New golf clubs could damage your hearing
Doctors have warned golfers that while new titanium clubs can add yards to your drive, they could also damage your hearing.
Boffins say golfers using a new generation of titanium drivers - which help players hit the ball further - should wear ear plugs while doing so.
The must-have ultra-thin clubs are said to make a distinctive sound when the ball is hit with some describing it as "like a gun going off."
Research carried out by a team of ear specialists based at Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital suggest the sound can be so loud it can even damage hearing.
The doctors - who may also have taken the clubs out of the lab to see if they could improve their handicap - compared the sounds made by different types of clubs.
They hired a pro golfer to hit shots in an audio lab with six thin-faced titanium clubs from makers like as King Cobra, Callaway, Nike and Mizuno.
It was found that all were louder than standard thicker stainless steel drivers, and some (namely the Ping G10) could make a noise of over 130 decibels
Researcher Malcolm Buchana said: "Our results show that thin faced titanium drivers may produce sufficient sound to induce temporary, or even permanent, cochlear damage, in susceptible individuals."
The team were prompted to conduct the study after treating a 55-year-old patient who claimed he had damaged his hearing playing with a King Cobra LD titanium club three times a week for 18 months.
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