Club face question (damaged ??)

[erock9174]

Hi guys my buddy was cleaning his TM SIM2 hybrid and the face looks like this.  he was asking me about it and Ive never seen anything like it. I ran my fingernail over the face and it doesn’t feel any different from the dark to the light areas.  Thought maybe the face was delaminating. 

 

Any idea what is going on here ?

 

 

 

[e-man]

Sticker residue?

[Socrates]

Why clean it now?

[Phabs]

Nothings wrong with it.  Just how the face is made and it shows with wear,  every single tour pros fairway taylormades look this way.  You can see the face insert over time 

[Ger21]

The dark part is a different type of steel, welded into the stainless or titanium head. As it oxidizes, it get's darker, and can rust.

If you keep it clean and dry, it won't usually ever get that bad.

[trav_158]

looks cracked at the bottom. run your fingernail over it or a pick of some kind and see if you can feel it.  if you can, its cracked and will totally fail at some point 

[Nessism]

Most stainless steel fairway woods use some sort of maraging steel face insert.  The face is welded to the cast head frame.  The insert is super thin, so it flexes easily, increasing ball speed by increasing COR.  

 

[RogerinNewZealand]

2 hours ago, Socrates said:

Why clean it now?

Your comment is farr more reserved than what i was thinkin!

[Socrates]

1 hour ago, RogerinNewZealand said:

Your comment is farr more reserved than what i was thinkin!

Trying to not get a time out.  Now what I was really thinking....

[Shilgy]

4 minutes ago, Socrates said:

Trying to not get a time out.  Now what I was really thinking....

Probably the same as I was.

 

OP what the, fine I’ll say heck to avoid a time out, did your friend use to clean his club? Hydrochloric acid?

[Valtiel]

On 3/8/2025 at 5:27 PM, games said:

I watched that AMG video, and was blown away by how open pros hips are at point of impact, and how their lower body rotates to help square the clubface.

 

It''s all about matchups, I guess.

 

4 hours ago, Phabs said:

Nothings wrong with it.  Just how the face is made and it shows with wear,  every single tour pros fairway taylormades look this way.  You can see the face insert over time 

 

3 hours ago, Ger21 said:

The dark part is a different type of steel, welded into the stainless or titanium head. As it oxidizes, it get's darker, and can rust.

 

2 hours ago, Nessism said:

Most stainless steel fairway woods use some sort of maraging steel face insert.  The face is welded to the cast head frame.  The insert is super thin, so it flexes easily, increasing ball speed by increasing COR.  

 

Yup, these. Check out VJ's old M2:



Not as prominent, but in time you'll start to see the differing wear between the face insert and the head shell around it. PING fairways do the same. 

@erock9174 based on the looks of your friends club he likely digs it into the dirt pretty frequently and hasn't cleaned it much causing an exaggerated difference in this otherwise normal wear pattern. 

Edited March 13 by Valtiel

[Vintage1976]

Is it just the lighting or does that face look caved in slightly?

[erock9174]

22 hours ago, e-man said:

Sticker residue?

No checked for that 

[erock9174]

20 hours ago, trav_158 said:

looks cracked at the bottom. run your fingernail over it or a pick of some kind and see if you can feel it.  if you can, its cracked and will totally fail at some point 

I’ll  have him check it. Or I’ll be at his house later and can verify 

[erock9174]

18 hours ago, Shilgy said:

Probably the same as I was.

 

OP what the, fine I’ll say heck to avoid a time out, did your friend use to clean his club? Hydrochloric acid?

Just a bucket  of soap and water.  He bought the club used last summer. I think it was pretty torn up when he bought it.  He’s newer to golf 

[bcjim]

I've got a Callaway fw that gets like that.  Seems to be rust or oxidation of some kind.  Gets very noticeable if it gets put in Hc damp.  I have used a mild abrasive to clean it up a few times but usually i don't worry about it. 

[Joelsim]

On 3/13/2025 at 6:59 PM, Shilgy said:

Probably the same as I was.

 

OP what the, fine I’ll say heck to avoid a time out, did your friend use to clean his club? Hydrochloric acid?

Then dried by a Balrog in Mount Doom.