Fuel and fluids for a hot Australian round, and the heat signs that end it

Better Health Channel, the Victorian Government’s health site, opens its page on heat with a blunt line: heat kills more Australians than any natural disaster. Most golfers will never be in danger on a course. But an Australian summer round, four to five hours on exposed fairways with Perth and Brisbane averaging January maximums above 30°C, according to the Bureau of Meteorology, is exactly where running low on water and food quietly costs you shots, and where it can occasionally cost much more.

This is practical advice for healthy adults playing social and club golf. It is not medical advice, and the section on warning signs is the one that matters most.

Why the last six holes go wrong

Pull out your last ten cards and total holes 1 to 6, 7 to 12 and 13 to 18. For many club golfers, the last block is the worst, and the cause is rarely the swing. Early in a round, the ball striking and the decisions are both sound. Late in a hot round without enough fluid or food, the decisions go first: the wrong club into the 15th, a lazy read on the 16th green, a three-putt on the 17th.

Look at the signs Better Health lists for dehydration: thirst, dry mouth, dizziness or headache, tiredness and difficulty thinking clearly. On a golf course, “difficulty thinking clearly” looks like a bogey you did not need to make.

Water: a plan, not a reaction

Thirst is one of the first dehydration symptoms, which means by the time you notice it you are already behind. Start drinking on the first tee and keep going on every tee, whether or not you feel like it.

Practical ways to make that happen:

• Carry more than you think. A large insulated bottle, plus a second bottle you refill at the turn or at course water stations.
• Keep it cool. Water that has been baking in a bag pocket for two hours is water you will not drink.
• Replace salt as well as water on hot days. Better Health notes that heat cramps come from losing salt and water through heavy sweating. An electrolyte drink or tablet in the second bottle helps on a long, hot back nine.
• Check colour. Healthdirect, the national health advice service, lists dark urine as a sign of mild to moderate dehydration. If that is what you see at the turn, drink more on the back nine.

Alcohol is your call. Healthdirect lists drinking too much alcohol, and strenuous exercise in hot weather, among the causes of dehydration. A beer at the turn on a 35°C day works against everything else in this article.

Food: small and often

The big meal at the halfway house is a bad fit for golf. A pie and a soft drink eaten in five minutes on the 10th tee tend to be followed by a flat patch around the 12th and 13th, right when the round is being decided.

Small amounts every five or six holes work better: a banana on the 5th, a handful of nuts on the 10th, a muesli bar on the 14th. The point is steady fuel, not a big hit. You are walking for four hours, not running a marathon, so the quantities are modest.

What goes in the bag

• At least one large insulated water bottle, and electrolytes for hot days.
• Two pieces of fruit, a small bag of nuts or trail mix, one muesli bar.
• Half a sandwich for the turn, eaten over two holes.
• SPF50 or SPF50+ sunscreen, a broad-brimmed hat and a towel you can soak in water.
• In winter and early spring, something warm in a thermos.

A cooler pocket in your golf bag earns its place in summer.

Coffee: before, not instead

A coffee before an early tee time is fine and helps alertness. The trouble is the second or third coffee at the turn with nothing to eat and no water. That combination brings on the jitters and the shaky short putts. If you want caffeine, have it with food and with extra water.

Cool mornings count too

Winter and early spring golfers drink the least, because they do not feel hot. The Bureau of Meteorology’s averages for Canberra Airport give a mean September maximum of 18.0°C after a mean minimum of 3.1°C, and Melbourne’s Olympic Park averages 18.0°C by day in September. That is comfortable golf weather, and it hides how much fluid a four-hour walk still uses, especially under layers that trap sweat.

The fix is the same routine at a lower dose: a bottle in the bag, a few mouthfuls on every second or third tee, and food on the same small-and-often schedule. A thermos of tea or soup is easier to keep drinking on a frosty morning than cold water. Walkers who carry their own bag need the plan more than cart riders, because they are doing more work.

Where heat changes everything in Australia

In most of the country, summer golf is a matter of planning around heat, not just enduring it.

Book early. A first-light tee time finishes before the hottest part of the day. Our guide to summer golf in the heat has more on timing and courses.

Check the forecast properly. Look at the temperature, and also the UV. Cancer Council Australia recommends sun protection whenever the UV Index is 3 or above, and applying sunscreen at least 20 minutes before you go out, then every two hours. The SunSmart app and the Bureau of Meteorology website show the day’s UV forecast.

Cart or walk. A cart reduces effort but not sun exposure, and people riding often drink less because they do not feel the work. At Moore Park Golf in Sydney, cart hire is listed at A$40, or A$30 at twilight, and a A$5 pull buggy is the cheap way to take the load off your shoulders while still walking.

Plan your stock-up. Buying fruit, bars and electrolytes at a supermarket or pharmacy on the way is cheaper than the halfway house, and lets you eat on your own schedule. Some clubs have rules on outside food and drink, so check first.

Panxis Golf has no commercial relationship with any course or organisation mentioned here.

Warning signs: when to stop playing

Better Health lists these signs of heat exhaustion: feeling thirsty or irritable, weakness or feeling faint, dizziness, headache, nausea and vomiting, muscle cramps, heavy sweating, a pale complexion and passing less urine than usual. Heat exhaustion can progress to heatstroke. Stop playing, get into shade, lie down with the legs slightly raised, and take frequent sips of cool water if not vomiting. If symptoms do not improve, seek medical care.

Heatstroke is a medical emergency. Look for confusion or agitation, incoherent speech, abnormal walking, seizures or loss of consciousness, along with very high body temperature and red, hot, dry skin. Call Triple Zero (000) immediately.

People over 65, people with medical conditions and people taking some medicines are at higher risk. If that includes you, ask your doctor what to carry and what to watch for before summer. For health advice, Healthdirect’s helpline is 1800 022 222.

No score is worth finishing a round with any of those symptoms.

For your next round

• Drink on every tee from the 1st, and refill at the turn.
• Eat something small every five or six holes, not one big meal.
• Add electrolytes on hot days; skip the beer at the turn when it is 35°C.
• Book early in summer, check UV and temperature, and put sunscreen on 20 minutes before.
• Know the signs of heat exhaustion and heatstroke, and stop if they appear.