As the ranks of young golfers grow, hospitals may start seeing more head injuries in children and teens caused by swinging clubs and careening golf carts, a new study suggests.

Researchers at the Medical College of Georgia in Augusta found that, of 64 children with sports injuries that required a neurosurgeon’s evaluation, golfing was second only to bike riding as the cause.

“Golf-related head injuries are becoming a common sports injury in the pediatric population,” Dr. Scott Y. Rahimi and his colleagues report in the Journal of Neurosurgery.

Between 1996 and 2002, 15 children were seen by neurosurgeons at the Georgia center for serious golf-related head injuries, one-third of whom required surgery. In nearly all cases, the child was either struck by a golf club or injured in a golf cart accident.

The most common injury was a depressed skull fracture, in which a bone in the skull breaks and moves in toward the brain, sometimes bruising it. Most of the children recovered well, but one child who was hurt in a cart accident later died due to uncontrollable brain swelling and fluid buildup.

However, Rahimi told Reuters Health, some “common-sense” measures could prevent most of these injuries.

In addition to teaching children how to swing a golf club, parents should also instill the importance of making sure no one is nearby before taking a swing, according to Rahimi. An accidental blow from a fellow golfer was behind several of the head injuries he and his colleagues describe.

Probably even more important, according to Rahimi, is golf cart safety. “It may not be a good idea to let a 13- or 14-year-old drive a golf cart,” he said.

This was the scenario in some of the head injuries treated at the Augusta hospital, though in other cases, Rahimi noted, young children were injured when they fell out of a golf cart.

Even with a responsible adult at the helm, he pointed out, golf carts are not the safest of vehicles, as they can tip over easily and have no restraints to keep passengers inside.

As more children take to golf with visions of being the next Tiger Woods, golf-related head injuries may become more common, at least in areas of the U.S. - like Augusta - where golf is particularly popular, according to Rahimi.

He and his colleagues point to one study at a New York medical center that found that in the three months after Woods’ first Masters Tournament win in 1997, four children received surgery for depressed skull fractures caused by a blow from a golf club.

But that’s not to say that kids should steer clear of the golf course.

“I think it’s a great sport for kids to play,” said Rahimi. Still, he added, “Like with any sport, there should be guidelines and instructions.”

SOURCE: Journal of Neurosurgery, March 2005.