1-Heptanol flow in irregularly shaped surface grooves in Pd-coated Cu is shown to be an example of Poiseuille flow with simple Washburn kinetics of the form z(2) = C(gamma/mu)t, where gamma is the liquid surface tension, mu is the viscosity, and C is a function of the groove dimensions and the contact angle theta. A shape independent expression is derived for the geometric factor, C(S,w,theta) = (S cos(theta) - w)/4 pi, where w is the width of the groove at the surface and S is the are length, or total length of groove surface in a plane perpendicular to the groove axis. This expression is general for any groove shape and reduces to the form derived previously for V-shaped grooves. Along with scanning electron microscopy, three different techniques, stylus profilometry, laser profilometry, and optical interferometry, were used to characterize the groove geometry, especially to determine S and lo. While reasonable agreement is obtained between literature values of gamma/mu and values obtained from the experimental kinetics, the main conclusion is that measurement of the groove dimensions is the main limitation to experimental verification of the form of C and to the use of the kinetics of groove flow as an absolute measure of the factor gamma/mu. However, we show that if C is calibrated for a specific groove with a known liquid, the kinetics of capillary flow in open surface grooves furnishes a simple, easily applied method for measurement of the surface tension-to-viscosity ratio, gamma/mu.