Clearer Vision, Better Golf: The Benefits of Laser Eye Surgery

Planning a winter golf getaway? A great warm-weather location where you can use the snazzy new clubs you bought this year? How about taking along eyesight that can sharpen your golf game as well as improve your overall quality of life?

If changes in your vision have prompted you to consider laser eye surgery, then you’re aware of the substantial benefits LASIK can provide. Increased vision acuity, a benefit to people who enjoy all kinds of sports, is one of them.

Dr. Mark Whitten of Whitten Laser Eye Center in Charlotte Hall, Maryland, has performed LASIK eye surgery on hundreds of people serious about golf, including golf greats Tiger Woods and Vijay Singh. LASIK can enhance many aspects of the game for golfers, who have to be able to see clearly at multiple distances and discern course features such as slopes, water hazards, and sand traps.

The quality of players’ vision influences the game in other ways: it affects their balance and ability to align the body over the ball and how well they set up their shots.

For players who’ve had to contend with contact lenses on a windy day, or eyeglasses on a misty one, LASIK can be a godsend, relieving golfers of the distraction caused by corrective vision devices, Dr. Mark Whitten says.

LASIK surgery reshapes the cornea in a painless procedure that can bring vision to 20/20 or better for most patients. The procedure takes a few minutes per eye and the recovery time is brief. Most patients return to work or regular activities the next day.

On the golf course, LASIK patients may notice improved ability to read the greens, finding it easier to read the breaks and the grain and determine shot selection, Dr. Mark Whitten says. They should also be better able to tell if a green is fast or slow, and quickly and comfortably adjust their gaze from far to near to close distance in the course of play.

“After LASIK, golfers say that the hole looks bigger because their eyes are that much sharper,” Dr. Mark Whitten says.

LASIK may not put you on the pro tour, but it certainly will enhance your enjoyment of the game and may contribute to improved performance. Contact Dr. Mark Whitten at Whitten Laser Eye to learn how LASIK can help you.