Choosing the right sandpaper for a golf club project can feel like standing over a tricky chip shot - pick the wrong tool, and you might make a mess of things. But getting it right is the first step to breathing new life into your trusted gamers. This guide will walk you through exactly what sandpaper grit you need for every step of the golf club refinishing process, from stripping old paint to achieving a mirror-like polish.
Before we get into the "how," let's talk about the "why." Your clubs are your partners on the course, and over time, they take a beating. Dings from rocky lies, scratches from cart path encounters, and the general wear and tear of a season can leave them looking tired. Refinishing isn't just about aesthetics, it’s a rewarding way to connect with your equipment.
Sandpaper grit is a simple concept, but it's important to get it right. The number on the back of the sandpaper refers to the coarseness of the abrasive material. Think of it like mapping out a golf hole.
The golden rule for any sanding project is to work your way up through the grits. You can’t jump from a driver to a putter, you must play the hole. You start with a grit coarse enough to do the job, then move to a higher grit to remove the scratches left by the previous one, repeating the process until you’ve achieved your desired smoothness.
Picking the right tool for the job is half the battle. Here’s a breakdown of the specific sandpaper you’ll need for the most common golf club restoration tasks. We'll focus mainly on irons and putters, as refinishing modern woods and hybrids is a more complex job best left to professionals due to their composite materials and thin crowns.
When you have a thick layer of paint to get through, like a factory finish on an older iron or a botched DIY paint-fill job, you need something aggressive. An 80-grit or 120-grit sandpaper will make short work of it. This stage isn’t about making things pretty, it’s about demolition. Your goal is to get down to the bare metal without spending all day on one club. Be mindful that this will leave visible scratches, which is perfectly fine - you'll take care of those in the next steps.
For most general-purpose clean-up jobs, start here. A 150 or 220-grit is strong enough to smooth out the ugly “bag chatter” that makes the back of your irons look like a roadmap, but it's not so aggressive that you risk removing too much material and changing the head weight significantly. This is also your starting point for tackling light surface rust on raw or satin clubs. Apply firm, even pressure and work the area until the blemish is gone. For deeper dings, you may need to start with a fine metal file first, then use 150-grit to blend the file marks.
Paint needs a slightly textured surface to grip onto, known as a “mechanical tooth.” If the metal is too slick (like a mirror polish), the paint can easily chip and flake off. Sanding the area with 320 or 400-grit sandpaper is the perfect final prep step. It creates a surface that’s incredibly smooth to the touch but has microscopic texture that paint loves. After sanding with this grit, make sure to clean the surface thoroughly with isopropyl alcohol or acetone to remove any dust or oils before you apply your primer or paint.
This is where the magic happens. If you want that beautiful, highly polished shine, you'll need to work your way up through several levels of fine-grit sandpaper. This process is almost always done via wet sanding.
Wet sanding involves using water or a light oil as a lubricant, which helps float away tiny metal particles and prevents the sandpaper from getting clogged. This results in a much smoother, scratch-free finish.
Ready to give it a try? Here’s a simple process for giving an old set of forged irons a new life with a polished finish.
You’ll need: a bench vice with a shaft protector (or a piece of rubber), painter's tape, a set of sandpaper grits (e.g., 180, 320, 600, 800, 1500, 2000), a bowl of water for wet sanding, microfiber cloths, and safety glasses.
First, carefully wrap the ferrule (the black plastic piece where the head meets the shaft) and the bottom of the shaft with painter’s tape to protect them from accidental sanding. Clamp the club securely in the vice, making sure to use a rubber clamp or another protector to avoid damaging the shaft.
Start with your 180-grit sandpaper. Sand the sole and the back of the iron, focusing on any dings or scratches. Use even, consistent strokes. Your goal here is to create a uniform, brushed appearance, even if it means putting small scratches everywhere. This ensures the entire surface is at the same "level."
Wipe the head clean and switch to 320-grit. Your objective now is to sand away all the scratches you made with the 180-grit. Pro tip: change your sanding direction. If you sanded back-and-forth in the first step, sand up-and-down in this step. This makes it easier to see when the old scratch pattern is gone. Once you only see the 320-grit pattern, you a ready to move on.
Now, dip your 600-grit sandpaper in water and start polishing. Keep the paper and the club head wet. Again, work until all the 320-grit scratches are gone. The surface will start to become reflective. Wipe the head clean, and repeat the process sequentially with 800-grit, then 1500-grit, and finally 2000-grit sandpaper. Remember to clean the head between each grit change to avoid dragging larger abrasive particles around.
After the 2000-grit stage, the club head should have a brilliant shine. For the final step, apply a small amount of metal polish (like Mother's Mag & Aluminum Polish) to a microfiber cloth and buff the head vigorously. This will remove the last bit of haziness and bring out a true mirror finish. Carefully remove the tape, and admire your work!
Restoring a golf club is a bit like refining your golf swing. You start with the big, powerful movements to get things in shape and progressively use more delicate, precise actions to achieve a clean, polished result. Always work from a lower grit to a higher grit, be patient, and enjoy the process of making your clubs truly your own.
And while you're getting your equipment perfectly dialed in, it helps to have that same level of precision and confidence in your on-course decisions. I found that I spend so much time making sure my clubs are just right, so our goal with Caddie AI is to help you take that same attention to detail to the course. As your personal 24/7 golf coach, it can analyze a difficult lie from a photo to give you the smart play or offer a simple strategy on a blind tee shot, so you can stop guessing and start committing to every swing with total confidence.
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