HOME AND AWAY PATRICK SMYTH, PHYSIOTHERAPIST WITH THE PGA EUROPEAN TOUR Philip Reidtalks to the Cobh man who says there isn't a golf course he hasn't run on the European tour, from tee to green in the semi-rough for 18 holes
THE PGA European Tour has expanded to such an extent it is more a global tour these days than one just confined, as it was in its original state, to Europe. These days, it can be found, it seems, in every nook and cranny. Europe. Asia. Australia. The Middle East. Oh, and don't forget that the American majors and world golf championships also count for the European money list. To be sure, it's a real global tour.
And, more often than not, wherever the tour travels, so too does Patrick Smith. No, he's not a new challenger to Paul McGinley, Graeme McDowell, Peter Lawrie et al; although, chances are, Smith - an eight-handicapper member of Cobh Golf Club, and proud of the fact his home club has purchased land to extend to 18 holes - will be on site at as many tournaments as any touring professional . . . and he always makes the weekend cut!
Indeed, a common late-evening happening throughout the season is to see Smith, a one-time athletic scholarship student in California, hot-footing it in the semi-rough (after the practice rounds have finished) as he undergoes his still daily running training regime.
Smith, who attends up to 32 tournaments around the world in his capacity as one of the European Tour's physiotherapists, grew up with athletics as his sporting passion but is very much a part of the professional golfing scene. And, like many things, his introduction to life on tour came about by accident.
When the professional golfing circus rolled into town for the Irish Open at Fota Island in 2002, Smith got chatting to Des Smyth. He was at the tournament as a spectator but, after meeting Smyth, was introduced to the Belgian physiotherapist Guy Delacave who had instigated the idea of touring physiotherapy treatment for players at the various tournaments.
After that introduction, Smith - who had his own clinic in Cork - was asked if he could work a few days in the touring clinic in Fota Island. He did; and also went on to work at the following week's European Open at The K Club . . . and subsequently was offered a position at a number of tournaments for the remainder of the 2002 season. For three years he combined working on tour with running his own clinic but, eventually, something had to give, and he went on tour full-time.
Smith, who had grown up in Cobh where he played football and hurling as well as competed in athletics meets, attended college at San Luis Obispo in California on an athletics scholarship. It was there he did sports physical therapy and, while he continued to compete on track and road and ran for Ireland in cross country, physiotherapy became his career path.
But running is still in his blood. "There isn't a golf course I haven't run on tour, normally in the evenings after play. I'd run tee to green in the semi-rough for 18 holes and then might do another nine holes," he says.
Since first working with golfers back in 2002, Smith has noticed big changes with the physical fitness of professional golfers. "A lot of the modern golfers are athletes. They go to the gym twice a day, and they're on physical fitness programmes. A lot of the guys we're seeing are fitter than in previous years," says Smith, who points out their job is more to do with preventative measures, although adding: "We are also presented with injuries on a daily basis and deal with them there and then. This time of year, when the ground is much harder, we see a lot more injuries. A lot of work is preventative, so we do a lot of soft tissue work. But you get to know a player well, you know their swing and their biomechanics and know where the problems are."
The physiotherapy truck is something to behold. Now sponsored by Leisurecorp - the group who own Turnberry and behind the "Race to Dubai" concept which from 2009 will provide the climax to the European Tour season - the unit also contains a gym, pharmacy and has plasma TV screens in the physiotherapy area. The unit has two teams of physios, chiropractors and osteopaths operating a two-shift roster that ensures an all-day presence, from 90 minutes before the first tee-time to 8pm.
A walk-in and wait service is in operation for players, most of whom have at one stage or another had the need to visit the truck which is normally located behind the driving range. "We're trained to treat the problem, not the personality," explains Smith, lest anyone should think there would be moments a physio should feel star-struck should someone like Tiger Woods knock on the door (as he has done) looking for treatment.
Smith is on the road, away from Cobh, for in excess of 31 weeks a year. The only tournament left in Ireland these days is the Irish Open, but life away from home is something Smith has grown used to. "I left home when I was 17 to go to California on an athletics scholarship and then also spent time in Australia and London. But, you know, there's no place like Ireland. I wouldn't want to settle or live anywhere else at the end of the day . . . that stretch from Cork to Kerry, I love it."
