Daniela Holmqvist: Tough Golfer Outlasts Black Widow
First off, we’re talking about the Swedes here. Yes, they are the ones who flattened everything from Iceland to the British isles, and threatened to turn most of Europe into a sno-cone existence. They explore far-off lands. They are tough, arctic-forged and single-minded when it comes to victory, whether it’s with battle axes or golf clubs.
In previous articles, I’ve concluded that golf is not necessarily the safe sport it is purported to be. We’ve had sharks fall out of the sky in California and charging lions in Africa. In further readings, I’ve come across a golfer who was attacked by a crow in his golf cart. Apparently, it went for his eyes. Another poor gentleman stepped to the right to see where his drive had gone, impaling himself on a sharp tee box. Who designed that one? Someone broke everything below the waist line after slipping on a railroad tie, causing me to ask what a railroad tie was doing on a golf course in the first place, outside of adding some decorative character.
Even putting has its dangers, as was learned by a hapless player who was rewarded for sinking his putt, cutting his hands on the shards of a shattered flag stick. There has even been a case where a golfer who, feeling fine one moment, took the club back over his head, and froze in place before he could start the downswing – yes, shoulders and arms just stuck in place. That must have been an out-of-the-ordinary entrance to the emergency room.
But back to the point – we’re talking about the Swedes – the international tough guys…and girls. Daniela Holmqvist is a rookie on the European Ladies Tour. She’s new, so I can understand her wanting to not only make a good impression, but get to the winning thing as quickly as possible. Holmqvist graduated a year ago from the University of California with an admirable record. Like her ancestors, she was exploring the far-off land of Australia.
Coming out of the rough on an early hole, she felt a sting above her ankle, and looking down, watched a black widow spider, hourglass and all, scurry away. The local caddies responded with great seriousness, informing her that such a spider can kill a child within a half hour, and that she’d better get help. That, however, would mean cutting her qualifying round short – no way, Gustavus, no way.
Daniela continued to play, and her leg continued to swell. Although she is reported to have finished the round in the company of a medic, little else is said of this health professional, who was certainly not jumping to the fore at the big moment, that instant where Daniela Holmqvist decided that her leg had swollen enough, and something had to be done.
Bringing to mind forest creatures who chew their limbs off to escape a trap, or trapped hikers who practice self-amputation to escape being pinned underwater by boulders, Holmqvist opened up her leg to release an enormous amount of “clear fluid.” No scalpels or tourniquets. She did it all with a golf tee – just dug in there and took it out before continuing to play.
Ordinarily, it might not be the greatest scoring around, but Daniela finished with a 74, not bad at all considering the extreme action taken. She’s under careful monitoring now, and is still anxious to know when she can begin working out again. Apparently, that was one of her first questions of the doctor, who responded with what she described as “a death stare.”
The culture who created Ingmar Johanson, Annika Sorenstam and Eric the Red is still going strong. Keep your eye on Daniela Holmqvist.
Wonderful! The role model one can aspire to be like when the sin of the ‘love of ease’ shirks us from our duties and our path to toward perfection!
Per the Huffington post, from the mouth of a LPGA tour spokesman:
“Golfers are often subjected to Mother Nature and various animal encounters, but certainly we were surprised to hear about that incident and simultaneously impressed by her quick thinking.”
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/02/13/daniela-holmqvist-black-widow-golf_n_2679937.html
She later joked she was hoping stories about being a badass would surround the incident – well she is a badass – good for her.
Per ESPN, it was apparently a redback, not at all a north American native.
http://espn.go.com/golf/story/_/id/8943943/daniela-holmqvist-plays-spider-bite-australia
It was mentioned earlier how the challenges of golf are related to mental challenges and the nature of the changing environment – many football stadiums are covered up when it snows, basketball professionally is played in doors, you don’t frequently encounter sand and alligators in Tennis! I think Golf might also be more a mental game than other sports, simply because it involves almost two “selves” – one, the rational ‘I must setup the shot this way with this club’ and then the emotional and resilient ‘ok, just go through the chip shot routine, you’ve practiced this a million times, don’t let subtle emotion influence this ingriand routine I’ve done to perfection. It does not at all surprise me that someone who made it to the professional ranks, who no doubt was shaped by hardship, chances for resilience, and adversity, found herself with a minor inconvenience while playing, and used that stored resilience in response.
Whose up for playing? Bring on the spiders ☺