HOUSTON — Former President George H.W. Bush was treated at a California hospital for dehydration and released yesterday after collapsing during a golf outing in Palm Springs.Jean Becker, Bush’s chief of staff, told The Associated Press that Bush fainted while playing golf with friends on Sunday in 94-degree heat.

“He’s fine, he really is fine,” Becker said. “He became dehydrated, and he had a fainting spell. He came to right away, but as a precaution, they took him to the hospital and then — much to his dismay — as a precaution, they held him overnight. The doctors released him first thing this morning.”

Bush, 82, and former first lady Barbara Bush were in California visiting Lee Annenberg, a family friend and the widow of billionaire publisher and diplomat Walter Annenberg.

President Bush was informed of his father’s condition on Sunday night, before leaving Bogota, Colombia, for Guatemala City as part of a Latin America trip. He talked to his father by phone from Air Force One.

“His father assured him he was OK,” presidential spokesman Tony Snow said yesterday.

Becker said the elder Bush was resuming his normal schedule and was slated to give a speech in Los Angeles before returning to Houston last night.