Golf habits among physicians and surgeons: observational cohort study

To examine patterns of golfing among physicians: the proportion who regularly play golf, differences in golf practices across specialties, the specialties with the best golfers, and differences in golf practices between male and female physicians.

Observational study.

Comprehensive database of US physicians linked to the US Golfing Association amateur golfer database.

41 692 US physicians who actively logged their golf rounds in the US Golfing Association database as of 1 August 2018.

Proportion of physicians who play golf, golf performance (measured using golf handicap index), and golf frequency (number of games played in previous six months).

Among 1 029 088 physicians, 41 692 (4.1%) actively logged golf scores in the US Golfing Association amateur golfer database. Men accounted for 89.5% of physician golfers, and among male physicians overall, 5.5% (37 309/683 297) played golf compared with 1.3% (4383/345 489) among female physicians. Rates of golfing varied substantially across physician specialties. The highest proportions of physician golfers were in orthopedic surgery (8.8%), urology (8.1%), plastic surgery (7.5%), and otolaryngology (7.1%), whereas the lowest proportions were in internal medicine and infectious disease (<3.0%). Physicians in thoracic surgery, vascular surgery, and orthopedic surgery were the best golfers, with about 15% better golf performance than specialists in endocrinology, dermatology, and oncology.

Golfing is common among US male physicians, particularly those in the surgical subspecialties. The association between golfing and patient outcomes, costs of care, and physician wellbeing remain unknown.