in the bucket.
Grips need the same attention. Golf Pride recommends cleaning them with a soft brush, soap and water at the end of the season, and its grip care guide calls moisture the enemy of a grip that still feels new. Towel everything dry, then leave the clubs out of the bag overnight so the last of the water evaporates before they go under headcovers.
If you play a raw or forged wedge, a very light wipe of oil on the head before storage is cheap insurance. Check the headcovers too. A damp headcover pulled over a driver traps moisture against the head and the hosel for months, so dry them separately before they go back on.
2. Store Golf Clubs Indoors Over Winter, Not In The Car
Golf Pride's own advice is to keep clubs in a cool, dry place away from sunlight, and it names a basement, a closet or a climate-controlled garage as the ideal spots. The worst spot is the one most golfers default to. In a Fully Equipped mailbag on winter storage, Wall says he is "not a fan of long-term car storage," partly because clubs get stolen and partly because "I generally wouldn't recommend keeping your tacky grips sitting in a cold trunk for extended periods of time."
Here is how the usual options compare, as of October 2026. The ratings are about stability and moisture, the two things that actually decide whether clubs come out of storage in good shape.
| Where | Temperature swings | Humidity risk | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|
| Indoor closet or spare room | Low | Low | Best choice. Stable, dry, out of sight. |
| Finished basement | Low | Check it | Good if a humidity meter reads under 60 percent. |
| Attached garage | Medium | Medium | Workable with headcovers, a rain cover and the bag off the floor. |
| Detached, unheated garage or shed | High | High | Avoid for forged irons, raw wedges and steel shafts. |
| Attic | High | Varies | Avoid. Hot in summer, cold in winter, rarely checked. |
| Car trunk | High | High | Never. Moisture, cold grips and theft. |
A finished basement can be the best room in the house or the worst, depending on the house. You cannot tell by feel, so measure it before you trust it.
MG Senior Golf Balls
Built for golfers looking for a higher launch, hotter feel and more distance, particularly when driver distance is under 250 yards.
- Designed for extra distance
- 350-dimple, 2-piece construction
- Durable Surlyn cover
- Available in white or optic yellow
DynaGrip Elite
A lightweight premium Cabretta leather glove made for golfers who value soft feel, grip feedback and comfort.
- Soft premium Cabretta leather
- Thin construction for better feel
- Elastic knuckle hinge for comfort
- Men's, cadet and women's sizing
MG600S Laser Rangefinder
A compact 6X rangefinder with slope-adjusted yardages, pin-lock confirmation and an external LCD display.
- Measures from 6 to 600+ yards
- MG-Lock pin targeting technology
- Slope-adjusted distance mode
- 6X magnification and external LCD
3. Keep The Air Below 60 Percent Humidity
The EPA's guidance for homes is to keep indoor humidity below 60 percent, and ideally between 30 and 50 percent. That range keeps mold out of a basement, and it also keeps the steel in your bag from rusting. The agency says humidity can be measured with a humidity meter and recommends a dehumidifier when needed. A basic meter is an inexpensive hardware-store purchase, and it settles the question in a day. If your storage room sits above 60 percent for weeks at a time, either fix the room or pick another one.
Condensation is the other half of the problem. It forms when cold metal meets warmer, moister air, which is why the garage door going up and down all day is worse than a steady cold. If you do bring clubs from a cold garage into a warm house for a winter practice session, let them sit out of the bag until any film of moisture has gone before you put them away again.
If the garage really is the only space you have, give your clubs the best version of it. Choose an attached garage over a detached one, keep the bag away from the garage door and from the spot where the car drips snowmelt, lift it off the bare floor, and put the headcovers and a rain cover on once everything is dry.
4. Stand The Bag Up With Headcovers On
Store the bag upright in a stand, a rack or a corner where it cannot tip. Golf Pride's end-of-season checklist specifically says to stabilize the bag, and a bag that tips over in January can mean a scuffed driver head or a bent shaft you only discover in April. Do not lay heavy boxes across the top, where they lean on the grips for months.
Wall's garage advice is to "throw all headcovers back on and finish it off with a rain cover" to keep dust off. Golf Pride adds two jobs for the bag itself: vacuum out the grass and sand, and polish a leather bag so it does not crack. While every club is out of the bag, it is also the easiest moment of the year to add waterproof labels to your clubs, so a stray 7-iron left on a green next season finds its way home.
Leave two clubs out. Wall suggests keeping your wedge and putter nearby over the winter, and a mat and net drill routine will keep your short game sharp until the courses reopen.
5. Empty The Pockets: Gloves, Balls And Batteries
Start with the food. Wall once found a turkey sandwich and a banana that had spent the winter in his bag, and Golf Pride's checklist tells you to remove liquids and snacks for good reason. Then work through the rest of the pockets, because almost everything in them stores better somewhere else.
Gloves should come out first. A damp glove left balled up in a pocket turns stiff, so let it air-dry flat away from a heater and store it somewhere dry, as our guide to how long a golf glove lasts explains. Golf balls belong inside at room temperature, ideally between 70 and 80 degrees, and Thomas noted that ball covers absorb moisture and deteriorate over time, so the golf ball storage rules matter as much as the club ones.
Electronics are the one item people forget. Duracell's advice is to remove batteries from any device that will not be used for several months and to store them at room temperature in a dry place. If you carry a rangefinder such as the MG600S slope rangefinder, take the battery out before the bag goes into storage so a leaking cell does not ruin the contacts. Rain gear and towels should come out and dry too, because a wet towel in a closed pocket undoes all the work above.
6. Check Grips And Clubs Before The First Spring Round
Golf Pride recommends checking grips for wear at least once a year, and winter is the natural time to do it. A Golf Monthly guide produced with Golf Pride puts the PGA professional consensus at a regrip every 12 to 18 months or around 30 to 40 rounds, or every 6 to 9 months for golfers who play several times a week. Slick, shiny or hardened grips that stay that way after cleaning are the signal.
Give the heads a once-over at the same time. A rattle in a driver, a loose ferrule or a spot of rust on a forged iron is easier to deal with in February than on the first tee. Wall advises holding off on loft and lie checks until spring, when you are about to play again, and if a club is worn past saving, our guide to when to replace golf clubs covers the signs. Spring is also the moment to restock the bag using a golf bag essentials checklist, so the pockets you emptied in October go back in with fresh gloves, tees and balls.
Golf Club Storage FAQ
Is it OK to store golf clubs in the garage over winter?
Yes, if the garage is attached, dry and the clubs go in clean with headcovers and a rain cover on. Frank Thomas said 40-degree temperatures do clubs no harm, but condensation in an unheated, detached garage can cause rust on steel shafts and forged heads.
Can you leave golf clubs in a cold car?
One cold night will not hurt them, but the car should never be winter storage. Trunks are not climate controlled, cold leaves tacky grips hard, and GOLF.com's equipment editor points out that clubs in cars get stolen.
Does cold weather damage graphite shafts?
No. The inventor of the graphite shaft, Frank Thomas, said a 40-degree garage will do clubs no harm. The steel parts of a set, not the graphite, are what need protecting from moisture.
Should you store golf clubs with headcovers on?
Yes, once the clubs and the covers are completely dry. A damp headcover holds water against the head for the whole winter, so dry first and cover second.
Dry, Indoors And Checked In Spring
Every rule above comes back to one decision: keep moisture away from steel. Clean and dry the clubs, empty the bag, store it upright somewhere indoors that stays below 60 percent humidity, and the cold outside does not matter. The trunk and the shed are the only two places that reliably cause problems, and both are easy to avoid.
If you are going to keep playing on the mild days, keep a set of clubs handy and dress for it with a cold-weather golf layering plan, and expect the ball to fly shorter in the cold. Hands go first in winter, which is why winter gloves, rain gloves and mitts each have their place.
When spring comes and the bag comes out of the closet, give it one range session before you trust your old numbers. A winter off changes more than people expect, and an hour spent learning how to measure your club distances again is the best start to any new season.
