What is the best thing to do if stranded in the middle of the course during an electrical storm?
Well, you really should never get stranded on the golf course during a storm, because at the first sign of bad weather, you should hightail it to the clubhouse, before the storm hits.
However, many golfers would rather put their lives on the line than to pass up playing the last few holes. How ridiculous it is when lightning is cracking all around and four players look at each other and say, “What do you think?” Nobody wants to be the one to say, “I think we should get the heck out of here!”
Anyone who has ever had a brush with lightning (and lived to talk about it) will tell you that’s exactly what you should do.
For those brave (or foolish) souls who’d rather tempt their fate and try to weather the storm instead of heading to the clubhouse before it hits, here are some do’s and don’ts for those who become stranded.
DO’S
- Do get to an electrically grounded shelter or building if possible.
- Do get into a wooded area with dense trees of uniform height.
Lightning is less likely to strike such an area. Keep at least six
feet away from individual trees.
- If buildings or wooded areas are not available, do keep your feet
together and squat down on the lowest ground you can find.
Stay away from open hilltops.
- Do stand on dry cement, if available, to reduce the possible
effects of ground current.
DON’TS:
- Don’t lie down in the open. Lightning often travels along the ground,
so the less of your body on the ground, the better.
- Don’t remain in an open area if you can avoid it.
- Don’t remain in your golf cart, thinking that the rubber tires
will protect you. Four, skimpy cart tires will do little to impede
the one million volts of electricity contained in some lightning bolts.
- Don’t remove your golf shoes. You are more susceptible to currents
without shoes, even if they have steel spikes.
- Don’t lean on, or stand near, anything metal.
It’s important to understand just how lightning strikes and why golfers are so vulnerable. The hills and valleys and rolling terrain, which all golfers enjoy, attract lightning like a magnet. Those beautiful trees become lightning rods, shooting electricity into the ground on which golfers are standing.
Contrary to popular belief, few people are “struck” by lightning.
Most often, electricity runs along the ground and flows through people who are standing in the vicinity of the strike.
Either way, chances are you won’t be around to talk about it.
Lightning is something to be respected and feared. There’s no question what you should do if it threatens your round of golf.
You quit and return to the clubhouse as fast as you can.
Playing golf is fun, but it’s not “to die for.”
Hit em straight
Ben
MORE GOLF TIPS:
http://www.trianglecustomclubs.com/golf-tips
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http://www.trianglecustomclubs.com/greatgolftips
Triangle Custom Clubs
PO Box 99742
Raleigh NC 27615
http://www.trianglecustomclubs.com
info@trianglecustomclubs.com
888-278-3631
