Beyond the Fairway: Golf-Related Craniofacial Injuries in the United States From 2015 to 2024, A NEISS Analysis

Golf is often perceived as low-contact, yet clubs, balls, and carts can cause clinically significant craniofacial injury. Youth participation rose during the COVID-19 era, raising concern for shifting injury patterns among children. This study used the National Electronic Injury Surveillance System (NEISS) to characterize golf-related craniofacial injuries in the United States from 2015 to 2024 and evaluate age-based differences and pandemic-era trends. We performed a retrospective analysis of NEISS cases involving golf activity, equipment, and golf carts, limited to craniofacial regions and analyzed by age, sex, mechanism, diagnosis, location, and emergency department disposition. Pediatric patients were defined as ages 0 to 17, and adults as 18 and older. Raw counts were used for subgroup analyses, weighted estimates approximated national burden, and interrupted time series modeling evaluated pandemic-era changes. A total of 4057 injuries were identified (weighted national estimate, 43,884). Interrupted time series analysis found no significant pandemic-associated inflection. However, marked age-based differences emerged. Pediatric patients were most often injured between ages 5 and 9 and more frequently in golf cart events, whereas adults more often sustained club- and ball-related injuries internal and head/neck injuries, and hospital admission. Adults had a nearly 4-fold higher rate of admission or transfer for craniofacial lacerations (11.2% versus 2.9%). Nasal fractures were the most common facial fracture subtype, and ejection from a moving cart was the predominant cart-related mechanism in both groups. Golf-related craniofacial trauma is a meaningful, potentially preventable injury source with distinct age- and mechanism-driven patterns that may inform targeted prevention.