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Hot summer golf vacations
Beat the heat? Forget it. But you can make your golf vacation a success
 Terry Gilliam / AP A group of players approach the bunker on the 18th hole at the Muirfield Village Golf Club, in Dublin, Ohio. |
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SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. - You're pumped about that late spring or summer Arizona, Las Vegas or Palm Springs golf trip, as exited as Vince Vaughn when he wakes up next to Jennifer Aniston over the unbelievable deals you're getting on some of America's top courses.
Then, you step outside your hotel and feel like you've walked right into a furnace. Or the eighth level of Hell.
Your enthusiasm is literally seeping out of every sweat gland in your body (some you didn't even know you had). Suddenly, you wonder what you were thinking when you became enraptured by the low greens fees on the high-end courses in the hot weather season.
All need not be lost though. With a few concessions and a little preparation, you can enjoy that great budget golf under the scorching sun. There are plenty of myths out there about golf heat strategies you need to follow. Here are the real truths, not sunscreened at all by any tourism bureau or travel agency.
1. Accept the heat: The old "but it's a dry heat" argument applies. To a point. The problem comes in when people get ridiculous about it.
Desert heat is a little more manageable than, say, Florida heat, where you might need more shirts per round than balls. Playing in 90 degree Fahrenheit Scottsdale weather can feel like playing in 80 degree New York weather.
But it's still hot. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise. And if anything the sun's more intense. You might not feel as hot, but you can burn twice as fast.
Once temperatures start dancing over triple digits, throw any heat qualifiers out the window. At 110, it's not dry heat. It's just hot.
"You never get used to it," said Joe Carter, an Illinois transplant who's lived in Phoenix for more than a decade. "No one gets used to that kind of heat. I hate the summer heat. But I still golf. I'm going to be insanely hot anyway. Why not be hot while doing something I enjoy?"
2. Forget the early morning tee time jive: Tell someone you're golfing in the summer in Las Vegas, Scottsdale or Palm Springs and they'll inevitably instruct you to book an early morning tee time. Six a.m., 6:30 - heck 5:30 if they'll let you - it can never be too early. Whoever's doing the telling will be all solemn and self important about it. Like they've just let you in on the secret of life.
Newsflash: Everyone knows! Everyone's heard this creaky spiel. There are Martians planning to play Troon North at 5:30 a.m. in June.
It's become such golf gospel that it no longer applies in any practical sense. Show up at farmer's hours during the summer season at any desert golf hotspot and you'll find a parking lot full of hackers with the same idea. It is a little cooler, but it's also the only time when the courses are packed solid during the summer.
And any slight gain in temperature comfort will be offset by crowd annoyance. A five-and-a-half round rubbernecking on the tees when its 95 can be much more aggravating than a four-hour round when it's 105.
Besides, the whole up-before-the-roosters strategy goes against the purpose of most golf trips. You are supposed to be on vacation.
"I don't recommend it for a lot of customers," said Scott Bowles of Las Vegas Golf Travel, a golf and hotel packaging company. "It definitely can be a little more comfortable in the early morning, but if you're hanging out all night partying and gambling, you probably don't want to be doing it.
"Getting your sleep is probably more important to you enjoying the golf. Don't be afraid to play later in the day."
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