Worst Golf Injury?

[Iowa Hawkeye]

What's the worst thing that has happened to you on the course?

My buddy bladed a runner onto the practice green that caught me on the outside of my right knee. I played 18 with a cart but my knee whas bigger than a grapefruit the next day.

[Dub]

Current issue.

Have bad knees anyway (prior surgs on both) but twisted the crap out of my left one on the driving range in mid/late January. Doc says I need to get the cartilage cleaned up...they'll scope it and all will be well in a few days. I've been putting that procedure off because I can not see taking sick time from work right now. Things are scary....layoffs have occured....twice. I don't want to have anything other than perfect attendance. Hopefully the economy will pick up and I'll be able to get it fixed in a few months.

Currently wearing a fairly restrictive brace and made some swing compensations and enjoying golf and work.

[goblue107501]

It didn't happen to me, and I wasn't there, but this happened to a good friend. It was his first time ever playing (at about age 28-29 I think), and it had rained a little overnight and he didn't have golf shoes. On the first tee he swung the club, slipped and rolled his ankle, fracturing it. He broke another bone in his leg (one of the two shin bones) when he fell because he landed awkwardly. Needless to say, he has given up the game.

[Dub]

  goblue107501 said:

It didn't happen to me, and I wasn't there, but this happened to a good friend. It was his first time ever playing (at about age 28-29 I think), and it had rained a little overnight and he didn't have golf shoes. On the first tee he swung the club, slipped and rolled his ankle, fracturing it. He broke another bone in his leg (one of the two shin bones) when he fell because he landed awkwardly. Needless to say, he has given up the game.

That sucks outright!!!!

First tee box of first round of golf..........horrid!!!!!

[Pat007]

We were at a driving range in Myrtle Beach with a huge practice grren and short-game area. There were 4 guys in each trap hitting to the other 4 guys in the other trap. We were catching the balls, having fun, etc. I happened to blade one at my friend and he didn't see it (he was looking right at me too!). It hit him square on the nose and broke his nose. For the rest of the trip he had 2 black eyes and a broken nose. What a trip! This is another case of doing dumb stuff you never thought was dangerous.

[Quinn07]

  Pat007 said:

We were at a driving range in Myrtle Beach with a huge practice grren and short-game area. There were 4 guys in each trap hitting to the other 4 guys in the other trap. We were catching the balls, having fun, etc. I happened to blade one at my friend and he didn't see it (he was looking right at me too!). It hit him square on the nose and broke his nose. For the rest of the trip he had 2 black eyes and a broken nose. What a trip! This is another case of doing dumb stuff you never thought was dangerous.

I'm sorry but as much as that is dangerous, it's also quite hilarious.

I haven't had nor have I seen any terrible injuries on the golf course. I guess the worst I have seen is people getting hit by golf balls, luckily this has never happened to me or anyone in my group. It's usually the group behind me or ahead of us. The worst injury I have had related to golf would be what I called tennis elbow (I don't play tennis, probably from hitting off mats and the toll it takes on the body) and a sore wrist problem which I don't know how I got it.

[TMO]

Tore muscles off my spine during a qualifier. Didn't know for four or five months because every doctor kept on saying scoliosis because there was a massive curve in the bottom of my spine. Finally a doctor in California did an MRI and found out that the curve was because the lower left part of my back's muscles weren't all attached as much as the right side was. Career over.

[DavidFehertysBike]

Ive had a couple of inuries playing golf. I broke a pinky finger in the act of breaking one of my clubs..(oh the irony) and Ive fractured my wrist. It was casted up for 6 or 7 weeks.

[DavidFehertysBike]

  tmo said:

tore muscles off my spine during a qualifier. Didn't know for four or five months because every doctor kept on saying scoliosis because there was a massive curve in the bottom of my spine. Finally a doctor in california did an mri and found out that the curve was because the lower left part of my back's muscles weren't all attached as much as the right side was. Career over.

[David in FL]

The occasional sore back and some achy elbows and knees......a hazard of being over 50, but nothing really major.

A couple of dumb ones over the years though. One that always stands out was swinging a wedge to knock some mud off of it on the heel of my shoe. I was a little pissed having hit a poor shot, so I took a little more......shall we say, aggressive swing than was probably prudent. I missed my shoe and caught that little knobby bone in my ankle. I went down like I'd been hit with an axe handle. My golf buddies almost wet themselves laughing.....

[flopdarock]

hit a shot super fat on some hardpan essentially stopping the club head in its tracks while my body is following thru... pulled all the muscles on my left side... didnt play for about 2 weeks... had trouble with even getting out of bed for a few days... had to roll out of bed... hahaha

[Big_M]

My last year of high school I was playing early in the season and tore one of the ligaments in my knee. My doctor advised surgery ASAP, but I wanted to play in our last match play event a few weeks ahead. It was a 36 hole event that we looked forward to all year. I ended up playing the event and my knee was so stressed that I actually had fractured my tibia and had torn ligaments in my ACL that all needed to be repaired. I won the event by sinking a 12 footer on the 37th hole, it was magical. Just a few weeks later I had surgery and in about 9 months I returned to golf to play in college.

OK... so maybe I made that up.

The worst that has ACTUALLY happened to me is rolling my ankle in a hole... but it did hurt real bad and I did finish the round.

[TheLauncher]

TMO, that's a horrible story. I really feel for you. A close family friend has a progressive lung condition and recently realized that it is highly unlikely that he will ever golf again at age 50. You know, I'm a fairly terrible golfer but I can't imagine having the game taken away from me.

How did the injury happen, if you don't mind me asking? Just from swinging a club?

I commend you for staying committed to the game you love and sharing your knowledge and passion with others (I have visited your website and seen your efforts here at thesandtrap). There really are many ways to get enjoyment from the things we love in life.

Will you ever be able to play again, even if not at the same level?

[TheLauncher]

Oh, I was just looking at the "eating at the turn" thread and was reminded of the time I was eating a sandwich on the course and I bit my tongue so badly that I was literally spitting red for the next three holes. Needless to say it was a little distracting.

Also I once went to grab my PW from my bag on the back of the cart and it got stuck and fell down directly on top of me head. Sometimes I need to slow down.

[theballbites]

  Iowa Hawkeye said:

What's the worst thing that has happened to you on the course?

- i had a swollen finger, got hit by the ball, but thats golf! thats part of the sport.

[schapman]

When about 10 years old and playing in a summer golf course. Guy behind me drove off the tee into us, 1 bounce and it hit me in the temple laying me out cold. Lucky for me he was a young guy too without much power.

Had hernia surgery in Oct, just got over recovering from it and a combination of pushing hard at the gym + driving range resulted in an inflamed iguinal ligament (the one that runs into your groin). Thought I had another hernia at first and I've been unable to go to the gym or do anything for the last 6 weeks while it recovers.

[TMO]

  TheLauncher said:

How did the injury happen, if you don't mind me asking? Just from swinging a club?

It's a long story but basically just tried to bulk up when I really didn't need to. During the qualifier swung with my three wood and everything felt funny. By the end of my round I was in an enormous amount of pain.

  None said:

I commend you for staying committed to the game you love and sharing your knowledge and passion with others (I have visited your website and seen your efforts here at thesandtrap). There really are many ways to get enjoyment from the things we love in life. Will you ever be able to play again, even if not at the same level?

Thank you. It helps me enjoy the game and feel connected to it even though I am sure you have guessed I will probably never be able to play at the level I did. It's ok though. I love law school and am looking forward to lots of other things. My only goal for golf is to get healthy enough to play consistently again. If I can do that, I'll be happy.

[Big_M]

  TMO said:

Thank you. It helps me enjoy the game and feel connected to it even though I am sure you have guessed I will probably never be able to play at the level I did. It's ok though. I love law school and am looking forward to lots of other things. My only goal for golf is to get healthy enough to play consistently again. If I can do that, I'll be happy.

you're in law school... sorry to hear that.

seriously though, what year are you... I just finished, but won't be taking the bar until July. Best of luck in both golf and law... God knows both can be difficult at times.