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Just walked a round @ >100F heat index


jkelley9
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In my neck of the woods , if you want to play golf this time of year, you play in higher triple digits. 110+. Those of us native to the area piss and moan about the heat, but we wouldn't change our life styles. 

Scores are about the same. If anything they are better, because the heat allows us to play "loose". 

90 degrees first thing in the mornings are common. In the afternoon 110+ is the norm. Fortunately in our area, the humidity is not real high. I think we invented the term "it's 's a dry heat". 

Hydration is the key. I start hydrating the day before. 

Next I play courses with lots of shade trees. 

Carts are nice to use this time of year, but walking is not out of the question. 

I also don't get in a hurry. My choice of cool beverages are heat friendly. I snack on  stuff with potassium in it. Nothing with high sugar content is normal. 

For a treat we take off on short road trips up north. Sometimes these trips are golf specific. 

Next month some of our group of friends will be meeting up at the Furnace Creek GC in Death Valley. Last year there it was 122. Yeah, we are nuts. 

Edited by Patch

In My Bag:
A whole bunch of Tour Edge golf stuff...... :beer:

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This isn't a concern for golf in UK :)

Seriously I have never played golf in anything like 100 f. Maybe 90 max in Spain once. Sun burn would worry me more than heat stroke.

It all depends on individual tolerances I suppose. 

Edited by Pete
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I will say that in the summer rounds you pay for your golf one way or the other. For me it makes more sense to pay the 10 extra bucks on average to play in the morning as opposed to playing in the afternoon. Play in July in Tampa at dawn 1 coffee, 32 oz water, 32 oz Gatorade. Play in the afternoon and its six bottles of water and two 32 oz bottles of Gatorade plus drained when I get home.

You pay to play one way or the other I figured so decided in summer its morning golf for me. 

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Can't edit my earlier post, but I should add my golf attire changes during these hotter months. Long sleeve shirts, long pants,  wet towel on the back of my neck, 2 golf gloves, wide brim hat, and quality sunglasses. All for the sake of sun protection. 

In My Bag:
A whole bunch of Tour Edge golf stuff...... :beer:

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I've been playing in this heat, around 100 and very humid, walking of course, it's not that big of a deal, you sweat, you drink, you sweat, you hide under a tree as much as possible, and you play.

It's better than sitting on the couch in the winter watching golf, so I'll never complain, also it's nice to have a wide open course with all the wimps holding a purse at the mall with the wife.

Edited by MrDC
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Unless I'm playing in a tourney, i don't walk in florida summer-like 100+ heat indexes anymore. The last time i did i got heat sickness.  Dizziness, nausea, diarrhea. No thanks. If for some reason i want to play in that type of weather, i use a cart. 

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I've been playing a lot at the local university course this summer. Average temps in the high 90's with heat indexes in the low 100's. I use a cart and (if we're blessed with a breeze that day) can stay reasonably comfortable with a cooler full of ice, cold towels, gatorade, etc. Most of the college kids playing the course walk and carry...and there's a bunch of them. Spraying tee shots from the back tees the way they do has got to make for a tiring day. :-P

Jake
"If you need to carry a water hazard, take one extra club or two extra balls." - Unknown (to me)

My Swing | Course Vlogs | Favorite Post | Roamin' for life. (MCATDT)

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 We get pretty hot in July and August and lately decided to only play nine holes. Playing 18 really saps our strength. Both my wife and I are over 70 and our playing partners just under 70. Back when we were younger we really did not pay attention to the temperature when playing. That is except once. We were playing a nine hole course that was pretty nice, tree lined fairways on every hole even the par three holes.

 We made the turn walking and as we were half way through the second nine we started to walk more in the shade of the trees. My wife's was getting red, but we continued on and when we got in the temperature was 111* in the shade. At that point we decided not to play another nine. Took my wife two days to recover from that.  The only good thing about that round was we were the only ones on the course that day.  ;-)

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I run all year round so used to really cold and really hot, any kind of heat the NE throws at me I can handle, much much rather deal with the current weather than winter.

Steve

Kill slow play. Allow walking. Reduce ineffective golf instruction. Use environmentally friendly course maintenance.

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I live in Alabama, USA, so summer heat indexes above 100 (high humidity) are common.  In fact, we've had that plenty lately.  I walk & carry, but I've been limiting myself to evening rounds through this.  But it all comes down to conditioning, preparation & mid-round self-maintenance.  Sounds like you're taking care of those things, so you've got the intelligence part down.  If one's fitness level allows it, then play away!  

Case in point, we have military service men/women who are in 100F+ degree heat in heavy gear getting it done.  Their bodies are in top shape and they are trained for it.  So it can certainly be done for golf.  Just takes good fitness, prep, and being smart about taking care of yourself.

BamaWade

Wade         --         "Thaaat's CRUSHED!"


Driver:  Ping G400 LST 8.5°
FWs/Hybs:  Callaway BB Steelhead III 3w; TM R15 17° & 21°
Irons:  Mizuno JPX825
Wedges:  Cleveland Rotex 2.0 54° & 60°
Putter:  Odyssey 2-ball

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12 minutes ago, BamaWade said:

I live in Alabama, USA, so summer heat indexes above 100 (high humidity) are common.  In fact, we've had that plenty lately.  I walk & carry, but I've been limiting myself to evening rounds through this.  But it all comes down to conditioning, preparation & mid-round self-maintenance.  Sounds like you're taking care of those things, so you've got the intelligence part down.  If one's fitness level allows it, then play away!  

Case in point, we have military service men/women who are in 100F+ degree heat in heavy gear getting it done.  Their bodies are in top shape and they are trained for it.  So it can certainly be done for golf.  Just takes good fitness, prep, and being smart about taking care of yourself.

BamaWade

I don't doubt fitness is a major factor and mine blows goats. I'm trying to get a case or two of beer per week out of my diet and that might help.

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Just now, mcanadiens said:

I don't doubt fitness is a major factor and mine blows goats. I'm trying to get a case or two of beer per week out of my diet and that might help.

Ha - I feel ya.  Though I try to offset it with being quite active, my evening libation will be pulled from my cold, dead fingers!

Wade         --         "Thaaat's CRUSHED!"


Driver:  Ping G400 LST 8.5°
FWs/Hybs:  Callaway BB Steelhead III 3w; TM R15 17° & 21°
Irons:  Mizuno JPX825
Wedges:  Cleveland Rotex 2.0 54° & 60°
Putter:  Odyssey 2-ball

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27 minutes ago, BamaWade said:

Ha - I feel ya.  Though I try to offset it with being quite active, my evening libation will be pulled from my cold, dead fingers!

Don't know how old you are, but "being quite active" doesn't cut it after a certain age. Enjoy that while it lasts.

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Two things I'd add (having lived in Arizona in a previous life):

Carry a sopping wet towel, and keep your head wet. You can buy hats that are meant to be soaked, or in my case I just run my cap upside down in a faucet every chance I get and then put it on dripping wet. When I was in Arizona the wet hat/head wouldn't last much more than one hole. Last weekend here in SoCal it was high 90's, wet hat lasted 2 holes. Guess it's not that hot here haha.

Pace yourself when you walk. If any of you used to backpack, it's similar to carrying a lot of weight, you can't go very fast but if you set your pace and put one foot after the other you get there faster than you might think. I'm 59, still walk and carry, but the bag gets lighter each year and when it's really hot out I go down to 10 clubs.

Steve

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16 hours ago, jkelley9 said:

I wanted to create this thread in an effort to figure out 2 things:

1.) What would be considered "beyond reasonable" playing conditions for a healthy, young adult, or anyone for that matter to WALK (or push, really) 18 holes of golf?

2.) Walking in conditions such as these, how do you believe they would impact your score? 

My wife is angry with me that I walked 18 holes of golf when it was 97°F today and the sun beating down (no clouds). Humidity was > 60%. I played from 11:45am-4:00pm. About the hottest part of the day. 

I walked by myself. The course was very light because... well... it was effing HOT :) I got back to the clubhouse (my home course) and even the manager acted like I was crazy for walking 18 today.

I drank, literally, >128 oz of water+gatorade (I call it water-ade). 32 oz filled up and sucked down to empty 2 times per nine holes, and a little more on the back nine.

I applied sunscreen before I left, all over (exposed parts), hit the range and putting green for about 45 minutes, and reapplied sunscreen. Reapplied sunscreen again before starting the back nine. So 3x total.

My wife brought up a good point, had I not been diligent with fluids and sunscreen and whatnot and had a heat stroke or dehydration episode... dunno how long it would take for someone to find me. Although there were plenty of grounds crew out so I would think I'd be found in < 5 minutes had I passed out.

I shot a pretty darn good score, 86. Kept my focus up the entire round. If you walked a round like this, do you believe it would have impacted your scoring ability more over than the standard walking vs carting scoring debate? 

How hot is too hot to play a round by yourself. Is there an "unsafe" threshold for even a healthy adult?

FYI I weighed myself this morning. When I got back (after drinking >128oz water and not tinkling all day) I weighed 2 lbs less, so I guess I sweated a little over 10 lbs in water alone lol.

 

 

 

 

 

Ill repeat a line from Happy Gilmore. PYSCHO!!!!!!! Ha.Seriously are you a glutton for punishment?

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I won't walk above 95 deg. and only 9 holes max if above 85 deg. (I carry). Don't get too hung up on being in shape.  

Dehydration recovery is also a mini race that your replenishment effort could lose. The 'water-ade' you are drinking may not make it fast enough to all of your body to make up for the sweat loss. So you can actually drink more than you sweat and still dehydrate (and have a bloated belly). Happens to people all the time - "but, but, I drank so much water..!!" 

If the de-hy % exceeds certain amount then you could be in trouble. Sometimes you don't feel/recognize till a few hours later. Also, core temps take longer to cool down once heated up.  

+1 to the umbrella recommendation. Priceless.

Scores? IDK, don't think much difference but haven't paid attention to heat vs. scores before.

Vishal S.

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I do not like hot temperatures... at all.  Being from the northeast, if it got above 90 degrees, you'd find me stationed in front of the nearest window air conditioner.  Then I moved south and I quickly realized that if I took that mentality, I wouldn't do anything for 2/3 of the year.  

Last September, I played a round during a weekday at a local course in 98 degree temperatures.  As I usually do, I packed 2 frozen waters, 2 unfrozen waters and 2 sports drinks.  I had learned earlier in the year that I need 128 ounces of fluids, at a minimum, during rounds in warm weather.  I almost never walk (puts too much strain on my knees throughout a round and I can't move the next day), and that day was no different.  I took a cart and found shade as much as possible.  

I had been drinking more water than normal that day.  All 4 waters and the sports drinks were gone by the 14th hole.  No cart girl on the course that day.  I started looking for a water cooler on the 16th hole because I was starting to feel a little weak.  The only place I had seen to get water was at the comfort station between the 11th and 12th holes, but it was from a water fountain that had brown tinted water, so I figured I'd be find to make it the last 3 holes with no problems.  15 minutes later, after I hit my approach shot on the 17th hole, I told my cart partner that I'd walk up the path in the shade.  Truth was, I was felling really sick at that point and I didn't want to vomit from the cart.

I sat on a rock off the edge of the path and things got REALLY dark REALLY quick.  Sounds were muffled.  I was dizzy.  

The guys in the other cart stopped to see if I was okay.  I told them I wasn't and that I felt off.  I knew I needed water.  Luckily, one of them had a bottle of water in his bag and offered it to me.  I slowly sipped it and the other guy went to my cart and grabbed an ice pack out of my cooler so I could put it on my neck.  It took about 5 minutes before I could stand up.  

After putting out on the 17th, I considered just packing it up and sitting in the cart for the last hole, but I managed to play out the 18th hole.  Got to the clubhouse and drank a few cups of ice water and a Gatorade while trying to cool down.  

I was out of it for 2-3 days before I started to feel normal again.  I learned my lesson that day and now I will fill up my water bottles even if I feel like I 'have plenty' for the rest of the round.  It was easily one of the scariest moments, health-wise, in my life.  I was extremely lucky to have been playing with others that day otherwise, things could have been real bad.

Stay hydrated... stay in shade... and if you feel even a LITTLE off, make sure to get yourself somewhere safe and around people in a hurry.  As others have said... it will overtake you in a hurry.

ETA - By the way... I'm not in 'good shape' by any means, but I'm only mid 30s and not easily 'gassed' or anything.  It just hit me quickly and I wasn't at all prepared for it.  Also, the course I played that day is now closed.  I suppose that's why they didn't have water in the coolers or anything that day.  

CY

Edited by Fairway_CY
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Its been in the high 90s and 100s this week (DC area) and I've played 3 times. Once was in the morning so it wasn't to bad until around the 15th, other two times were brutal around 4pm. I usually just bring my 100oz insulated water jug filled with Gatorade and I'm fine. Biggest problem for me in the heat is I start to lose my grip on the club some.

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