A golfer hit on the head by a stray ball feared he was millimetres away from possible death, a court has been told.

Iain Gray, 69, of Winscales Avenue, High Harrington, suffered an injury to his brain at Workington Golf Club in April 2011.

A county court trial in Workington heard that the club had not taken steps to reduce or highlight the risk of balls being hit from the first competition tee to the area around the green of the second hole, where Mr Gray was standing when the accident happened.

In a statement Mr Gray, a club member since the age of 17, said he was left with a puncture to his skull and bruising and bleeding to his brain.

The court heard he had a continuing increased risk of epilepsy as a result of the focal injury to his brain.

He had difficulty sleeping following the accident, suffering dizziness if he tried to lay flat, and experienced periodic pain for six weeks.

Concerned about his progress, Mr Gray returned to his doctor and had another scan.

Mr Gray, who is suing the club for damages, said: "The scan showed that the injury was resolving slowly which made me feel a little more relieved.

"That said I was still very anxious and having thoughts that I was millimetres away from a possible fatality."

He was unable to drive for eight months, had to take a break from his work as a school sports coach and his speech and word recall were also affected, he said.

The judge, Her Honour Recorder Howells, sitting in Workington, heard that Mr Gray was on the fringe of the green at the course’s second hole when fellow golfer Graeme Hodkin struck a ball from the first competition tee around 220 yards away.

The ball flew over or through a copse of trees, around five to six metres high, to the left of its starting point before striking Mr Gray.

Golf expert Trevor Homer told the court the angle of the ball when it left the tee was within the margin hit in 92 per cent of shots.

He added that an out of bounds area to the right of the tee made it more likely that players would angle their shots to the left.

Peter Burns, barrister for the golf club, told the court the copse provided effective shelter from balls heading towards the second green from the first, unless they travelled higher than the trees.

Mr Gray said: “It doesn’t have to be an unusual shot to hook a bit that way.”

Fellow members disagreed about the likelihood and frequency of such a shot occurring.

Golfers Richard Scraggs and Kenneth Frazer, both of High Harrington, recalled seeing balls land on the second green, having gone over or through the trees.

But Peter Hoskin, club secretary, said: "It's not difficult for someone to hit over trees if they're aiming in that direction but from the first tee that's not your aimed direction."

Jonathan Allbutt, expert witness for the golf club, said a response to risk assessments must be proportionate to the risk identified.

He estimated that about 20,000 games were played each year and Mr Gray's was the only accident of its kind.

The court heard that club officials had assessed safety risks in July 2010, prior to the accident, and July 2011, after it, and had not identified any safety concerns in the area of the accident.

Guy Jeffrey, a former chairman of greens who works in health and safety, said: "We didn't consider the hole any major health and safety problem.

"There's been one accident in, as far as I can remember, 44 years."

In 2013 the club called in a firm of health and safety experts.

Among other things, the firm recommended that the club urgently address the area where the accident happened.

As a minimum it recommended erecting a sign warning players at the first tee about the possibility of people on the second green.

The court heard these recommendations were not carried out.

Mr Jeffrey said: "We as a club and board of directors didn't believe there was any major hot spot."

He added that new signage warning of health and safety issues was planned across the course.

Club officials told the hearing they had received no reports of near misses involving stray balls, either at the second green or elsewhere.

Since the incident, the court heard, the trees had been thinned out, though club officials said this had been as a result of trees falling rather than being cut back.

Mr Gray has since returned to playing golf at the club.

He said: "Of course I am more nervous but I had to take a necessary first step back to my recovery as I loved playing golf and looked forward to playing in my retirement."

A judgement in the case is expected in mid March.