Swedish golfer plays on after poisonous bite

Operating on yourself after a dangerous spider bite — just par for the course.

Daniela Holmqvist, a 24-year-old Swedish rookie on the Ladies European Tour, was bitten by a poisonous redback spider on the fourth hole of a qualifier for the Women’s Australian Open. Then, instead of packing up her clubs and heading to the nearest hospital, she dug out the venom with a golf tee and finished the final 14 holes.

After punching out of the rough at the Royal Canberra Golf Club, Holmqvist told Svensk Golf, she felt pain in her ankle and saw the creature — a member of the widow spider genus — right above her sock line.

“When I told the local caddies in my group what had happened, they got very upset and said it was a Black Widow, and immediately started looking for their phones to call the medics,” Holmqvist, who played college golf at the University of California, told the paper.

No bother, when you have plenty of tees around.

“It was the only thing I had handy,” she told Svensk, adding, “A clear fluid came out,” she said. “It wasn’t the prettiest thing I’ve ever done, but I had to get as much of it out of me as possible.”

She was healthy enough to shoot a 74 as medics followed her around to ensure she was out of danger. However, the score was not good enough to qualify for the tournament.

“It still hurts,” she said. “I don’t recommend getting bitten by a [redback].”

Australian Golf Digest, cited the University of Melbourne, reported 250 people are treated for redback bites each year, but no deaths have been reported since the discovery of an antidote in 1955.

On Twitter she wrote, “So I went to see a doctor. On a double dose of antibiotics and some other stuff 4 times per day. Also the wound needed some attention.”