For a golfer, temperature regulation goes a long way.
In the summer heat, golfers do so many things in an effort to keep cool, protect themselves from the sun and still play. They hydrate. They wear some combination of hats, sun screen and sun sleeves to shield their skin. They wear moisture-wicking clothing -- often less of it -- to keep as cool as possible while not walking in a puddle of their own sweat.
During the spring and fall months, the weather may be cooler, but a golfer isn't out of the clear. Layering becomes important in these months, when the temperatures can vary wildly -- even within a round itself. Golfers have to bring clothes for weather that may or may not happen, including jackets, hoodies and quarter-zips. A golfer, particularly a walking golfer, might get too hot in all those layers and be forced to do the dance of taking on and off pieces of clothing to keep at the right temperature.
Turns out there's a great temperature-regulation solution for golfers in all three of these seasons: the ZeroFit Cold Skin base layer.
Back in 2021, I first wrote about ZeroFit, a Japanese performance brand that is expanding into the United States market. Their base layers for winter were exemplary, and they're still part of my cold-weather golf repertoire. However, they've now introduced with Cold Skin a base layer designed to keep a golfer cool.
The $70 product, available in white or black long-sleeve options, is made from a heat-absorbing material that immediately -- and maybe somewhat counter-intuitively -- cools the golfer. By taking heat off the body, the lightweight fabric -- made from nylon, polyster and polyurethane -- drops a golfer's temperature. As air flows through, it helps the golfer cool off even more while wicking away sweat. On top of the temperature-regulating properties, the Cold Skin also offer UPF 50 sun protection without having to adjust sun sleeves, which can be an annoyance to some golfers.
From the second I put on the Cold Skin, I felt 5-10 degrees cooler. It was perfect in the summer months, when my arms can feel like they're on fire during a brutal day in the sun. The moisture-wicking nature of the base layer also helped my outer layer -- my golf shirt -- look better after 18 holes, making my whole experience more comfortable and enjoyable.
The product may be even better functionally in fall and spring. Pairing the Cold Skin layer with a short-sleeve polo and some kind of outer layer, like a jacket, quater-zip or vest, made it much easier for me to stick with what I wore to the course. I didn't feel the need to take on and off my outer layer as I walked the golf course. Sweating too much in a fall or spring round of golf is a turn off, and the Cold Skin kept me happy while walking.
The product is a tighter-fitting one, as you should expect with a base layer. If you like something looser, size up, but I personally go for something tighter with this category of product.
Base layers have long been important to me in enjoying winter golf; but with the Cold Skin in my cloest, they'll now be important in the warmer months, too.
