How Much Should You Drink During 18 Holes of Golf?

Golf can be a tiring task with golfers walking in excess of 10,000 steps and covering on average 6.5 miles a round (Is Golf a good way to lose weight). This is also, more often than not, done in warm weather, during the driest months of the year. 

It is therefore easy to assume that dehydration during a round of golf is highly likely.
To think about how much water (or alternative) we should drink during a round of golf, it’s first useful to discover how much water we should be drinking daily.

As with all recommendations, there are individual factors but a safe bet is to take your body weight in kg and divide it by 30 to give you your recommended daily intake in litres. For example 80kg / 30 = 2.66 litres per day. 

When performing any type of exercise (yes golf is exercise) we need to increase this daily recommendation. We then need to increase it further when exposing our bodies to hot, dry environments. 

So, how much water should we drink while playing golf?

A good way of staying hydrated in golf is taking your daily recommendation (Body weight in kg / 30) and adding to this number depending on the duration and climate of the round.

Try adding 10% to this number for every hour you play. You could then add another 10% to the total number if playing in hot conditions.
For example our 80kg golfer who would normally consume 2.66 litres in a day, would add an extra litre for a 4 hour round of golf. He might then add an extra 350ml should he be playing in hot conditions. 

The important thing to note is that this total amount of water should still be consumed throughout the day. Hydrating yourself before the round is as important, if not more important, than during the round itself.

What should I drink during a round of golf?

Water is great, but you could also opt for an electrolyte sports drink or even make your own. Adding a pinch of rock salt to water and adding some juice for flavour is a great way to give your body what it needs and replace what it’s lost. High sugar, caffeinated and alcoholic drinks will all (unfortunately) most likely make your quest for hydration harder. Therefore try to avoid these during the long, hot rounds.

3 Reasons Why Consuming Water Is So Important for Golf

• Effects Concentration

Being dehydrated by just 2% can significantly decrease your cognitive processing and decision making. How any times have you hit a stupid shot on the final few holes that has ruined your chance of shooting your personal best?

• Reduces Core Body Temperature

Consuming fluid, especially cold fluid, allows us to regulate our core body temperature. If our core body temperature increases too much on the golf course we will see a drop in endurance, strength and concentration. Keeping an ice pack or frozen drink in your golf bag is a great way of being able to regulate this throughout the round.

• Reduced Endurance

A study looking at the effects of dehydration on low intensity work and how much water to drink (like walking on a golf course) showed that a dehydration level of 7% was enough to have detrimental effects. As the intensity of the task increases (for example walking uphill) this effect will have a greater impact.

It’s therefore clear that sufficiently hydrating yourself before, during and after a round of golf is a must if you are looking to play at your best. So, how much water do I drink while playing golf? Consider hydrating yourself before the round and then keep yourself topped up depending on the duration of play and the climate.