Most golfers put the bag in the garage in November and pick it up in April. Most of the time nothing terrible happens, which is why the habit persists.
What does happen, quietly, is a set of small deteriorations that are entirely avoidable in about half an hour. This page is that half hour, and it is deliberately short on rules and long on which things actually matter.
The thing that damages clubs is not cold
This is the misconception the whole subject rests on.
Steel and graphite are not harmed by low temperature in the range a garage reaches. A club is not going to crack because it got cold.
What causes damage is moisture, and the temperature swings that produce it. An unheated space warms during the day and cools at night, and air that holds moisture at one temperature releases it onto cold metal at another. That is condensation, and it is the mechanism behind everything below.
And heat is a genuine hazard where the cold is not. A car boot in summer reaches temperatures that soften the adhesives used in club assembly and degrade grips and bag materials. The winter question is worth asking; the "clubs live in the car all year" question is worth asking more urgently.
The half hour, in order
1. Empty the bag completely
Everything out. This is where most of the actual damage lives.
Water bottles, half full, which leak.
Wet towels and gloves, which do not dry inside a zipped pocket and which hold moisture against everything near them.
Food, sweets and energy bars, which attract rodents. A garage with a mouse in it and a bag with a cereal bar in it is a chewed bag.
Old tees, broken pencils, sand, grass clippings, which hold damp.
Sunscreen and insect repellent, which leak and which contain solvents that mark finishes and grips.
And anything you actually want to find in April. Rangefinders in particular, which brings us to the next point.
2. Take the batteries out of anything with batteries
Rangefinders, GPS units, watches, launch monitors, anything with a cell in it.
Batteries left in a device over months can leak, and a leaked battery in a rangefinder is a repair or a replacement rather than a clean. This is the single most avoidable off-season loss in golf and it costs nothing to prevent.
Our article on rangefinder battery life and what drains it covers the in-season version, and the off-season version is simply: take it out.
3. Clean the clubs, and dry them properly
Grooves, sole, hosel, and the shaft near the head where grass and moisture collect.
Dry them completely before they go away. A damp club stored for five months in an unheated space is the recipe for rust on unprotected steel, and it appears at the hosel and in the grooves first.
Wipe the shafts. Steel shafts rust; graphite does not, but the paint finish is not indestructible.
Look at the ferrules and the hosels while you are there. A loose head found in November is a repair booked in a quiet month rather than discovered on the first tee in April.
4. Clean the grips
Grips accumulate oils, sunscreen and dirt, which is what makes an old grip slippery. Warm water, a little soap, a brush, then dried thoroughly.
Clean grips also make the wear obvious, which is the point. A grip that is shiny and hardened after cleaning is a grip that has reached the end of its life, and the off-season is when shops are quiet and regripping is easy to book. That is its own subject on this site.
5. Clean and dry the bag
Empty pockets, brushed out, and left open to dry. A zipped bag with damp in it stays damp.
Check the rain hood and the pockets you never open. That is where the thing you forgot has been sitting since August.
6. Choose where it goes
In rough order of preference, and none of these is a rule.
Inside the house, in a cupboard or a spare room. Stable temperature, low humidity, no condensation. This is the best option and it is free if you have the space.
A conditioned or insulated space if you have one.
A garage or shed, which is where most bags end up, and which is fine if the bag is clean, dry and off the floor. Standing water and concrete floors both transfer moisture upward, so a shelf, a pallet or a stand is worth the two minutes.
Not a car. A vehicle is the worst of every world: the largest temperature swings, the least ventilation, and the greatest heat in summer.
Not against an outside wall, where condensation is most likely.
7. Stand it upright, and leave it room
Upright, so nothing is bearing weight sideways for months, and with the heads not pressed against a wall.
Leave air around it. A bag jammed between boxes in a corner is the version that comes out smelling of damp.
Two things worth thinking about while it is away
Balls. They are fine in the cold in storage; the performance effect of cold is a playing-day question rather than a storage one. What is worth doing is throwing out the ones that are scuffed, rather than rediscovering them in April.
Shoes. Cleaned, dried, and not left damp in a bag. Spikes checked. This is the item most reliably forgotten and most reliably unpleasant to rediscover.
What to do in the spring
Ten minutes, and it saves the first round.
Batteries back in, and test the rangefinder before you leave the house.
Check the grips. If they were marginal in November they are worse now.
Check the heads for movement, and look for rust in the grooves and at the hosels.
Look at the ferrules and the shaft near the head for anything that moved.
And if you found something that needs replacing, the same discipline applies as at any other time of year, including the checks in our guide to buying used golf clubs if you are replacing rather than repairing.
The one-line version
Cold does not damage clubs. Moisture, heat, batteries and whatever you left in the bag do. Empty it, clean it, dry it, take the batteries out, and put it somewhere with a stable temperature and off the floor.
This article publishes no temperature threshold, humidity figure or timescale, because those belong to the maker of the club, the grip and the bag, and every one of them publishes its own care guidance.
FAQ
Does cold weather damage golf clubs in storage?
No. Steel and graphite are not harmed by low temperature in the range a garage reaches. The damage comes from moisture and the temperature swings that produce condensation, and from heat, which softens the adhesives used in club assembly.
What should come out of the bag before winter?
Everything. Water bottles that leak, wet towels and gloves that hold moisture, food that attracts rodents, old tees and grass clippings that hold damp, sunscreen and repellent whose solvents mark finishes, and every device with a battery in it.
Why do the batteries need to come out?
Batteries left in a device over months can leak, and a leaked battery in a rangefinder is a repair or a replacement rather than a clean. It is the single most avoidable off-season loss in golf and it costs nothing to prevent.
Where is the best place to store the bag?
Inside the house is best: stable temperature, low humidity, no condensation. A conditioned space is next, then a garage or shed provided the bag is clean, dry, off the floor and away from the outside wall. A car is the worst option in every season.
Are golf balls affected by cold storage?
They are fine in the cold in storage; the performance effect of cold is a playing-day question rather than a storage one. The useful winter job is throwing out the scuffed ones rather than rediscovering them in April.