COLORADO SPRINGS — The golfer couldn’t afford golf clubs.
So her father, a head mechanic at a public course, built her a set out of used clubs, even drilling holes in the driver’s head, to make it lighter for his little girl.
The golfer couldn’t afford lessons.
So her father did personal favors for the pro at the course, in exchange for lessons for his daughter.
The golfer is now in the hunt at the U.S. Women’s Open.
“That’s what keeps me going — you don’t have to come from a family of golfers to be here,” said Lizette Salas, 21, who is at even-par after two rounds at The Broadmoor. “You have to sacrifice a lot — my parents sacrificed a lot financially. But all in all, it’s worth it — and I’m definitely going to repay them.”
The recent grad of the University of Southern California is tied for 10th place in this, only her fourth pro tournament. Because of Thursday’s bad weather, she played “35 holes and a putt” on Friday, shooting 2-under in the first round and then 2-over in the second.
She was cruising until her fourth hole in the second round (No. 13, since she started at 10), when she double-bogeyed.
“I pulled it left into the rough,” Salas said, “and I tried to hit out of the rough with the hybrid — and that did not work. It just skidded a couple of yards. I hit another hybrid, chipped and two-putted for double. That was an oops-ies on my part.”
But she later birdied Nos. 3 and 4 and finished the day even-par and exhausted.
“It’s been good so far, going in with no expectations,” said Salas, who twice won player of the year in the Pac-10 and was USC’s first player to make the All-America team four times (two firsts, two seconds).
She played confidently and comfortably, admittedly unaffected by the crowds. Though her father, in a USC golf shirt, admitted: “I’m still nervous. Every single shot.”
Salas is a likable, bubbly young woman who has a searing sense of pride. Her parents, Ramon and Martha, both moved to the U.S. from Mexico in the 1970s, raising their family in Azusa, Calif. Lizette fell for golf at age 7, and while she ascended, her family continued to struggle financially. Through it all, the family held on to Martha’s father’s land in Mexico — “It was precious to her,” Lizette said of her mother — but the family finally agreed to sell it. Much of the money was used to pay for Lizette’s golf equipment and traveling.
“My parents,” she said, “I don’t know what I’d do without them.”
Salas finds positivity in negativity. She feeds off it. At USC, she was asked to give a graduation speech at the ceremony for all the graduating athletes. She was nervous and got teary-eyed before the first line, but she shared an emotional tale.
“There were countless times I was told that I wouldn’t make it,” she said, “or I would be getting my hopes up — because according to them, Mexicans don’t play golf. But I just have one thing to say to them: They do now.”
Benjamin Hochman: 303-954-1294 or bhochman@denverpost.com
