Equipment

Don’t do this to your clubs at home!

Published

6 years ago

May 17, 2020

There are several club building tasks that can be done at home with just a few basic tools—changing grips, for example, is one of the most popular do-it-yourself jobs. But with so many ways to customize and tweak your clubs, and the growing popularity of unique finishes, there are still some things that should be left to the professionals with proper tools, like stripping chrome.

Chrome is chemically applied to metal by using an electrical charge run through a bath containing an electrolytic salt (chromium anhydride) solution. The electrical current passing through the bath causes the chromium metal in the bath to fall out of solution and deposit onto the metal placed into the solution. This process creates fumes and requires a lot of chemicals to do it properly.

CHROME PLATING — NORTHWEST CHROME

If you have to dress up like Walter White to do club work, it’s best to leave that job up to someone that has the proper setup and the ability to dispose of excess chemicals.

Alternatively, there are some metal finishes that can be removed quite easily at home with over the counter products. The most common is the baked-on jet black finish found on Titleist Vokey wedges and Cobra Irons – all it takes is some grocery store cleaning vinegar, and some patience. You just have to remove the heads from the shafts, let them soak fully submerged for 3-4 hours, and then do a final cleaning with fine steel wool, it’s just that easy.

There are a number of how to’s on this including one from our friend Bryan LaRoche aka BryanGolf on Instagram.

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Ryan Barath

Ryan Barath is a club-fitter & master club builder with more than 17 years of experience working with golfers of all skill levels, including PGA Tour players. He is the former Build Shop Manager & Social Media Coordinator for Modern Golf. He now works independently from his home shop and is a member of advisory panels to a select number of golf equipment manufacturers. You can find Ryan on Twitter and Instagram where he's always willing to chat golf, and share his passion for club building, course architecture and wedge grinding.

4 Comments

Greg

May 19, 2020 at 11:24 am

I wouldn’t do this. Chances are it’ll affect how the club performs and one would ruin a perfectly good club. Not to mention destroy any resale value.

Reply Report comment
MichaelKucera

May 17, 2020 at 4:32 pm

I’m an expert in plating and coatings. DO NOT try this at home. I wouldn’t golf heads to your local platers either. The local platers are set up for volume not individual lots.

Reply Report comment
- chip75
  
  May 17, 2020 at 5:15 pm
  
  Michael, out of interest, when plating or de-plating how are the depth of grooves accounted for? Wouldn’t the process make the grooves deeper or shallower? or are grooves freshened up after chroming?
  
  Reply Report comment
Colin Jenkins

May 17, 2020 at 8:25 am

Rust remover gets the black finish off heads and you don’t have to remove the shafts. Leave for 30 mins and buff off.

Reply Report comment

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Equipment

From the GolfWRX Classifieds: Titleist Vokey Proto Wedges 54M, 60T

Published

3 hours ago

Jun 11, 2026

Will Schube

At GolfWRX, we are a community of like-minded individuals who all experience and express our enjoyment of the game in many ways.

It’s that sense of community that drives day-to-day interactions in the forums on topics that range from best driver to what marker you use to mark your ball. It even allows us to share another thing we all love – buying and selling equipment.

Currently, in our GolfWRX buy/sell/trade (BST) forum, @Putt4Dough is selling some prototype wedges from Vokey Wedgeworks. These include a 54 degree wedge with the M grind and a 60 degree wedge with a T grind.

From the listing:

(1) Titleist Vokey Proto Wedge 54M with a Tour Issue DGS400 shaft and Golf Pride Tour Velvet (logo down). Standard length, lie, and loft. BB&F ferrule. Raw wedge in good condition. No initials. Price is $200 shipped. Buy both wedges for $380 shipped.

(2) Titleist Vokey Proto Wedge 60T with a KBS Tour 130X shaft and Golf Pride Tour Velvet. Standard length, lie, and loft. Raw wedge in good condition. No initials. Price is $200 shipped. Buy both wedges for $380 shipped.

To check out the full listing in our BST forum, head through the link. If you are curious about the rules to participate in the BST Forum, you can learn more here: GolfWRX BST Rules.

Whats in the Bag

Ryan Palmer WITB 2026 (June)

Published

3 hours ago

Jun 11, 2026

Will Schube

Driver: Callaway Quantum Triple Diamond (9 degrees)
Shaft: Project X HZRDUS Smoke Blue RDX 60 TX

3-wood: TaylorMade Qi10 (15 degrees)
Shaft: Project X HZRDUS T1100 70 6.5

5-wood: TaylorMade SIM2 Max (18 degrees)
Shaft: Project X HZRDUS Smoke Black RDX 80 TX

Irons: Srixon ZXiU (23 degrees), Srixon Z785 MB (5-PW)
Shafts: Project X HZRDUS Smoke Black RDX 100 6.5 (4), KBS Tour 130 X

Wedges: Titleist Vokey Design SM11 (50-08F, 54-10S, 58-04T @59)
Shafts: KBS Tour 130 X

Putter: Odyssey Dual Force Rossie II

Ball: Titleist Pro V1x

Grips: Golf Pride Tour Velvet

Check out more in-hand photos of Ryan Palmer’s clubs here.

Equipment

Slab city on the Korn Ferry Tour — Lead Tape Report

Published

23 hours ago

Jun 10, 2026

Andrew Von Lossow

This week, we have our Tour Photographer, Greg Moore, on the ground at the OccuNet Classic at Tascosa Golf Club in Amarillo, Texas, for the 14th event of the 2026 Korn Ferry Tour season. With that, we see some great things in the Lead Tape Report as we roll into Amarillo.

Joel Thelen

Monday Qualifier, Joel Thelen is in the field this week. He has played on the Korn Ferry Tour for a full season in 2023, and he is back in action this week. A couple of clubs caught my eye this week in his bag.

First off: His trusted Titleist 816 H2 hybrid. This club came out in October of 2015, and it still remains strong in the bag. Also, take a look at this Odyssey White Hot OG 7, putting a capital S in the 7S model. This custom neck has some impressive lean for an arm-lock-style putter. The bottom of the putter is covered in tape for optimal weighting.

Mitchell Meissner

Taking a look at Mitchell Meissner’s bag this week, we have some great lead tape coverage. Top to bottom working from fairway metals, irons, and wedges. We can see on the short irons and wedges that there is tape at the base of the grip, adding a little counterbalance. Along with that, some tape on the short irons and wedges as well. Moving to his putter, he rolls the Odyssey 7 Bird putter. Meissner putts left-handed and strikes the ball right-handed.