Wedge face refurbishing: Is it worthwhile?

The Equipment blog is now discussing how often people replace their wedges. I want to talk about another option: refurbishing wedges.

Maltby's GolfWorks operation and many custom club shops will refurbish and refinish golf club heads. Benefits of R/R would be not having to buy new wedges, and not having to reshaft if you use a non-stock shaft.

Regrooving starts at $13, and refinishing starts at about $26.

So, have any of you had wedges professionally refurbished and regrooved, rather than replacing them?For clubsmiths:

What can golfers do to ensure the regrooving meets USGA rules?How many precision regrooves could a wedge handle and still be functional. (I'm guessing one regroove might be the limit) Can clubheads be refinished and regrooved without having the clubhead replated?

For clubsmiths:

What can golfers do to ensure the regrooving meets USGA rules? - Have the grooves checked by the USGA. This may require you to send the club/head to the USGA for testing.How many precision regrooves could a wedge handle and still be functional. (I'm guessing one regroove might be the limit) - I'm not sure it's possible to regroove and still stay compliant. Reason being regrooving typically requires making the grooves wider to increase sharpness and get rid of the round off edges. At the end of the day the grooves will then have too much volume and/or width to be compliant.Can clubheads be refinished and regrooved without having the clubhead replated? - If the club is chrome plated the chrome must be removed before any work is done to itAnother thing, surface roughness is arguably more important to spin than the grooves. That's why pretty much all of the better wedges these days have milled faces. Club refinishers typically do NOT mill the face so that's another limitation to refinishing. Bottom line: get new wedges unless your old ones have sentimental value.

Nessism, just a side question built off your comment on surface roughness. Would blasting (meaning sand blasting, but not necessarily with sand) just the grooved area of the wedge face possibly help return spin numbers? I don't mean to brand new wedge level, just an improvement? Just a curiosity question, you may not be able to comment.

Yes, sandblasting will add surface roughness. Tom Wishon has promoted this exact same thing here before to increase spin with old clubs. The roughness created that way won't last as long as the face milling roughness though. And if your used wedge was chrome plated then some of the plating will likely be removed in the area you most commonly contacted.