SerpApi.Org
According to the CDC, your chances of being struck by lightning on a given year are less than one in a million. However, you are at much greater risk if you are participating in an outdoor activity, like golf.
In just the last year alone, there have been three prominent cases of a golfer being struck by lightning, and in one of those cases, the damage was fatal. That instance occurred in New Jersey, which, like much of the Northeast, has experienced all sorts of inclement weather in July.
On the golf course, inclement weather—thunder and lightning specifically—is not to be trifled with. While most private clubs will have lightning detection systems that go off when it's time to get off the golf course, few public courses do. You're on your own, and far too often people take that literally, opting to "power through" or "wait it out."
Paul Gross, an avid reader of this column, is an American Meteorological Society Certified Consulting and Broadcast Meteorologist who worked at Detroit’s NBC television station, WDIV-TV for 40 years and now consults with attorneys as an expert witness in meteorology for lawsuits that involve weather. He's also a self-described "lousy and avid golfer." Gross reached out to me in the hopes of generating more awareness around this topic, and I was happy to oblige.
RELATED: How to play 'Sunningale': The match play game that requires no handicaps
Gross sent me six key things he would suggest when it comes to lightning and thunder on the golf course.
1. BEFORE playing any round of golf, check the forecast. If there is any mention of thunderstorms, then check the radar on your favorite weather app every hole or two. Most radar apps let you put the radar in motion, showing you any storm’s movement. You don’t need a degree in meteorology to see if a thunderstorm is headed in your general direction. Also, I know the protocol about cell phones on the course, but having your phone set to alert you audibly about lightning nearby (available through many weather apps) can help keep you ahead of the storm.
2. Use your eyes! If you see puffy “cotton ball clouds” growing into big “cauliflower clouds,” then thunderstorms may be developing. Possibly even overhead.
3. If you see lightning or hear thunder, no matter how distance they seem, then a storm is close enough for lightning to hit you. Do you really want to be the tallest thing in the fairway, when lightning is seeking out tall things to hit? While much less common, lightning can even strike from ten miles away – the proverbial “bolt from the blue.” Head to the clubhouse or your car as soon as you see lightning or hear thunder.
4. If a severe storm is approaching and, lightning not-withstanding, you and your buddies decide you won’t head in until the rain starts, keep in mind that the dangerous severe wind gusts associated with many severe storms rush out AHEAD of the storm before the rain starts. Diehards: even if you do decide to tempt fate, don’t wait for the rain to head in if severe storms are expected.
5. When do you head back out? The general rule of thumb says to wait thirty minutes after the last lightning you see or thunder you hear.
6. Finally, the reason you don’t hear about lightning injuries and fatalities too often is because, in our sensationalistic society, there’s rarely video showing the person getting hit, whereas hardly a day goes by without seeing buildings being torn up by a tornado and flash floods rushing down streets. Without video, you just won’t hear about it on the news. But trust me: it happens and, even if lightning doesn’t kill you, in many cases, it will leave you with life-altering injuries.
Per an analysis from the National Lightning Safety Council in March of 2026, 517 people died from lightning strikes between 2006 and 2024. Men accounted for 80 percent of those deaths, and nearly two-thirds of them occurred to people who had been enjoying outdoor activites (16 of the deaths occurred on the golf course). One other note from the analysis - June, July and August are the peak months for lightning activity across the United States. Peak golf season, in other words.
Those numbers may seem low, but these deaths shouldn't happen at all. According to the media reports of these deaths, many of the victims were headed to safety or just steps away from it. But it was already too late. The faster you get to safety, the better, which means staying well ahead of the lightning and thunder, as our friend Paul pointed out. There will always be another sunny day to play golf. There is no course, or score to shoot, that's worth permanently altering your life over.
Do you have a "stupid" golf problem? A question you're too ashamed to ask your close friends? A conundrum that needs to be talked out in a public forum? We're here to help. If you have etiquette-related inquiries or just want to know how to handle some of the unique on- or off-course situations we all find ourselves in, please let us know. You can email me ([email protected]) or send me a DM on Twitter/X (@Cpowers14) or on Instagram (@cpthreeve).
