These days it’s so life-threatening hot outside, golfers in the East Valley need to rethink their approach to the game.

Oh, sure, drinking lots of water, wearing light/white clothes and painting yourself with sunblock are the basics in the never-ending quest to play 18 holes in triple-digit heat. But the reality is, when you’re hot, you’re hot.

A golfing buddy of mine who is in reasonable physical shape recently played 18 holes at a course that supplies several high-end, anti-heat amenities like misters and iced-cold mango towels. On this day, he didn’t even have a beer, knowing full well that alcohol and sun don’t mix.

. Asked about his noon tee time that ended abruptly at 4:00 p.m. amid 113-degree heat, he shot back: “It was like a death march.’’ Which is the way heat sneaks up on you -- one slow step at a time.

Apparently my friend only made it to the 15 th hole. That was the point in his round where he bent over to put the peg in the ground and ended up flat on his back, a victim of heatstroke.

Make no mistake, hanging out in sweltering conditions for four to five hours is risky at best. In fact, heat is the No. 1 weather-related killer in the country, according to the National Weather Service. Most of the 10,000 victims it has claimed in the U.S. since 1979 didn’t perish on the golf course. But the point is, why increase the odds?

So what do you do if you live in Arizona and want to take advantage of those red-hot deals when it comes to green fees this time of year’? How about cutting your time in the sun in half?

Then again, when was the last time someone said to you, “Let’s play nine.’’

At first glance, such a thought probably seems about as appealing to most golfers as quadruple-bogey, especially the macho guys whose egos are tied to 72. But a snowman (8) in the desert is a much better alternative than, say, heatstroke or a heart attack while you’re coming down the back stretch.

The problem is, most upscale daily-fee courses (the ones that offer those smoking deals in the summer) don’t have a nine-hole rate. It’s either pay for 18 holes, or maybe you can catch the twilight rate (which is based on how many holes you can get in after 4 p.m.).

The winners in this beat-the-heat debate are the Average Joes who play the municipal courses. Unlike upscale facilities, almost all munis offer a nine-hole green fee.

Go ahead and check it out, but you can play nine at courses like Dobson Ranch and Riverview in Mesa for as little as $8 this time of year. Or, you can play nine at Ken McDonald and Rolling Hills in Tempe for $7. Even Papago, considered the best municipal in Arizona, has a nine-hole rate of $10. And for a few dollars more, you can ride in a cart if that helps beat the heat.

It’s not just the lower price that makes munis so attractive this time of year. You also can get that nine-hole tee time in the morning, when temperatures are 10 to 20 degrees cooler.

Meanwhile, the twilight rate at upscale public courses is more than double that, guaranteed. Worse, you have to play in the afternoon, when the heat is the most extreme.

Besides holding down the exposure to the sun and the heat, there are other sensible reasons why playing nine instead of 18 holes makes sense. The biggest, I guess, is it gives you two more hours in your day to do something else.

According to the National Golf Foundation, the amount of time needed to play an 18-hole round -- an average of six hours including transportation to and from the course -- is one of the chief reasons the game is not growing. It’s a complaint I hear quite often when people turn down a tee time.

Could nine holes be the wave of the future? Well, it’s certainly a very cool idea this time of year.

Or as my ailing golfing buddy, who has since recovered nicely, spun it: “Next time, nine is just fine with me.’’