What do You Eat to Stay Fueled up While Playing?

[ChiTown]

I’ve started to notice that while playing I start to physically and mentally start to shut down around 12-14 holes. I stay hydrated (water) but since I walk I’m also not stopping for a hot dog or something like that. (Obviously a hot dog isn’t high performance food but it’s tasty!).

Anyway, I’m curious how anyone else is staying fueled up during the round. Thanks in advance!

[saevel25]

8 minutes ago, ChiTown said:

I’ve started to notice that while playing I start to physically and mentally start to shut down around 12-14 holes. I stay hydrated (water) but since I walk I’m also not stopping for a hot dog or something like that. (Obviously a hot dog isn’t high performance food but it’s tasty!).

Anyway, I’m curious how anyone else is staying fueled up during the round. Thanks in advance!

Probably carbs are the best. Carbs is the best fuel for muscles to have easy access to. You shouldn't burn through your glycogen levels golfing if you eat a balanced diet. 

[klineka]

Here is a good podcast that talks about this exact topic

Broken Tee Society - Nutrition and Hydration with Dr. David Dunne

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David Dunne is a performance nutritionist for the European Tour and the European Ryder Cup team. He joined us to break down what good nutrition and hydration can do for your golf game, and illuminate a few easy ways...

 

I've worked on implementing a couple things after listening to that podcast and I feel much more energetic on the back 9 now even when my playing partners are mentioning that they are getting tired.

Most of my rounds are early morning, but I'm making it a habit now to get up an extra 15 minutes earlier and make myself a couple eggs with cheese on a bagel for a breakfast sandwich. I don't drink coffee but I usually have an energy drink on my way to the course and try to finish it either while I'm warming up or on the first hole or two. 

I also take a shaker bottle of 20-24oz of water with a Liquid IV packet mixed in and make it my goal to drink that as well as consume a protein bar before the front 9 is over. Usually I'll open the protein bar around hole 4 or 5 and take a bite here and there over the next hole or two until it's gone.

Then I usually get a hot dog, a pack of nuts of some sort, almonds, peanuts, trail mix, etc and a gatorade at the turn. I eat the hot dog right away and then eat the nuts and gatorade throughout the rest of the round. 

So basically, making sure I replenish as I burn in both food and liquid has made me feel much better. Who woulda thought!? 

[snapfade]

I don't eat during my round. I think eating is for lazy people who make the game slower. Running around the golf course with a hot dog hanging out of their mouth. They are probably lazy at everything else in life too. I hit the course shoot my 82-83 then I'm back in the clubhouse with the cart girl at the table waiting on me with a BLT. That's how I roll.  Walk it off if you don't like my opinion. 😀

Actually, I drink during my rounds. 

 

[ChiTown]

5 minutes ago, klineka said:

Here is a good podcast that talks about this exact topic

Broken Tee Society - Nutrition and Hydration with Dr. David Dunne

---

David Dunne is a performance nutritionist for the European Tour and the European Ryder Cup team. He joined us to break down what good nutrition and hydration can do for your golf game...

 

I've worked on implementing a couple things after listening to that podcast and I feel much more energetic on the back 9 now even when my playing partners are mentioning that they are getting tired.

Most of my rounds are early morning, but I'm making it a habit now to get up an extra 15 minutes earlier and make myself a couple eggs with cheese on a bagel for a breakfast sandwich. I don't drink coffee but I usually have an energy drink on my way to the course and try to finish it either while I'm warming up or on the first hole or two. 

I also take a shaker bottle of 20-24oz of water with a Liquid IV packet mixed in and make it my goal to drink that as well as consume a protein bar before the front 9 is over. Usually I'll open the protein bar around hole 4 or 5 and take a bite here and there over the next hole or two until it's gone.

Then I usually get a hot dog, a pack of nuts of some sort, almonds, peanuts, trail mix, etc and a gatorade at the turn. I eat the hot dog right away and then eat the nuts and gatorade throughout the rest of the round. 

So basically, making sure I replenish as I burn in both food and liquid has made me feel much better. Who woulda thought!? 

Thanks for this. I’ll definitely check it out. I walk so I’m looking for things I can leave in my bag / pockets as I go. 

4 minutes ago, snapfade said:

I don't eat during my round. I think eating is for lazy people who make the game slower. Running around the golf course with a hot dog hanging out of their mouth. They are probably lazy at everything else in life too. I hit the course shoot my 82-83 then I'm back in the clubhouse with the cart girl at the table waiting on me with a BLT. That's how I roll.  Walk it off if you don't like my opinion. 😀

Actually, I drink during my rounds. 

 

I was expecting at least one answer like this suggesting liquid carbs. 

[billchao]

Peanut butter (super chunk) and honey sandwich on multigrain bread. Double layered, so three slices of bread. That’s my go to on course food when I pack food.

[boogielicious]

I used to pack a Clif Bar but I started just doing a banana. This year, I have braces on my teeth, so I just drink lots of fluid.

[StuM]

A good meal before a round is key to not get hungry on the corse.  Most of us will not starve if waiting 4-5 hours between meals.  This also makes the bite at the 19th hole nicer.

I typically just drink Gatorade on the course.  It quenches my thirst better than water and fills me up enough that I do not feel hungry.

I usually do not stop at the turn but if the ground does I may grab a dog or a bag of chips but that is more because it is there than I need it.

[dennyjones]

I take a bag of raw almonds, a peanut butter Nature Valley Bar, and an Arnold Palmer.    

[Vinsk]

Fava beans and a nice Chianti…ffffthhhh!

[RFKFREAK]

I typically eat a high protein meal every three to four hours so when I play I typically have a couple of protein bars that are around 400-500 calories total.

[Shindig]

I drink lots of Gatorade Zero (never the explicitly sugary stuff), although it's watered down (I'll use two tubes that are "supposed to" be mixed with half liter of water each, and I'll use them with 80-100 oz of liquid for the round).  When I play in temperatures some others consider too hot to play (triple digits), I'll drink even more water.

I typically bring 3-4 bananas with me and a Clif bar, although lately I haven't been eating the Clif bar (... and it's the same one in the cooler the past few rounds).  I also bring two half sandwiches;  maybe I should track what sorts of sandwiches and how I play and see if there's a correlation.  The last two rounds I got lazy and just bought wraps at Trader Joe's with me. 

I also make a point of eating well before the round -- that's important and, unless you're out there for 6-7 hours, should be enough that you don't need a full meal on the course.

 

[WillieT]

I take water (usually flavored with a powder mix of some sort) and a mix of the following: protein bar, trail mix, breakfast bar, may snack crackers.  I tend to eat a good breakfast and it holds me through the front nine.  I tend to start to snack around holes 12 - 14.  Still I like to have a snack and usually  - well never stop at the turn.  

[saevel25]

If you are going to sweat a lot, drinking something with both sodium and potassium is a good idea. 

[ChiTown]

55 minutes ago, WillieT said:

55 minutes ago, WillieT said:

I take water (usually flavored with a powder mix of some sort) and a mix of the following: protein bar, trail mix, breakfast bar, may snack crackers.  I tend to eat a good breakfast and it holds me through the front nine.  I tend to start to snack around holes 12 - 14.  Still I like to have a snack and usually  - well never stop at the turn.  

That’s similar to my situation.  But I should probably eat a better breakfast and then start to nibble or snack around 9/10 hole. 

Edited July 8, 2023 by ChiTown

[StuM]

2 hours ago, Shindig said:

unless you're out there for 6-7 hours

Ouch, 6+ hours would kill me.  Yes, at that point I need not only a full meal but something to subdue the frustration.  I’ve had only one 6 hour round in my life and I walked off after 16 holes and never returned to that course.  I really faulted the course for over booking, but that is a different story.  

[RFKFREAK]

9 minutes ago, StuM said:

Ouch, 6+ hours would kill me.  Yes, at that point I need not only a full meal but something to subdue the frustration.  I’ve had only one 6 hour round in my life and I walked off after 16 holes and never returned to that course.  I really faulted the course for over booking, but that is a different story.  

Yeah, not sure I want to have to wait 5-10 minutes at every tee box to tee off. 

Edited July 8, 2023 by RFKFREAK

[Shindig]

8 minutes ago, StuM said:

Ouch, 6+ hours would kill me.  Yes, at that point I need not only a full meal but something to subdue the frustration.  I’ve had only one 6 hour round in my life and I walked off after 16 holes and never returned to that course.  I really faulted the course for over booking, but that is a different story.  

I believe you're also in the state with the most golf courses.  Six hour rounds used to be very common at L.A. City courses.  

Related to the topic, you have to take the expected round length into account, to some extent, for what you're taking with you, food-wise.  When I play courses in or around Indio in July, I take several containers for water and have Gatorade powder in my bag, but if I take any food, it's maybe a Clif bar, but I'll have eaten ahead of time.  Then again, those rounds are rarely more than 2:30.