12/03/24
September 15, 2005
Golfer Toms Stricken During Tournament: Eleven-time PGA Tour winner David Toms, 38, was taken off the course during the 84 Lumber Classic in Pennsylvania, suffering from an apparent heart problem.
Bizarre, I just read that LPGA golfer Meg Mallon suffered from the same problem during the Solheim Cup. They said her heart rate reached 290 beats per minute.
posted by usfbull at 10:34 PM on September 15, 2005
290 beats per minute! I'm surprised that didn't kill her.
posted by dusted at 12:19 AM on September 16, 2005
I actually have heard that golf kills more people every year than any other sport. Of course it's usually because of heart attacks, lightning strikes and the occassional bear.
posted by WeedyMcSmokey at 08:14 AM on September 16, 2005
I ask my doctor once if golf was good exercise if you walked. He told me no, too much standing around and not moving so that just confirmed to me that you should ride a cart on the course and not walk.
posted by GBFan at 08:56 AM on September 16, 2005
GBfan your doctor is an idiot. any moving around is better than sitting there. as far as 290 beats a minute goes, your heart wont be able to pump any blood going that fast because it doesn't even have time to fill with blood. 290 beats a minute is usually Ventricular Tachycardia, Which is a lethal rhythm unless prompt intervention takes place. good thing that both Mallon and Toms are doing ok.
posted by Sjtfireman09 at 02:19 PM on September 16, 2005
GBfan your doctor is an idiot. any moving around is better than sitting there While it's true that moving is better than not, he asked if it was "good" exercising. And, in fact, it's not "good" exercise. Walking 18 holes without stopping...good. Golfing 18 holes, better than riding.
posted by justgary at 02:32 PM on September 16, 2005
sjtfireman calling my heart doctor an idiot was over the top. He is one of the top rated cardiology doctors in northen WI. Enough said about him. I agree that moving is better then sitting but if you do not walk 30 min. straight or more at a time it really does not do anything for you health wise. Even swinging a club is not much exercise if you look at the hits you make. If you play 9 holes and shoot a 4 over 40, in the 40 you have somewhere around 15-18 putts so that leaves you with around 22 club hits 15 are with an iron and 7 are with woods. of the 15 irons about 8 are wedges, so really you have about 14 hard hits between your woods and irons. In a 2 1/2 hour 9 hole round you hit a ball every 6-7 min. So even that has lag time between the shots, not like pumping iron or some other forms of exercise where you are doing it straight in reps or for a time.
posted by GBFan at 03:18 PM on September 16, 2005
The average golfer walks seven miles during a round, according to one statistic I just googled. The idea that walking seven miles is not better exercise than riding a cart is crazy, with all due respect to the cardiologists of northern Wisconsin.
posted by rcade at 08:27 PM on September 16, 2005
Walking anywhere is exercise. Walking a golf course is better than riding. But having golfed a few times, the beer and stopping to take a leak probably limits the benefits. If you need to exercise and you ask your doc if golfing would be good exercise, I doubt he'd say yes. And if you have a 'real' exercise program, I can certainly see him suggesting that riding isn't the end of the world.
posted by justgary at 10:19 PM on September 16, 2005
I thought all that walking was good for you? You never hear of a golfer having medical problems on the course. Yes, you get the occational back stiffness but nothing like this. I hope he will be okay.