"IF YOU LIKE GOLF"
weekly online golf column
by
Chris Dortch

May 22, 2001

Two years ago, the world’s greatest golfer was as blind as the proverbial bat.

Without his glasses or contact lenses, Tiger Woods’ vision was so poor it wasn’t measurable by any standard procedures. Forget eye charts—Woods had what doctors call "counting fingers" vision.

For Woods, ever the golfing perfectionist, that sort of built-in handicap wouldn’t do. Following the lead of Fred Funk, Hale Irwin, Tom Kite and dozens of other professional golfers, Woods underwent LASIK (Laser In-situ Keratomileusis) surgery, a procedure where the cornea is reshaped by a laser beam. All Woods did after the surgery was win six straight tournaments spanning the last half of the 1999 season and the early part of 2000. And then there are his four consecutive major championship victories. Could they be attributable to LASIK?

True, Woods could play a little bit before his surgery. But his success since has encouraged countless golfers—including several in Tennessee—to try the surgery. Tennessee is blessed with several qualified doctors who can perform the procedure, and all say the golfers upon whom they’ve operated are reporting fantastic results.

"We’ve done a fair amount of golfers,’’ said Deborah DiStefano, a Chattanooga-based doctor who has performed more than 3,500 LASIK surgeries, including the country’s one millionth in October, 1999. "Amateur golfers are such that if they think their game can be improved any at all, they want to do something about it. And we’ve gotten good feedback."

There has been no evidence of a 24-handicapper transforming into a scratch player overnight after having the surgery. But every player I spoke with is pleased with the results they’ve gotten.

"We’re not going to be able to improve your game as dramatically as Tiger Woods’ game,’’ said Nashville-based Dr. Stewart Shoffner. "But what we can do is take your mind off the problem of contact lenses and glasses. When it’s a misty day or chilly, your lenses fog up, they slide down your nose, all kinds of things that break a concentration of a golf swing. By removing that worry, you can better focus on your game."

Joe Taggert, chief operating officer of the Tennessee Golf Association, had worn glasses since he was in his early teens. After undergoing LASIK surgery, the 58-year-old Taggert happily tossed his glasses aside.

"It’s been real liberating,’’ Taggert said. "It’s nice to wake up and not hunt for a pair of glasses first thing in the morning. And on the course, it’s tremendous not to have those glasses slipping down your nose and fogging."

And Taggert’s vision? It’s now perfect.

The same can be said for Griff Rudolph, son of Tennessee Golf Hall of Famer Mason Rudolph. Before undergoing LASIK surgery, Rudolph, a scratch handicapper at Colonial Country Club in Memphis, was a slave to his glasses, his vision 20-450. After LASIK, Rudolph is 20-15 in his left eye and 20-20 in his right.

"I couldn’t be happier," Rudolph. "There’s no question it’s helped me. I had a prescription where my vision could not be corrected enough to wear contacts. I’d always worn glasses. I’ll never forget playing the second day of the Memphis Golf Association championship after getting the LASIK done. We had a thunder shower. Before, I’d have had trouble playing in those kinds of conditions because my glasses would have fogged up. It was so neat to not worry about that any more."

"It appears like a miraculous treatment to some people,’’ said Dr. David Meyer, who owns the Memphis-based Meyer Vision Correction center and the new, Jack Nicklaus-designed Spring Creek Ranch Golf Club in Collierville. "Griff is a great example of a very good golfer where all of a sudden, life is very different for him. We can’t guarantee golfer they’ll be a good player like Griff, or have dramatic results like Tiger, but I can guarantee you life will be easier. And you’ll see better than you have in years."

Rudolph’s surgery didn’t take at first. After an initial improvement, his eyes regressed to about 20-100. But he was able to have an enchancement performed a few months later. "And they absolutely nailed it," Rudolph said.

Rudolph’s experience might sound scary to some, but doctors insist the procedure is safe and effective.

"There are a lot of urban legends out there," Shoffner said. "But the most likely complaints you’ll hear are from individual who have severe nearsightedness. The more tissue you remove to correct that nearsightedness, the more likely you’ll hear complaints.

"But if you ask those same people whether they’d do the surgery again, they all say, ‘Of course.’

"With any surgery that’s been done, there’s risk. But let’s put this in proper perspective. More than four million of these procedures have been done around the world. Contact lens wearers are more likely to go blind than people who have LASIK. We have yet to see a person go blind. But we lose eye balls every year to contact lens-induced corneal infections."

Shoffner has done more than 3,000 LASIK surgeries, with an overwhelming success ratio. "I’ve had one person tell me they wouldn’t do it again, and that individual had severe dry eyes and cataracts," he said.

Some patients have reported blurry vision at dusk and a hallow effect surrounding lights, but those occurrences are rare.

"And we can tell in the majority of cases who’s going to get hallowing in the initial evaluation," DiStefano said. "Most people are willing to take that risk to get rid of glasses during the day."

One such person was Nashville radio personality Jerry House, who allowed Shoffner to perform a less-traditional LASIK procedure called monovision. Most nearsighted patients who undergo the surgery will eventually need reading glasses. But with monovision, only one eye is corrected for nearsightedness.

"Which means you can see for distance with one eye and up close with the other," Shoffner said.

After a lengthy adjustment period, House loves monovision.

"It’s not a walk in the park adjusting," House said. "You do lose a little depth perception—at least that’s my excuse when I top the ball. But I’m happy and thrilled now. It used to be that I always had to ask my playing partners if my ball landed on the green.

"Now I can see it when it goes in the water or lands in the woods. It’s just fabulous. With monovision, I can see my drives land with one eye and sign the scorecard with the other."

LASIK surgery seldom takes more than a few minutes. After numbing a patient’s eyes with "eye drop" anesthesia, the doctor makes a protective flap in the cornea. Patients might sense a feeling of pressure at this stage, but no discomfort.

After the flap is made, patients are asked to look directly at a target light while the laser reshapes the cornea, usually in less than a minute. After the laser’s work is done, the protective flap is folded back in place, where it bonds securely without stitches.

"The procedure’s nothing," House said. "It’s so simple. They really have it down."

Patients can usually see perfectly right away.

"I was a little teary-eyed, but I could see the eye chart perfectly right after the surgery," Taggert said. "I could never have done that without my glasses."

Shoffner, who has performed dozens of LASIK procedures on golfers, encourages his patients to become comfortable with the procedure before they undergo surgery.

"We try to give people who come into our office an enormously pleasant experience," he said. "We’ve got a collegiate atmosphere. Patients who wish to watch a procedure can do so before they have it done. They see it’s quick and painless and watch people sit up and start reading the clock right after the surgery. They cheer and clap and congratulate each other."

Shoffner’s business has picked up drastically after the success of Woods—now a spokesman for the company that performed his surgery—and other noted pros such as Tom Kite and Hale Irwin had the procedure. On May 14, 2000, tournaments on all three tours—Jesper Parnevik on the PGA Tour, Pat Hurst on the LPGA Tour and Irwin on the Senior Tour—where won by LASIK patients.

"After Tom Kite gave some interviews about his (LASIK), I had six golfers come in the next day," Shoffner said. "Two were from the same foursome. They were very competitive with each other. Each one didn’t want the other to have an edge."

Apparently, a lot of golfers are looking for an edge. The American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery estimates than 750,000 LASIK procedures will be performed in 2000, this despite a cost that could approach $2,500 per eye.

"I would recommend it,’’ said Taggert. "Absolutely."

"It’s just fabulous," House said. "It really truly is."

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