MyTurn by JIM DUCIBELLA
Diaz Preparing For Her Moment
She stood on the 10th tee , imprisoned in a relentless , torrential rain , during the second round of the Kingsmill Championship in May . Elsa Diaz draped a white towel over her head and shoulders . She resembled The Flying Nun or an Arab sheikh , which would have been funny and appropriate given her vivacious personality , but for the circumstances .
Not even halfway through her professional debut , Diaz stood 13 over par on her way to an eventual score of 17 over and last-place finish . But only someone who ’ d lost touch with reality would have been surprised .
In the days immediately preceding the t o u r n a m e n t , D i a z moved out of her living quarters in Richmond on May 12 and graduated from the University of Richmond the next day . Three days later , she returned with the Spiders ’ women ’ s team from Florida and the NCAA regionals . That night , she and her sister , Sara , began contacting potential sponsors . Then she turned professional . Kingsmill and a sponsor ’ s exemption began immediately after that .
People asked how she prepped for her big moment .
“ I ’ m going to work more on the mental game , remind myself that this is now my fulltime job , this is what I ’ ve wanted to do .” – Elsa Diaz
She couldn ’ t .
Don ’ t expect Diaz ’ s Kingsmill performance to be the norm as she climbs onto the LPGA Tour . Her past hints at her having the talent and , her admirers say , the indefatigable work ethic needed to succeed .
She won one tournament as a senior at UR and posted six career top-10 finishes . She captured the 2015 VSGA Women ’ s Stroke Play title at Two Rivers CC then came back two years later to finish second by a stroke at Blacksburg Country Club .
Should Diaz even come close to winning , she ’ ll be a media darling . The girl ’ s got a tale .
She spent her first seven years in Mexico before moving to Texas because her parents wanted her to learn to speak Spanish first . She started playing golf at 9 and hated it for six years . Then she entered a First Tee event at Pebble Beach , looked out at the ocean from the 10th hole , and was hooked on playing for pay .
She hangs out with former San Antonio Spurs star Bruce Bowen , a close friend of the family , who she calls her “ uncle .” That relationship has its privileges , such as the night Bowen stopped by her home in San Antonio , Rory McIlroy in tow .
Keep an eye on former Richmond Spider Elsa Diaz as she begins her hopeful journey to the LPGA Tour .
Ask me anything , McIlroy offered . Diaz wanted to know what happened to him at this year ’ s Masters , where a final-round 74 cost him his latest attempt to finish a career grand slam . McIlroy confessed that he tried to be somebody he wasn ’ t that day , and advised her to be true to herself and her game .
“ I guess that ’ s the beauty of professional golf ,” she said . “ When the nerves are up how well can you keep to yourself ? Playing college golf , you think you have it down a little bit , but being able to play at a course like this in an event like this taught me what I need to work on to get out here with these girls .”
Diaz will tackle that task under the guidance of Adolfo , her father , occasional caddie and coach . It ’ s an intriguing arrangement .
He ’ s a chiropractor who didn ’ t take up golf until his 30s and , Diaz said , only because so many patients came to him with golf-related back and neck problems . He decided he would develop a biomechanical swing to help them .
When his daughter tried it , she found “ that I could compete , that I could play well , and that ’ s why I haven ’ t let him go . The partnership I have with him , the relationship , is very valuable to me .”
During college , Adolfo gave her lessons via Skype . That won ’ t be necessary once she moves back to Texas after spending the summer at Independence GC , where she ’ s a jane-of-all-trades , up at all hours , working , and working on her game .
She does that in an unconventional way , saying “ I don ’ t really follow many drills because I ’ m trying to follow the biomechanical part of my swing . That ’ s the path I ’ ve taken .”
Despite her travails at Kingsmill , she called the experience “ a big confidence booster .”
“ I ’ m going to work more on the mental game , remind myself that this is now my fulltime job , this is what I ’ ve wanted to do ,” she said . “ I need to remember that I was out here and that I can compete with these girls .”
CHRIS LANG
40 V IRGINIA G OLFER | J ULY / A UGUST 2018 vsga . org