You are here

Article Text

Article menu

Download PDFPDF

XML
Original research
Assessing the risk of SARS-CoV-2 transmission in international professional golf
  1. Patrick G Robinson1,2,
  2. Andrew Murray2,3,
  3. Graeme Close4,
  4. Denis F Kinane5,6
  1. 1Department of Trauma & Orthopaedics, Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK
  2. 2European Tour Performance Institute, Virginia Water, UK
  3. 3Department of Sports and Exercise/ Physical Activity for Health Research Centre, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK
  4. 4Department of Human Physiology, Liverpool John Moores University Faculty of Science, Liverpool, UK
  5. 5School of Dental Medicine, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland
  6. 6Medical and Scientific Department, Cignpost Diagnostics, Farnborough, UK
  1. Correspondence to Dr Andrew Murray; docandrewmurray{at}gmail.com

Abstract

Objectives There is no published data on the incidence or risk of SARS-CoV-2 transmission when playing golf, a sport played outdoors where social distancing is possible. The purpose of this prospective study was to report incidence and transmission regarding SARS-CoV-2, of professional golfers competing on the PGA European Tour across 23 events in 11 countries.

Methods Daily symptom and temperature checks and weekly reverse transcriptase PCR (RT-PCR) screening were performed to determine potential carriage of SARS-CoV-2. Onset and type of symptomology were analysed. Gene expression and cycle thresholds (Cts) were reviewed for all positive cases. Repeat PCR testing was performed on all positive players. RT-PCR analysis included human housekeeping genes and various RNA genes specific for SARS-CoV-2.

Results During the study period, there were 2900 RT-PCR tests performed on 195 professional golfers competing on the European Tour. Four players tested positive on-site during the study period (0.14% of tests; positive results were declared with Ct <40). Two positive tests were returned as part of routine protocols, while two reported a history of close contact with an individual who had tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 and were isolated and target tested. All were asymptomatic at time of testing, with three developing symptoms subsequently. None required hospital admission. There was no transmission from player to player.

Conclusion Golf is an outdoor sport where social distancing is possible, meaning risks can be low if guidance is followed by participants. Risk of transmission of SARS-CoV-2 can be mitigated by highly accurate RT-PCR testing of participants and by setting up a safe bubble that includes testing players and support staff, as well as all persons coming into contact with them during the course of the tournament, for example, drivers and hotel staff. This report can also provide reassurance for participants and policy makers regarding community golf, which can be encouraged for the health benefits it provides, in a relatively low-risk environment, with minimal risk of transmission by observing sensible viral hygiene protocols.

  • golf
  • COVID-19
  • viral
  • immune system
  • infection

Data availability statement

Data are available on reasonable request.

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/

This is an open access article distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited, appropriate credit is given, any changes made indicated, and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/.

https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjsem-2021-001109

Statistics from Altmetric.com

    Request Permissions

    If you wish to reuse any or all of this article please use the link below which will take you to the Copyright Clearance Center’s RightsLink service. You will be able to get a quick price and instant permission to reuse the content in many different ways.

    Data availability statement

    Data are available on reasonable request.

    View Full Text

    Footnotes

    • Twitter @docandrewmurray

    • Contributors PGR: data collection, data analysis, writing manuscript and final approval. AM: study idea, data collection, data analysis, writing manuscript and final approval. GC and DFK: writing manuscript and final approval.

    • Funding The authors have not declared a specific grant for this research from any funding agency in the public, commercial or not-for-profit sectors.

    • Competing interests PGR: none. AM and GC have paid roles with The R&A, the European Tour and The Ladies European Tour. DFK is founder and chief medical officer of Cignpost Diagnostics Ltd.

    • Patient and public involvement Patients and/or the public were not involved in the design, or conduct, or reporting, or dissemination plans of this research.

    • Provenance and peer review Not commissioned; externally peer reviewed.