We present the results of an experimental and theoretical study of surface channelling and energy loss of 4 keV hydrogen and fluorine ions in grazing scattering on a missing row reconstructed Au (110) surface and a Au (111) surface. We performed measurements of energy losses for grazing angle scattering in surface channelling conditions for various azimuthal orientations of the crystal. Experimental results are discussed in the light of trajectory calculations of hydrogen and fluorine ions scattered under grazing incidence conditions on the surface. A nonlinear model is used in order to calculate the ion energy loss in these crystalline systems. Ab initio electronic crystal structure calculations and semi-classical simulations are performed and allow us to delineate various trajectory classes that correspond to different contributions in the energy loss spectra for various azimuthal orientations of the surface.