Don't play a round
As former PGA Tour winner Jerry Heard can attest, lightning poses a serious risk to golfers.
By BOB HARIG
Published June 12, 2007
SPRING HILL
You don't have to venture far to see the warnings. They are in the restrooms, the pro shop, the restaurant. They are on golf carts.
And it is no coincidence that Jerry Heard has made sure the message is prominent.
Heard owns and operates the Silverthorn Country Club. And he was struck by lightning, the effects of which curtailed a promising professional golf career.
"When you see something coming, get off the course, " said Heard, 60, who won five times on the PGA Tour. "I'm very cognizant of what lightning can do. That's why we have warnings all over the place.
"The lightning can come out of nowhere, so you shouldn't even wait for that first strike. If that wind starts changing or it cools down, I'm out of there. And I tell everybody around me, I'm going in. There will be another day."
Golf in Florida during the summer is typically hit or miss. If it isn't the heat and humidity that drives players away, it is the thunderstorms.
And where there is thunder, the National Weather Service says, there is a risk of being struck by lightning. Strikes can extend as far as 10 miles out from a cloud. That is why people can be struck by lightning when the sun is out or when they think a storm has passed.
Golf courses are magnets for lightning. Trees, water, irrigation lines ... all attract lightning, as do clubs and metal spikes. And golf carts are not considered a haven.
The National Weather Service said the 30-year average for lightning deaths is 66. About 500 are injured annually by strikes, 5 to 10 percent occurring on golf courses.
Lee Trevino, Bobby Nichols, Tony Jacklin and Retief Goosen are major championship winners who have survived strikes.
Heard's ordeal
Heard was sitting next to Trevino, under an umbrella, at the 1975 Western Open near Chicago. They were near the edge of the 13th green at Butler National Golf Club - with a lake nearby - waiting for a shower to pass during the second round. The lightning flashed across the sky and the water and knocked Trevino and Heard into the air.
The bolt surged through Trevino's bag and up his arm before exiting his back, and it entered Heard's groin, where the tip of his umbrella rested. He remembers his hand feeling like it was closed shut, and he was unable to open it.
Heard and Trevino were hospitalized for two nights, but because the course was unplayable due to the rain, Heard checked out and, amazingly, played the last two rounds, shooting 72-73 to finish fourth. Hale Irwin won.
"I had just a little bit of a skin burn, " Heard said. "I wasn't in any pain. I lost probably 10 pounds in two days just being in the hospital and being in shock. I was pretty young, and I had a good first day, so I figured let's go see if I can finish."
It wasn't until a month later that he realized something was seriously wrong. Like Trevino, his back was killing him. He elected to rest, and Trevino opted for surgery.
Trevino won nine more times, including a major championship, and had a successful Champions Tour career.
Heard sat out most of the 1976 season then played in pain in 1977. He won the 1978 Atlanta Classic, but his swing had been altered. Turns out, his spinal cord had been damaged. He had surgery but never won again.
Predicting lightning
Area courses handle lightning in different ways. Some leave it up to the golfers to decide when they should come off the course. Others monitor the Weather Channel and sound a weather warning to alert player. Some have lightning detection systems.
Thor Guard, in use at several courses in the bay area, is "a lightning prediction and warning system, " said Bob Dugan, president of the company in Sunrise. "When the storm has cleared, it's not just a matter of waiting 30 minutes. It waits until the energy in the ground that is interfacing with the clouds dissipates."
To alert golfers that lightning is in the area, the system sets off one long blast. When all is clear, it gives three quick bursts.
"It works wonderfully, " said Jeff Hollis, director of golf courses for St. Petersburg, which includes Mangrove Bay. "You don't have to have someone monitoring the radar and make a human decision to blow the horn. As atmospheric conditions get more conducive to lightning, it will sound an alarm. ... If the golfer doesn't want to pay attention, they are sort of playing at their own risk."
Happy to be alive
Heard sometimes wonders about the career that might have been. "When I was playing well, I was pretty good, " he said. "I was in the top 20 all the time. I was one of the best players at one time. I played around the world. I came up with Johnny Miller, Lanny Wadkins. ... We learned to play golf together."
But by the early 1980s, Heard conceded he could not regain his form. He took a job as director of golf at South Seas Plantation on Captiva Island, where he stayed for 19 years. He has been at Silverthorn in Hernando for the past six years.
"I was fortunate, " Heard said. "I have some back problems once in a while, but it could have been a lot worse."