Imagine stepping into the tee box, carefully adjusting the teeheight, concentrating on keeping your left arm straight and headdown. You take a deep breath in and exhale slowly as you ease yourdriver into a backswing, drop the club face down, and listen to thebeautiful "ping" sound of a golf ball taking flight. You look upand realize in horror that the ball is indeed traveling fast andfar ... as it hooks left, directly towards the parking lot full ofBMWs, Mercedes, and Lincolns.

One would think that a scenario like this would be commonplace-- and the reason for many gnashed teeth, broken club shafts, andgolf course insurance claims. But according to Travelers' recentstudy, there are other, more likely reasons for a course to make acall to its agent to report a claim.

For instance, fires account for just four percent of all claimsmade by courses, but they add up to 40 percent of property losscosts. According to Travelers, fires typically originate fromelectrical deficiencies in golf cart storage areas, often due tothe use of improper chargers or lack of electrical capacity.

Next, Travelers said that slips, trips, and falls are moreprevalent at golf courses because of the rolling terrain, waterhazards, and various pathways and walkways. Combining severity andfrequency, slips, Travelers said that trips and falls have thelargest impact on golf courses and are typically the mostpreventable.

Lastly, destruction from storms -- including wind damage andinclement weather -- make up 23 percent of total claim costs forgolf courses. This is often due to falling tree limbs and leftoverdebris following a storm.

So be sure to still yell "Fore!" if you strike an errant ball,but you might want to make sure that you are a safe distance fromthe clubhouse, and standing on solid ground.

To read Travelers' complete study on risk control for golfcourses, go to www.travelers.com.

Interested in more risk management news and in-depth articles?Head over to Claims' risk management channel for moreinformation.