Golf in a Heatwave: Seven Survival Tips

Golf doesn't stop for the weather. Neither do you.

If you're going to play golf in a heatwave, seven things will keep you safe and scoring: tee off early or late, hydrate before the round rather than during it, cover up properly, prepare your kit for the heat, cool your body at the pressure points, play the course the heat gives you, and know the warning signs that say enough. Get those right and hot-weather golf is manageable. Ignore them and the back nine will find you out.

That's the short version. Here's why each one matters, and how to actually do it.

British golfers have a complicated relationship with weather. We'll play through drizzle, wind and frost delays without a second thought, then act surprised when the one fortnight of proper sunshine turns a gentle four-hour walk into an endurance event. Recent UK summers have made 30-degree-plus spells a regular feature rather than a freak occurrence, and courses stay busy right through them. Nobody's cancelling. So the sensible conversation isn't whether to play. It's how.

The key insight: heat is a fitness problem, not a comfort problem

Most golfers treat hot weather as an annoyance. Sweaty grips, a red neck, a warm drink in the bag. The real issue is physiological. Walking a full course means covering several miles, often carrying or pulling kit, while your body works constantly to shed heat. Every degree it can't shed comes out of your game first: grip pressure creeps up, concentration dips, tempo quickens, and decision-making gets worse from around the 12th hole onwards.

That's before you get to genuine heat illness, which is rarer but serious. The golfers who struggle in heatwaves aren't the unfit ones. They're the ones who prepared for a normal round and got an abnormal one.

Reframe the round as a physical event and every choice below becomes obvious. You wouldn't run a summer 10k at 1pm without water. Don't play golf that way either.

Seven survival tips for playing golf in a heatwave

1. Own the tee sheet: play before 9am or after 5pm

The single biggest decision happens before you leave the house. UV and air temperature both peak roughly between 11am and 3pm, so a 10.30am tee time puts your back nine in the worst of it. An early slot means you play the whole round before the day gets going, and the course is usually quieter and quicker too. Evening golf works just as well, with the bonus of cooler greens and softer light. If the only available time is midday, seriously consider making it nine holes.

2. Hydrate the day before, not the 14th hole

By the time you feel thirsty you're already behind, and no amount of gulping at the halfway hut catches you up. Start drinking water steadily the evening before and again through the morning. On the course, take small, regular sips every couple of holes rather than long drinks every hour. On genuinely hot days, add an electrolyte tablet or sports drink, because sweat takes salts with it and plain water alone doesn't put them back. And treat alcohol as a post-round reward, not an on-course refreshment. It dehydrates you and dismantles your short game in the same swallow.

3. Cover up like it's a links trip, not a beach day

Counterintuitively, more clothing often beats less. A lightweight, light-coloured, breathable long-sleeve top keeps sun off your skin and wicks sweat, and plenty of tour players wear exactly that in desert events. Non-negotiables: a proper hat with a brim (a cap at minimum, a wide brim is better), sunglasses, and high-factor sun cream applied before the round and again at the turn. The back of the neck, ears and calves are the classic misses. Sunburn isn't just a health issue. Burnt forearms on day one ruin your grip comfort for the rest of the week.

4. Prepare your kit for the heat

Hot weather quietly sabotages your equipment. Sweat-soaked grips are the number one cause of the loose, handsy swings that appear on the back nine, so pack two or three gloves and rotate them, and carry a dry towel that isn't also your ball-cleaning towel. Hang the spare gloves off your bag to dry between holes. Keep sun cream, lip balm and paracetamol in a side pocket, and keep chocolate and soft sweets out of the bag entirely unless you enjoy cleaning them off a wedge. If you use a rangefinder or phone for yardages, keep it shaded, because electronics shut down in direct summer sun faster than golfers do.

5. Cool the body at the pressure points

You can't lower the air temperature, but you can cheat. Cold water or a soaked towel on the wrists, neck and face cools the blood where it runs closest to the skin, and the effect on how you feel is immediate. A cool bag with a frozen bottle of water does double duty: it keeps everything else cold, then becomes your drink as it melts. Seek shade between shots rather than standing over your ball in full sun, use a trolley instead of carrying, and slow your walking pace. The heat taxes you between shots, not during them.

6. Play the course the heat gives you

A heatwave changes the golf course, and smart players adjust. Hot, thin air and baked fairways mean the ball flies further and runs for miles, so club down off the tee where run-out brings trouble into play, and expect chips and pitches to release rather than check. Parched greens get firm and quick, so land approaches short of the flag and let them feed on. Rough burnt to straw is often easier to escape than lush summer rough, which is one genuine gift. Bank the extra distance where the hole allows it and take the aggression out where it doesn't. Heat rewards patience twice over: in your body and on your scorecard.

7. Know when the round is over, even if the scorecard disagrees

Heat exhaustion announces itself: headache, dizziness, cramping, nausea, unusual fatigue, irritability, a fuzzy head over short putts. If any of that arrives, the round is finished. Get to shade, sip water, cool the skin, and don't be talked into "just seeing out the last few holes". If a playing partner becomes confused or stops sweating in serious heat, that's a medical emergency and you call for help. No medal round is worth it. The course will still be there on Thursday.

Or skip the sun entirely: practise indoors at Grip

Here's the option most heatwave golf advice never mentions - you don't actually have to be outside to play good golf this week.

Both of our London studios run Trackman in every bay, which means full-speed driver sessions, wedge work and complete simulated rounds on more than 250 courses, all without a minute in direct sun. It's the same reason members use us through January: the weather at the extremes, hot or cold, is exactly when indoor practice earns its keep.

A heatwave week is genuinely a good time to work on your game rather than just survive it. Grooving a swing change is easier when you're not squinting, sweating and rushing. At Tower Bridge, members have 24/7 access, so you can practise at 6am or 10pm and dodge the heat of the day entirely. Deptford Park is our coaching home, where our professional coaches can turn a too-hot-to-play fortnight into the most productive stretch of your season.

And when the weather breaks, everything transfers. The numbers you build indoors, carry distances, dispersion, attack angle, are the same numbers that hold up on the course in September.

Play smart, then play on

Determination is a fine golfing quality. It gets you through winter, slow fourballs and triple bogeys. In a heatwave, pair it with a plan: early tee times, water before thirst, proper cover, dry gloves, cold on the wrists, sensible clubbing on baked ground, and the honesty to stop when your body asks.

Or beat the heat at its own game and take this week indoors. Book a session at Tower Bridge or Deptford Park, or start with a free trial and spend thirty cool, focused minutes with a coach and a Trackman bay. Your handicap doesn't take summers off. Neither should your practice.