That Time A Pro Golfer Suffered a Snake Bite During Tournament

Melissa Reid, a winner on the Ladies European Tour and member of the 2011 European Solheim Cup team, is taking part in the second stage of LPGA Q-School in Florida this week. Reid has had a very rough 2012, way beyond golf: Her mother died in a car accident a few months ago. We hope Mel has a good week and Florida and makes it through the Finals, too, and onto the LPGA.

But seeing her name in the results reminded me of an earlier incident in Reid's young career: The time she suffered a snake bite while playing a tournament in China. It was the 2010 Sanya Ladies Open in Hainan. The snake was venomous. Tournament officials urged her to go to the hospital, but Reid refused. Instead, she took treatment right there on the course - involving needles and having to swallow 20 anti-venom pills - and continued with her round.

And wound up shooting 68. From a fuller account in the The Sun:

“It happened just after I hit my second shot to the right of the 16th hole. I was going through a boggy patch of ground, and I felt something sharp on my leg, like a scratch.

“I was like, ‘what was that?’ and I started running. My caddie, Lee, was like, ‘Reidy: run faster, it’s after you again!’

“The head greenkeeper came over and said he’d spoken to one of his assistants, who was a snake expert.

“And he said it was venomous, but not one of the deadly ones.

“They said I had to go straight to the hospital — but I hadn’t even played my third shot into 16 yet. My playing partners finished the hole and we called a couple of groups through.

“I was determined to finish my round, and after the treatment I pitched to about six foot and made birdie. That was for the snake!”

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