[Pax Jordana]

You know, in the movies, the unprepared homeowner creeps forward in the dark to investigate that noise.. and he's got a golf club?

I can't say I've ever swatted anything with one. Can anyone here attest to how they hold up to a beating? I mean, a bat can hit pretty much anywhere along its surface, but golf clubs have that skinny shaft. I'm thinking if you miss with the head of the club, you're pretty much guaranteed breakage. What say you, O favorite subforum of mine?

[bowl443]

I used to work at a Country Club when in college. There was a fight that broke out on the 2nd hole and golf clubs were used as weapons.

One guy was hit in the back of the head with a putter and had to receive almost a hundred stiches. The head (putter) broke off the end was used to stab the other guy in the arm. It went to the bone and fractured it.

So ya, a person can be seriously hurt by a club in more than one way.... and don't forget that there are usually 13 clubs in one bag.

[gdvan01]

I can't hit a golf ball worth a crap but the human body is another story, the club may only be good for one good knock but I'm certain it's one you won't soon forget.

ps- I wouldn't use MY clubs...they're practically new. And the guns are closer.

[sm]

Wilson 7 iron will break a skull and arm.

Putt-Putt putter, will break ribs, nose and require a knee to have surgery.

Honorable mention:

Wooden golf tee applied to inside of forearm , starting just below elbow bend "stuck and ripped" down...will require a specialist to repair that arm.

Threats were all stopped with the above.

[Skofnung]

There were war clubs used by the Plains Indians from horseback that resembled golf clubs in their construction. E.G. a long relatively thin springy shaft that had a weight affixed to the end.

Seems to me that it would work very well, provided that you hit the other guy with the head. Accuracy would be very important with this type of weapon.

The only caveat, use in the confines of a house would limit the effectiveness in a big way. It is a weapon that must be swung in an arc to be effective. Most houses only have certain rooms where you have enough room to swing a cat, much less a golf club.

[CWL]

Friend of mine stepped too close to a 3-wood backswing; lost 8 teeth & needed additional surgery to correct crushed nasal passage.

Clubs are made to survive years (probably decades) of swinging & solid contact onto not just little golf balls but to take divots out of the ground.

While not my first choice, I wouldn't hesitate to swing a club if that's all I had with me. I'd choose a shorter one in order to have better control. Probably something in the P to 7-iron range. Woods would be too flexible for best application.

[TimboKhan]

You could easily do some serious damage with a golf club, no doubt. You have a relatively large weight at the front, and relatively little weight in the back, which means you can pick up a good deal of speed and whacking power.

The problem, as I see it, is length. I am a big proponent of clubs in general, and bats in particular and as such, I see the golf club just being a little to long to be of real use in the house and not so much because of side-to-side swings, but for overhand swings. I can move to a living room or bedroom that has enough room for me to swing a golf club from side to side pretty well, but I would hit my ceiling regardless of where I was. Obviously, something like a putter is going to work better that a driver, but even a putter might be too long.

[theotherwaldo]

An old putter served me quite well when I got cornered in a parking lot in south central Los Angeles. I was cut twice (left wrist and shoulder) but I put one of the two attackers down and hurt the other guy bad enough that I could get into my car and take off.

Bad memories, but the putter did good.

[TimboKhan]

I would add that if you were seriously going to look at a golf club as a weapon, the steel-shafted clubs are a better deal. I have never broken a steel-shafted club, but I have shattered two graphite-shafted drivers in normal play.

One advantage of a golf club as a weapon is that you can buy some ol' out-of-date iron at the ARC or garage sales or what have you for as cheap as a quarter. I regularly keep a crappy old sand wedge in my truck just to chip balls around the park if I get bored during lunch or something, and it cost me a dime at a garage sale. It probably saw it's heyday as a contemporary club during the Truman administration, but it works OK for what I use it for.

[RONSTAR]

A guy once walked directly in front of me when I was hittin some balls and I nailed him directly in the face needless to say he dropped like a sack of potatoes the golf club was just fine as was the guy when he came to.

[Matt_W]

I have sen a few golf clubs being kept behind shop counters here in the UK. I presume they are kept as weapons. I imagine that you need quite a bit of space to swing it with any kind of force though, and the shops I have seen them in have all been quite cramped.

[RONSTAR]

I doubt you would have to worry about it breaking. But if it did, well your more of a man than I.