Italian golfer Andrea Pavan fell down an elevator shaft on Wednesday in South Africa ahead of a tournament and suffered serious back and shoulder injuries.

Pavan, 36, was due to play in the South African Open, which started on Thursday, and was staying in Stellenbosch, South Africa, 25 miles east of Cape Town, at the time of the incident.

A pair of elevator doors opened without an elevator car present, and Pavan walked through the doors and fell into the shaft, Pavan’s former Texas A&M teammate Matt Van Zandt said in a GoFundMe fundraiser.

The fall was about three stories in height, an anonymous source told the Golf Channel.

The fall caused several of Pavan’s vertebrae to fracture and also injured his shoulder. He was taken to a local hospital and has already undergone surgery.

He will need to stay in South Africa for treatment for weeks before being able to return to the U.S., Van Zandt wrote.

Pavan and Van Zandt were both members of the 2009 Texas A&M golf team that won a national title.

The Europe-based DP World Tour, which co-sanctions the South African Open, put out a statement from Pavan on Friday: “I would like to say a big thank you for all the kind words and wishes. … I had surgery on my shoulder and my back on Wednesday evening and I am currently recovering in hospital. I now have a lot of rehab and hard work ahead of me, but the care I have received so far … has been incredible, as has the support from the DP World Tour, the Sunshine Tour and all their staff here in Stellenbosch.”