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Searching for a Safer Golf Swing

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Golfer Teeing Off

Older golfers make up a large percentage of the overall golfing population in the United States, and that’s especially true here in southwest Florida. But, a golf swing can be hard on a person’s body, and their back in particular, and that can take a person off the course entirely. We’re going to learn about a new research study at Florida Gulf Coast University that seeks to discover ways to increase the longevity of people’s golf games. And, we’re going to learn about the university’s PGA Golf Management Program, it’s one of just 18 in the country.

We're joined by FGCU junior Thor Parrish, who conducted the study, along with Dr. Maria Colmer, who is an Associate Professor - Rehabilitation Sciences and who helped with the study. And, we're joined by Tara McKenna, she's director of the PGA Golf Management Program.

Rachel Iacovone is a reporter and associate producer of Gulf Coast Live for WGCU News. Rachel came to WGCU as an intern in 2016, during the presidential race. She went on to cover Florida Gulf Coast University students at President Donald Trump's inauguration on Capitol Hill and Southwest Floridians in attendance at the following day's Women's March on Washington.Rachel was first contacted by WGCU when she was managing editor of FGCU's student-run media group, Eagle News. She helped take Eagle News from a weekly newspaper to a daily online publication with TV and radio branches within two years, winning the 2016 Society of Professional Journalists Mark of Excellence Award for Best Use of Multimedia in a cross-platform series she led for National Coming Out Day. She also won the Mark of Excellence Award for Feature Writing for her five-month coverage of an FGCU student's transition from male to female.As a WGCU reporter, she produced the first radio story in WGCU's Curious Gulf Coast project, which answered the question: Does SWFL Have More Cases of Pediatric Cancer?Rachel graduated from Florida Gulf Coast University with a bachelor's degree in journalism.