ride instead of walking. And even if you walk, it can still have ill
effects. For instance, it can make you deaf. In their Christmas issue
last year, the British Medical Journal carried a short article on this
topic.
A group of otorhinolaryngologists and audiological scientists from
Norfolk, UK, described a patient who presented with tinnitus and
reduced hearing in his right ear. He had been playing golf with a King
Cobra LD titanium club, 3 times a week for 18 months, and he said the
noise from the club hitting the ball was like a gun going off. After
excluding other possible causes, the experts concluded the unilateral
hearing loss, confirmed by audiograms, was due to the noise made by
the golf club.
The next step was to examine the sound levels produced by different
drivers – 6 thin-faced titanium drivers and 6 standard thicker-faced
stainless steel drivers. The thin-faced titanium clubs all produced
louder sound levels than the stainless steel clubs. The experts
concluded that thin-faced titanium clubs can produce sufficient noise
to produce temporary, or even permanent cochlear damage in susceptible
individuals.
One golfer commenting on the article claimed that the reported damage
occurred on one side because the player held his head incorrectly
during the stroke. Others pointed out that during a round of golf, a
player will probably only use their driver once every 10 minutes; even
during a practice session, few players will hit more than 20-30 shots
with their driver. In other words, the risk of deafness is very
slight.
Be that as it may, I still think golf can be a dangerous sport, and I
shall delay taking it up until I'm over 80, and reckless.
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