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My Experience of Asian Golf Q-school Tour

I am writing to share the experience of my first Asian Golf Tour Q- school as a physiotherapist. I travelled to Hua Hin in Thailand to provide the physiotherapy cover for the Asian Golf tour Qualifying school from 24 December to 30 December, where I was accompanied by two of my Thai colleagues. It was incredible to see around 240 players, both Amateur and professional from around 30 different countries competing with each other to qualify for upcoming Asian tour. The all-important Final Qualifying stage was played over 90 holes at the Lakeview Golf club where the top 35 players earned their playing rights on the Asian Tour in 2019.

Although, I had worked with the Ladies European Golf tour and also have travelled with our National hockey academy to Holland for the Elite U-16 Hockey Cup earlier this year.  Admittedly, the experience of this event was way different from the other. From Food exploration to linguistic barrier everyday was full of exciting moments. But the most interesting part was meeting and working players from all around the world. What fascinated me on the tour was how all these players, born and trained in different countries, in different cultures and circumstances reflects similar physical and mental stresses and being physios we need to cater to these issues.

During the tours, Physiotherapists are generally the earliest risers and last to bed. We used to meet the players in the physio room an hour before the first tee, which was around 6 am to help prepare players with pre-game taping and warm up. During the tournament, if anyone encounters any on-course injury, we used to do a quick assessment, and immediate management on the course itself. Golf is different from other sports where physio does not generally get to see the game but is mostly working behind the scenes the whole day because we are busy either preparing one group before their play or managing the injuries of another group after they Tee Off.

On the tours, a physio sometimes has to take up the medical role as well and deal with conditions like blisters, Flu and diarrhea. And Hua Hin being hot at this point led to a lot of players suffering from foot blisters, skin rashes and heat related illness. Apart from this, golfers come in with their acute or chronic issues such as elbow pain, neck pain and back being the most common. As we were the first point of contact, it was important for us to take the right decision at the right time, in providing the appropriate treatment to the player. And I tried delivering the same in the best of my capacity, by being aware of the scope of my practice.

At the end, I can say as a physio, our job does demand serious effort and commitment but travelling to different countries for such sporting events give immense exposure and provides a great learning experience.

Also, I am happy to be a part of ProHealth Asia where I get opportunities to explore the various fields of sports.

 

Author by RITIKA CHAWLA, Jan 22, 2019,

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