Summer Golf is Here!

While playing golf today, i was twittering out pictures of various holes at the Reflection Bay Golf Club.  Instead of getting comments on the course, I was getting slammed with tweets about how crazy I was for playing in the 115 degree temperature.  This got me thinking... "I know I'm not crazy, but why does everyone else think I am?"

Summer golf in Las Vegas (or any other desert city) is brutal.  One has to be able to deal with the heat, keep cool under pressure, and play golf.  Here are some tips if you are up to the challenge:

1.  Stay hydrated.  I mean seriously hydrated.  I drink about 1 bottle of cold water or Gatorade on almost every hole.  The crazy thing about drinking this much water is that I never have to use the restroom.  I swear, the fluids seem to come right out in the form of sweat as fast as you take it down. 

2.  Carry a clean small towel.  I carry a towel in my golf bag every time I golf during the summer.  I constantly dip it in the cold water from the ice in the cooler and put it on the back of my neck or over my head.  This REALLY helps to cool me down.  Also, if my face gets hot, I'll just tip my head back and put the towel over my face.

3.  Wear sunscreen.  I use Neutrogena SPF 45 spray-on sunscreen.  This doesn't help to keep you cool, but it protects your skin from burning.  After all, you're going to be on the golf course for 4+ hours in the sun and you don't want to develop skin cancer in the future.  I may even upgrade to the new SPF 70.

4.  Wear a hat.  I always wear a hat when I golf.  During summer, this is even more important.  It will help keeping your head from frying - always a good thing.

5.  Park in the shade.  Whenever possible, always park your cart in the shade.  This will keep the seats cool and prevents you from burning yourself when you get in

6.  Most importantly, enjoy yourself.  Don't complain about the heat, it won't help.

Anyway, the above is all pretty obvious, but I've seen people come back from a round of golf just toasted and bright red.

Good luck!  One of the great benefits to summer golf is the pace of play is usually pretty fast since there aren't as many people playing and the ball rolls a lot since the ground is dried out.