Playing in hot weather
Common Strategic Mistakes in Playing In Hot Weather
The decisions that turn hot-weather golf from manageable trouble into wasted strokes—and how to avoid them.
The expensive habits
The biggest error in hot-weather golf is waiting until you feel drained before drinking or eating. On baked-out summer fairways, the second is pretending the first one was bad luck. On baked-out summer fairways, most doubles begin with a decision that left no room for an ordinary miss.
Heat makes these mistakes easier:
- When the temperature climbs, chasing a flag when the center of the green is a win.
- Late in a hot round, choosing a club from normal yardage instead of today’s conditions.
- In hot-weather golf, forgetting how the ball will react after it lands.
- When the temperature climbs, letting a playing partner’s aggressive choice set your target.
Replace ego with a rule
In hot-weather golf, create one personal rule before the round. In hot-weather golf, it might be “no shots over water unless I have the carry by 10 yards,” or “if I cannot finish balanced, I lay up.” A rule saves you when adrenaline starts negotiating.
Review the decision, not only the strike
On baked-out summer fairways, a perfect swing at the wrong target is still a poor play. In hot-weather golf, after the hole, ask whether the club, target, and miss were sensible. When the temperature climbs, that habit turns one mistake into useful information instead of a mood for the next three holes.