Does Leaving Your Golf Clubs In The Car In Winter Actually Damage Them?
Are you guilty of locking your clubs away in your car for the off season oblivious to the damage it could do or is there actually nothing to worry about?
Winter has officially arrived on the calendar, and for many, that means golf clubs being demoted to the boot of a car or left in a cold garage for months on end. But how much damage does this do to your clubs?
Well, dampness is a real concern, while other factors are less so. Let's dig into what actually happens to your golf clubs over winter if you don't store them with care.
What part of your equipment is most at risk during the winter months?
We talked to Derek Murray, master club fitter and founder of ForeGolf, to get to the bottom of this. Asked what he sees at the beginning of spring from clubs that have spent all winter either in the cold, in a car or in a damp garage, Murray told us:
“Mostly regrips. The rubber/compound expires very quickly in the damp cold weather. We also get a few iron shaft breakages at the tip where the rust builds up in the inside of the shaft in the damp.”
Unfortunately, those iron shaft breakages at the tip are not rare and are also hard for golfers to spot before the damage is done.
“Very common as the interior of the shaft is not treated or chromed, so it is the place where the rusting really starts, and the golfer can't see it so it will be a stealth breaker.”
What effect does exposure to moisture have on your clubs?
One of the biggest issues facing golfers this winter will be storing their clubs away in a dry environment. A car boot or damp garage is likely to trap moisture, especially if your last rounds this autumn were in wet conditions.
The obvious impact of this would be rust, but per Murray, the first sign of corrosion from damp storage will tend to show up on clubheads themselves:
“It's certainly a thing and will usually show up on the surface of the heads and also spot rusting on the shaft surface. This can also happen if chemicals from the course are left on damp clubs in a damp environment.”
And the risk is real enough that, according to Murray, you should take action now before it’s too late.
“Today's golf equipment is not as tough as the older products, so with a lot of carbon fibre and multi-material applications, leaving equipment in a damp environment with fluctuating temperatures is not healthy for the long-term life of today's products.”
Murray says the solution is straightforward:
“Keep clubs in a warm location and perhaps give them a proper clean and scrub the grips if you are storing the clubs over the winter.”
Does dampness destroy golf grips?
There’s a reason golfers worry more about their grips in winter in the UK. Rubber left in a cold environment can feel firmer, which is sub-optimal when you're getting ready for your first round of the year on a nice spring morning.
But that hardness rarely means permanent damage, and grips are constantly deteriorating to some level, whether that be through use, dirt, oils, etc.; however, per Murray, dampness is something that you should be seriously thinking about this winter:
“Yes, the damp weather definitely speeds up the expiry of the rubber and makes it harden and go brittle, leaving the grips less tacky.”
How does temperature affect epoxy and clubheads?
Golf clubheads are permanently bonded to shafts with epoxy, a specialised two-part adhesive engineered to handle a range of physical stresses, including vibration and torque from a golf swing.
And the good news is that a winter lockdown spell in cold weather is unlikely to affect that bond, according to Murray, when we asked if he ever sees heads coming loose because of storage conditions.
“No, not normally down to storage of the clubs unless the Epoxy is a cheaper product, but the two-part 3M we use is good in all conditions.”
Is the car boot ever a suitable place to keep your clubs?
While the fix is simple enough, there’s more than one reason to avoid storing your clubs even overnight in the boot, per Murray, and it’s likely all of our worst nightmares: theft.
“Golfers should not leave their clubs in the boot of the car overnight or for long periods, as not only is this not a great place to store them if damp and wet, but they are more likely to be stolen from the boot of the car by opportunistic thieves.”
And the evidence backs up that claim. Golf Care’s claims data shows that between July 2025 and July 2026, 55% of theft claims involved golf equipment stolen from a vehicle.
So in terms of action points - if you’ve got the space, indoors or in an insulated garage is a better place to store your clubs than the alternatives. And on that spring morning when it’s time to dust them off for the first round of the year, take a quick look at the grips, ferrules, shafts, and clubheads for any of the typical signs mentioned above.
Most likely, your clubs will come out of winter with no issues, but keep them out of the car boot at all costs.
