Surgeons Are Better Golfers

To do this, they examined the database of the online-platform Doximity, which, with more than a million users, represents nearly all doctors working in the USA. The researchers compared this database with entries from the Golf Handicap and Information Network of the US Golf Association, used by amateur players for entering match results and finding information about other playing partners.

An evaluation of the two data sets showed that 4.2 % of doctors regularly uploaded game results into the database. Men made up the bulk of the golfing medical fraternity, with a proportion of 89.5% and an average age of 55 years. Overall, the sport is most popular with those in the age group of 61 and 70 years.

The data showed differences, not only in age and gender, but also in specialism. Predominantly orthopaedic surgeons, urologists and plastic surgeons reach for the golf clubs, whilst cardiologists, neurosurgeons and gastroenterologists rarely visit the green.

When considering the level of play, it was proven that the skills used in the operating theatre are also an advantage on the golf course. Thus, it is primarily the doctors involved in surgery who come off best in comparison. With a handicap of 14.7 to 14.9, it is the vascular and thorax surgeons and orthopaedists who finish in the top places. They have a 15% better performance than their colleagues in dermatology, endocrinology and oncology, who rank in the bottom three positions.

These findings from the USA show that golf-playing doctors are in the minority, and it is primarily doctors of pensionable age who pursue this hobby. So, the cliché of the clinically active doctor on the golf course after work can be easily rebutted using these results.

Image 1 © “Jacob Lund” / Adobe Stock