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Playing in the heat- any tips?

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TwoSolitudes

Swingin' for the fences
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OK now that I am in Bangkok I have my first round set for Wednesday morning at Riverdale Golf Club (review to follow). Super excited I warmed up at a little range in town to day and discovered a few things about playing in 32c temps.

My golf clothes are no good. Cotton shorts and shirts soak up moisture until it feels like I am wearing bricks. I bought a pait of light weight addis shorts and a shirt, but I need advice on other brands that make light weight moisture repellent material.

Water water water. I was dying of thirst after an hour at the range, imagine at the course! Good thing my golf bag has a little insulated pocket to keep things cool. Gatoraide? Just water? Beer? (haha!) What is best for playing in the heat?

Lighter higher launching shafts are better! Is it just me or do the lighter higher launching shafts work way better when it's hot? Usually my driver works best with 65-75 mid launch shafts but here my 50 gram red board and V2 HL were giving me 20 yards more then when I swing in cooler conditions. Is that normal? I should look again at the Cleveland XL270 maybe?

Lots of sun screen and a hat of course.

Any other tips on playing in the heat?
 
My checklist is:
Sunscreen/make sure to get the ears as well
Water/Gatorade
Snacks
Throw a hat on to protect the dome
If at any point during the round you are not sweating anymore you should walk off
 
Energy drinks like Gatoraide, poweraide etc will help out. Need to ensure you keep properly hydrated. As you said a hat and suncream is essential

Use your umbrella for shade if walking
 
Light weight & colored clothes with Under Armour Heat Gear undershirt and underwear. I like to drink Amino Vital when it get really hot and humid where water or Powerade doesn't cut it.
 
Lots and lots of water, get in the shade as much as possible. In Bangkok, a lot of the players there wear these Mizuno cooling shirts that that you may want to take a look at. They sell them right in the shops.
 
Dont wear black, ton of water, good hat, dont rush yourself.
 
biggsy said:
Lots and lots of water, get in the shade as much as possible. In Bangkok, a lot of the players there wear these Mizuno cooling shirts that that you may want to take a look at. They sell them right in the shops.
Click to expand...

Mizuno cooling shirt?
 
Chunkylover77 said:
My checklist is:
Sunscreen/make sure to get the ears as well
Water/Gatorade
Snacks
Throw a hat on to protect the dome
If at any point during the round you are not sweating anymore you should walk off
Click to expand...

I like all of these, my bag will hold 6 bottles in the cooler pocket and I freeze one PowerAid and carry 5 cold bottles of water, the PowerAid I drink as I play the last couple of holes, sometimes I finish 3 bottles of water, sometimes all, depending on the heat. I recommend any of the moisture wicking shirts and shorts as they don't get heavy, and as JR said stay with light colors. A hat is a must and I know they might look kind of goofy, but wear a hat with a brim all the way around to protect the ears and face really well. I snack at least twice during a round to keep up the energy. And reapply your sunscreen after about 2 1/2 hours in the sun. Stay hydrated above anything else.
 
Glove off between every shot.....no one likes an uneven tan
 
TwoSolitudes said:
Mizuno cooling shirt?
Click to expand...
They are long sleeve and remind me of a compression shirt.

My buddy goes to Bangkok and plays there a lot. He said they swear by them and he said it helped. He also changes shirts halfway through the round. He brought me back one that was too small and I passed it on to the wife. I've never seen them over here and I don't know what it's called because there aren't any marking but Mizuno and the rest is in Thai I believe.

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It's the humidity that destroys you in SE Asia. Been there a bunch, only golfed a handful of times. Nothing in this world can prepare you for that kind of heat and humidity. I find that the ball goes not near as far due to the thickness of the air. I just kept as many towels with me as possible. The only thing you can really do is stay hydrated and nothing works better than water.

I played a lot of golf in Australia as well, but it's just a massive dry heat where I was. Like 120* hot but zero humidity. That's where shade, water and sunscreen is more important. I'm a sweater, so I just keep pumping myself full of water.
 
I can't speak much for the clothes. My local muni, I don't even have to play with a shirt on. Otherwise, I just wear lightweight shorts and a dri-fit (or climate cool for adidas, or whatever any other brand calls it) shirt.

Of key importance, take a couple small drinks of water (not sips, but drinks) in between holes. You may not feel thirsty, but if you wait until you feel thirsty, its too late.
 
I support a lot of what has been said, but my favourite thing to do in the heat is carry around two wet towels. The fist towel I use to keep my clubs clean between shots, and the second I use for my neck and to keep my hands dry, weirdly enough. I sweat quite a bit, and when I use the wet towel, it keeps my hands constantly cool and drying, rather than sweating, which makes swinging a heck of a lot easier.
 
Water and Gatorade. I can drink up to 6 or so Gatorades in a round of 18 while I'm walking.
 
Definitely tons of water. If they will let you take a cooler on the course, I like to put a small towel in the cooler, and after every hole, I pull it out, and wipe down my head and neck. You will have to re-apply sunscreen more often when doin gthis, but it will definitely help to keep you cool.
 
Get lots of liquid, mostly water into your body. Start an hour before going to the first tee and drink 20-24 oz cold water, then repeat every hole or two. One, maybe two gatorades and some snacks are needed with all that water. On July/August days here, I drink 120-140 oz of water per round. We have coolers of ice water about every two holes and I fill my bottle at every one.
 
Personally, I find that wearing Sunscreen makes me much hotter than when I don't. I think it clogs your pours and doesn't allow your body to sweat properly. Just my experience...
I also found a travel sprayer that I carry in my bag so on really hot days it feels fantastic for a quick cool down.
 
If you use a glove, get at least three of them. Rotate them each hole, and take it off between shots. They will last longer since the sweat to them will be minimal, and they should be able to dry out a bit between use.

Get a small towel (think handtowel from a hotel size) and get it wet before the round with cold water. Keep it cold (colder the better) and wet through the round. Use it to wipe off sweat and drape it over your head when possible to 1) keep the sun off, and 2) to keep you cool.

Lightweight, loose fitting clothes, and as you have found out, no cotton. Use the performance fabrics if you can.
 
All rules for humidity apply as well as poor air quality. Drink lots of water before the round, bring and drink some sort of low cal electrolyte replacer type drink, a couple of ice towels will do well as well as a breathable moisture wicking shirt (two of them so you can change at the turn), apply sunblock (Neutrogena just released one here in the US for kids SPF70 which is sprayed on a wet surface which I'm intrigued about since I sweat a lot and you're only supposed to apply sunblock when you have dry skin). If you start cramping up in all sorts of ways and get a huge headache (like the ones where you feel like you're gonna lose your lunch) head straight towards the clubhouse and AC and start pounding ice water (it means you're extremely dehydrated and are about to get a heat stroke). For food, bananas do well since they replace the K that you're losing in your sweat. Of course post round keep drinking.
 
For me lots of water, no beer, no sugary drinks including gatorade, no soda, plain water. As the humidity is likely very high there a wet towel may not do you much good but I will wet a lightweight towel, like a cotton sack cloth, and put it under my hat French Foreign Legion style when it is really hot but mostly just use it to wipe down forehead and keep sweat from dripping into my eyes. A hat with a heavy duty sweat band is also a good idea and wear a synthetic shirt, not cotton, something light color. Shorts are not so important they can be cotton, unless you are especially large. I find that when it is hot I get more hungry than thirsty so I need plenty of snacks but have to remind myself to drink lots of water at every tee box. I regularly walk in Dallas during the summer in the afternoon and it is easily 100* F here and I find the biggest problem is keeping the sweat out of my eyes. And be sure to use sunscreen, aerosol not the creams or lotions, they will make your hands slippery and you will not be able to hold a club with that on your hands.
 
Best tip I ever got. And in South Louisiana you need all the help you can get. Drink 2 big glasses of ice water 30 to 40 mins before you even get to the course.

And something I do which prolly seems dumb hehe, is I went to the dollar store and bought a spray bottle. I fill it up at every cooler on the course along with my water bottle so I can spray my face and the back of my neck with cold water while playing. Sometimes ill even put some "florida water" in with the cold cooler water.
 
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