MOST golfers head out for a round trying to make a birdie or two.
Thoughts of snakes, on the other hand, don’t usually come to mind.
However, this was the case during a less-than-spectacular game at the Wild Coast Sun CC last week.
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The weather was perfect and the course in superb condition, but we spent more time looking for lost balls in the knee-high grass.
On the 8th hole, after another hunt in the rough, I felt a pain in my calf, more of an itch than anything else. “Just a sting,” I thought.
I had a quick look and noticed some red dots, with two quite close together.
They were extremely itchy and I probably shouldn’t have scratched them as it seemed to make it worse.
There was no swelling or bruising that I could see.
However, by the 12th the sensation had not gone away.
As one with an active imagination I thought I’d show my playing partner, you know, for some reassurance.
My concern was the close proximity of the two marks.
“Looks like a snake bite, probably a green mamba,” said my mate, straight-faced, with a look of concern.
I felt the blood drain away and I felt somewhat light-headed.
“You’ve gone pale,” said my friend. Then he burst out laughing, saying he wasn’t even sure what a snake bite looked like.
It’s funny how powerful the mind can be and how it can play tricks on you.
“I’m sure you could just feel the venom surging through your veins,” joked another player in the fourball.
So, on the 14th tee, now suitably convinced that I wasn’t in need of urgent medical attention, I settled down and made two birdies in the last five holes.
In between that was a shot into the thick rough on the 16th … which I left for a spotter to find one day!
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