Golf Tee Punctures College Golfer's Foot in Frightening Injury
A scary incident happened to a college golfer during the 2023 NCAA Men's Golf Championship. According to Golfweek, Gregory Solhaug, a junior from the University of Oregon, was competing in the tournament at the Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, Arizona late last month when he stepped on a tee, which went through his shoe and injured his foot. Solhaug was forced to withdraw from the tournament.
"Oregon student-athlete, Gregory Solhaug, suffered a foot injury during the second round of the NCAA Division I Men's Golf Championships and was forced to withdraw from competition," Rick Nixon, the NCAA's associate director for media coordinator and statistics, said in a statement to Golfweek. Oregon, which completed Saturday's second round with four players, will have the option to substitute another player into their team lineup for subsequent competition rounds, as they deem appropriate.
Thinking of junior Greg Solhaug, who was forced to withdraw from today's round due to injury. pic.twitter.com/gxXtAeJLai
— Oregon Men's Golf (@OregonMGolf) May 27, 2023
Oregon’s Gregory Solhaug is at the course today. If you remember, he had a tee go almost all the way through his foot Saturday. He’s doing well and should be able to walk on it again in two weeks, he said #NCAAGolf pic.twitter.com/YQ9nR3WF7I
— Cameron Jourdan (@Cam_Jourdan) May 28, 2023
"I've been in golf nearly 50 years and have never seen anything like that," Oregon men's coach Casey Martin said, per Golf Digest. "He was in a lot of pain." Following the injury Cameron Jourdan of Golfweek reached out to Solhaug and posted a photo of him on crutches with his left foot wrapped in bandages. Solhaug told Jourdan that he was doing well and will be able to walk on his foot again in a couple of weeks.
Redshirt freshman Gabriel Hari took Solhaug's place in the tournament. But the Ducks came up short in the NCAA Championships as they could not get past the third round. "We had a great year," Martin said. "It's tough 'cause you don't want to finish like that, but we had a great year and have nothing to be ashamed of. We just ran out of gas. We had a lot of adversity here this weekend, but that's alright. The kids are resilient, we'll be right back and we'll do it again next year. I'm really proud of them."
Solhaug had a strong 2022-23 season as he had seven top-20 finishes. He was third on the team in birdies with 110 and shot a career-low 64 at the Western Intercollegiate opening round. His production on the golf course led to him being selected as an All-Pac-12 Honorable Mention.