A PROMISING young golfer is lucky to be alive after being trapped under a 60-foot tree that fell on him as he was starting a round.
Kumar Starkie-Gupta, 18, was teeing off for a match at Pinner Hill Golf Club in Southview Road, Pinner, on Sunday when a 200-year-old tree came down in a strong gust of wind at the first hole.
The 18-year-old, of The Broadway, Stanmore, was knocked over by the fallen tree and is now recovering at Northwick Park Hospital in Watford Road, Harrow.
Alan Findlater, manager at Pinner Hill Golf Club, said: “The player was trapped under the tree and he has received an injury.
“I wasn’t there at the time but I was on site and was called to it.
“He was hit by the tree, he was very lucky, I will give him that.
“His playing partner jumped out of the way and I believe he has a small injury to his knee.
“By the time I got there Kumar had wriggled his way out from under the tree and was receiving help from the others.
“He had been trapped in a space where a branch had fallen.
“I believe, having spoken to his mother, there is a possibility that he has a small hairline fracture on his spine and he is undergoing tests.”
Kumar started in September a two-year Level 3 BTEC extended diploma in sport at Stanmore College and the near-scratch golfer is part of new Golf Academy Scheme run in partnership with Stanmore Golf Club in Gordon Avneue, Stanmore.
The 18-year-old eventually hopes to go to an American university on a golf scholarship.
Ben Rawlings, personal tutor and sports lecturer at Stanmore College, said: “Kumar is at a very high level and his handicap is one, and he could turn professional.
“He is with us for the next couple of years but his long term aim is to be a professional golfer.
“I don’t think the medical staff know yet exactly what has happened but we are all hopeful he will make a full recovery.
“I think he was quite shaken up, his concern is getting back on the golf course as that’s his main love.
“He is very lucky to walk away from it without more severe injuries.
“He is in discomfort at the moment but he was hugely lucky.”
Kumar is captain of the Middlesex Schools Boy’s Golf Team and was due to play in a championship for the south of England later this month although it is unclear whether he will be back to full health by then.
Manager of Stanmore Golf Club Allan Knott said: “Kumar is a member here, he is one of our lowest handicapped players.
“He has been a member for two and a half years. He is a really promising player.
“He is here most days and is really keen on his golf.
“If the tree had hit him directly he could have been killed, from what I have heard. Hopefully he will be playing golf again soon.”
A spokeswoman for the London Ambulance Service said: “We were called at 8.45am to reports of a patient who had been hit by a tree.
“Our staff treated a man for a back injury and he was taken to Northwick Park hospital.”
The tree is now being sawn up and removed from Pinner Hill Golf Course.
