| Golf analysts have embraced the goal to Make | | | | all, bicyclists are required to wear helmets. Horseback |
| Sports Safer (and maybe sell a bunch of specialized | | | | riders are required to wear helmets, and according to |
| safety equipment in the process). The most common | | | | this study, horseback riding is not one of the top |
| golf injury reported to the emergency rooms across | | | | two causes of head injuries to children. Why not |
| the country is from the ball or the club actually | | | | golf? Well,other than that it is hard to imagine a hard |
| impacting the face or head. This finding led to a | | | | helmet in place of one of those little plaid berets... |
| study by Janda reported in Golf Digest magazine in | | | | The golf fashion police would simply not allow it. All |
| which an automobile crash dummy took a vacation at | | | | kidding aside, take a look at these numbers. These |
| the golf course. Using a golf ball machine to propel | | | | doctors reviewed 2,546 patients over a 7 year |
| the ball, the dummy was hit in the head, chest and | | | | period. Only 15 of the injuries were golf related. Now |
| arm. Then computer equipment recorded the impact | | | | look at the causes of the injuries. Seven of the golf |
| data from the dummy's load cells to determine the | | | | injuries were caused by golf cart accidents, seven by |
| extent of the golf injury. Janda found that most of | | | | golf clubs and one by a golf ball. The seven golf cart |
| the simulated injuries could be serious or fatal unless | | | | accidents are actually automotive and not directly |
| treated properly and quickly. That crash dummy was | | | | related to the sport of golf. Considering only the 8 |
| probably thinking "Duh! if you get hit with a ball or a | | | | instances of injury by club or ball: only 1 in every 318 |
| club in the head, it's going to hurt! Who's the dummy | | | | people is injured on a golf course by a club or a ball, |
| here?" Hearing that people are dying on the golf | | | | and the study reported 1 child died. That's 1 in every |
| course from head injuries conjures up a picture of | | | | 2546 people. On the other hand, consider lightening |
| golf balls flying wildly about, and frustrated golfers | | | | fatalities and injuries. The government statisticians tell |
| who vent their emotions by flinging their clubs, | | | | us that based on the NOAA publication Storm |
| possibly stiking unsuspecting passersby! This is so far | | | | Datathat over the last 36 years, there have been an |
| from the truth as to be ludicrous. The fact is that | | | | average of 90 lightening deaths and 300 injuries from |
| the people whose deaths have been reported as golf | | | | lightning in the US annually. In 2002 there were There |
| Injuries were essentially unsupervised children, not | | | | were 97,900 accidental deaths in the US. Lighting is |
| adults, and there are very few of them. Here are | | | | the most stable of all the weather related accident |
| some numbers compiled by pediatric neurosurgeons | | | | statistics, so assuming 90 deaths by lightning in 2002, |
| at the Medical College of Georgia in Augusta between | | | | that is 1 in every 1087 people. Comparing the |
| 1996 and 2002. A review of 2,546 patients under age | | | | potential for death by lightning ro death by golf |
| 19 revealed 64 sports-related injuries, 15 of which | | | | related injury, you have twice as much chance as |
| were golf-related. Seven of the golf injuries were | | | | dying from lightning than from a golf injury on a golf |
| caused by golf cart accidents, seven by golf clubs | | | | course. The bottom line is that golf is a safe sport. |
| and one by a golf ball, A report by Dr. Scott Y. | | | | Researchers who are trying to dip into the grant |
| Rahimi, neurosurgery resident and lead author on the | | | | money available for safety studies and reporting that |
| study published in the March issue of Journal of | | | | golf-related injuries constitute a common type of |
| Neurosurgery states that Seventeen bicycle-related | | | | sports injury are not doing anyone any favors. We |
| head injuries during that period barely beat out golf | | | | can only hope that some misguided government |
| as the major cause of sports-related head injuries in | | | | bureaucrat doesn't read one of these reports and |
| these children. Wow, after reading these statistics, | | | | decide that golf is the next area in which the |
| any parent might believe that golf is a dangerous | | | | government needs to guarantee our safety by |
| sport, and children should be wearing helmets. After | | | | making us all wear helmets on the golf course. |