You never know where a chance meeting or a casual introduction will take you.
Case in point is this past weekend's U.S. Women's Open at the Broadmoor in Colorado Springs, Colo., an event that didn't actually conclude until this morning thanks to repeated weather delays. When it finally did end, there was a name with interesting ties to both GCSAA and GCM among the top finishers — Lizette Salas of Azusa, Calif., who finished tied for 15th with a four-round total of 6-over-par 290.
Salas is a newcomer to the professional women's golf scene. She graduated from USC this spring following a collegiate career that saw her earn All-America honors in four consecutive years, and had played a handful of LPGA Futures Tour events (earning two top-10 finishes) before going toe-to-toe with the best players in the world this weekend.
But we've known Lizette since last year, when her father Ramon was selected as the first winner of GCM's Most Valuable Technician Award, which we present in partnership with Foley United. Ramon is the equipment technician at Azusa Greens Country Club in Azusa, Calif., and one of the reasons MVT voters gravitated toward his story last year was the role he played in his daughter's development on the golf course. He built her very first set of clubs in the club's maintenance shop to setting her up with Azusa Greens' club professional for lessons to working overtime in order to make the money necessary to take her to junior tournaments around the country.
At the official presentation of the award, we got a chance to meet Lizette (second from the right in this photo) and the entire Salas family. It was clear from my short conversation with Lizette just how important both of her parents — Ramon and Martha — were to her and how much she appreciated everything they had done to help her advance in the game of golf. This weekend, she began to repay her parents for those sacrifices with an inspired run through one of golf's major championships. Rick Lipsey with Sports Illustrated and Golf.com wrote a nice piece on Lizette, her family and her road to professional golf that was posted following the second round of play at the U.S. Women's Open.
From all of us at GCSAA and GCM, congrats Lizette! We look forward to watching more performances just like the one we saw this weekend throughout the rest of your career.
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