High-Precision CONFORMING Golf Groove Sharpening
The groove sharpening of golf grooves has always been a taboo subject. The old “illegal” groove controversy that kicked off around 2009 with the Ping Eye 2 golf clubs, and subsequent conforming groove ruling by golf’s governing bodies has continued to stoke the fire 14 years later. Club manufacturers and golf retailers pile on for one simple reason…they want you to buy new clubs. Here we will provide information regarding; What is a conforming groove? How can you maintain that like-new spin on used clubs? What should I look for in a groove sharpener?
What is a conforming golf groove?
The Sept 28, 2009 USGA Groove Geometry Notice is what club manufacturers abide by when designing and manufacturing new conforming golf clubs. Click on the link to read the details from the USGA, but a golf groove for clubs with more than 25 degrees of loft must be no more than .035” wide, .020” deep, and have an edge radius of .010”. Each of these dimensions can have a tolerance of no more than +/-.001”. Manufacturers must stay within this geometric envelope, with the above specifications being the maximum allowed for a club to be deemed conforming for use.
How to maintain like-new spin on used irons and wedges?
Groove wear is caused by usage, plain and simple. The more you use a particular club, the faster the grooves will wear. Wedges are typically the fastest to lose RPM. Another overlooked area of groove wear is in your mid and long irons, especially the clubs you practice with. If you are a range rat, pay close attention to the wear pattern on your clubs. Worn grooves on your 7-iron for instance will cause the ball to “slide” up the clubface. That perfectly struck shot from a great lie in the fairway that used to fly 165 yards may go 5-7 yards farther with worn grooves. Inconsistency in distance and trajectory is a recipe for higher scores…and super-frustrated golfers.
Step 1: Clean your grooves! Impacted dirt, grass, or sand in the groove cavity makes a huge difference in spin rate. Most all groove sharpeners do a good job of removing debris and cleaning out the groove. However, if you don’t choose a tool with the correct geometry, you can still leave small amounts of encrusted material on the groove walls and the bottom of the groove. This reduces the overall volume that the groove needs to evacuate dirt/grass/sand away from the point of contact with the ball, allowing the edge of the groove to “grab” the cover of the ball to impart spin.
Step 2: Pay particular attention to the groove edge at the top of the groove. Maintaining consistent sharp groove edges is the secret to like new spin. Lower-quality tools may damage this critical geometric form. A tool that seats properly in the groove and is designed to reshape the groove edge back to a like-new .010” edge radius is optimal to extend the life of your clubs.
Step 3: Stay within the rules. If the tool you choose does not have design guides in place, it is very easy to widen or deepen your grooves, effectively making your clubs non-conforming. For everyday golfers, this may not be a big deal. However, respecting the game has always been a hallmark of golf. Plus, deepening or widening golf grooves that are designed specifically for today’s premium clubs could dramatically reduce the club’s playability (ie: distance control and trajectory).
What to look for in a groove sharpening tool?
Most irons and wedges are made from some form of carbon steel or carbon steel alloy. These steels can have a varying hardness of anywhere between 63 and 86 HRC on the Rockwell Hardness Scale.
The first thing to look for is the material from which the tool is made. As with anything, you get what you pay for. The cheaper tools from China that you find on Amazon are made from cheap hardened tool steel (63-65 HRC). Some tools may be made from carbide, a very hard material that is designed to cut and shape metal. For example, Scotty Cameron putters start out as a solid block of stainless steel. That block is then put into a CNC milling machine that transforms the steel into a beautiful piece of art that golfers happily drop $500+ on. The tools that the CNC Mill uses to cut and shape the steel are made from a material called C2 Sub-Micron Grade Tungsten Carbide. Carbide is one of the hardest materials on earth at 92 HRC, second only to a diamond at 100 HRC. These high-quality carbide cutters (aka endmills) are CNC ground with a hyper-sharp cutting edge that easily cuts through steel. For those of you that are not in the metalworking industry, think of an endmill as a “drill” specifically designed to cut metal. A lower quality/grade of carbide is incapable of being ground into a fine-edged cutting tool. It may be harder than steel, but if the edge of the tool is dull it won’t precisely shape metal. A real-world example would be a butter knife (low-grade carbide) vs. a razor (C2 sub-micron carbide).
Next, you should look at the tool’s form and function. Any tool that comes with a handle is a sign that you will need to exert quite a bit of force to move the tool through the groove. Softer materials or groove sharpeners with less precise (or dull) cutting edges require extra force to shape metal. The handle may look cool, but be warned, stretch out your wrist before and after using them. One often overlooked aspect of groove sharpeners is their function, or how they “seat” or “fit” in the groove. The tool should fit snugly in the groove and remain firmly seated when you drag it through the groove. The more force you need to apply, the greater the chance of the tool slipping out of the groove and scratching the clubface. You also want to look for a tool that will maintain the groove’s integrity or shape, offering design guardrails for groove width, depth, and edge radius. Some tools offer 2, 3, or even up to 6 shapes to choose from. The old V-groove vs. U-groove nomenclature is almost 20 years old. The reality is, modern clubs offer a blend of each for their grooves. For instance, the popular Callaway Jaws wedges claim to have the “most aggressive groove” in golf. Guess what….they do! The Callaway design has a very steep wall angle in their grooves (think more U shaped). On the flip side, Titleist Vokey wedges have multiple groove geometries that vary between their lower lofted PW/AW and their higher lofted SW/LW. No matter the shape of the groove, the feature that imparts spin on the ball and wears the fastest is the groove edge. When sharpening any groove, to increase spin the focus should be on the edge. Only a tool that has that feature in its design, form, and function will get you the results you are looking for.
In summary, groove sharpeners do work. However, results depend on the tool itself. You can use a flathead screwdriver on a Phillips head screw. We’ve all been there, digging through the tool drawer looking for the right tool, and then saying “Well, let me give this a try.” When it comes to your premium Vokey, Callaway, Taylormade, Cleveland, Ping, or Mizuno trusted gamers make sure you choose the right tool for the job. Who wants their wedges or irons to look like a stripped Phillps head screw anyway.
The GrooVex High-Precision Carbide Groove Sharpener is the only tool that conforms to the rules of golf. Born from the metalworking industry GrooVex is a precision form tool that holds aerospace tolerances of +/-.001” for groove width .035”, depth .020”, and edge radius .010”. The solid C2 sub-micron tungsten carbide cutting edge is guaranteed to last for life, keeping all of your irons and wedges performing like new.