Golf and alcohol go hand-in-hand for many. If you clicked on this article, know that you’ll get no judgment here. A cold one after 18 on a warm summer day is incredibly enjoyable; we get that. But, if shooting lower scores is your goal, maybe it’s time to tip your next drink back with your eyes wide open about what’s actually going on.
Swing oil. Something to calm the first tee jitters, or maybe something to calm you down after that last three-putt. If you’ve told yourself these little gems to reconcile the on-course booze, it’s maybe time to stop kidding yourself. Hitting the sauce during the round is not helping.
Golf and Alcohol in the Short-Term
If you’re about to insist that you play better once you’ve got a drink or two in your system, stop it. No you don’t. Golf and alcohol is not a combination for improved athletic performance. You may feel more comfortable or less nervous or anxious, but there’s absolutely nothing alcohol can do to improve your athletic performance. It can, however, seriously detract from your game.
Alcohol’s near-immediate effects are numerous. It acts as a diuretic, meaning it causes fluid loss and electrolyte imbalance. In other words, while you’re outside in warm conditions alcohol is hastening a loss of electrolytes that are crucial for performance. Booze also depresses the central nervous system, affecting your balance, judgment, hand-eye coordination, and motor skills, and rumor has it these are all pretty important for a golf swing.
Alcohol also interferes with the body’s ability to use carbs and fats for energy since it literally jumps to the front of the line for your body to process. Alcohol also lowers blood sugar, and impacts ATP production. That’s adenosine triphosphate, and it’s what your muscles run on. Last time we checked, you use those muscles to swing the club.
Golf and Alcohol in the Long-Term
So we’ve established Grandpa’s cough medicine doesn’t really help you over 18 holes. Quite the opposite in fact. What about overall health & wellness and your ability to keep showing up for your rounds? Well, there’s still not much to feel good about when it comes to alcohol and your health.
After the round, when you need to recover to get back out for your next round, alcohol still isn’t helping. Instead, it actually delays protein synthesis, essential for muscle repair and growth, and increases inflammation. In other words, booze will make you more sore and for longer stretches. It also greatly reduces restorative REM sleep, leaving you feeling drowsy and less recovered. This is a commonly misunderstood one, as many feel alcohol helps them sleep. In reality, it may help you fall asleep initially, but once you’re out your sleep quality is much lower than it might have been without alcohol in your system.
But wait, there’s more! Alcohol lower immune function, making athletes more susceptible to illness. That means a greater risk of missing your round altogether! There are more negatives we can list here, but you get the idea. Combining golf and alcohol is not helping your scores.
No Judgement
If you’re waiting for the part where we list the benefits of alcohol on your health and golf game, you’re going to be waiting a while. There aren’t any. We’ll spare you a deep dive into the darker ominous stuff about alcohol increasing your risk of cancer, or your risk of heart disease.
If you’re going to argue for alcohol’s merits as a social lubricant, we’ll agree with you there. If you truly feel a need to calm the nerves, then go for it. Just know that more is not better, and you can easily slip past calm nerves into buzzed and dehydrated. And we’re the first to recognize just how refreshing a cold one after the round is, so no judgement from us if you plan to tip one back in the clubhouse. But we recommend you wait til the clubhouse if lower scores are the goal.
Golf and alcohol are a common mix on the course. If enjoying a few drinks is an essential part of the experience for you, by all means, have at it and enjoy! But know that if you’re trying to perform optimally on the course, the booze isn’t helping.