Aurora LPGA golf pioneer still bringing women into the game

BY BRAIDON NOURSE FOR SENTINEL COLORADO

Karen DeSantis knew early on in becoming a golf pro, the journey would take her far beyond the course.

Almost 40 years after starting down that path, she’s arrived.

“It was just something I wanted real badly,” DeSantis said. “I just loved it.”

She has the same passion now as she did when she rst picked up her own club: Grow the game and make it more accessible to any who might want to try it, especially women. DeSantis’ dedication to the game, and a welcoming and helpful demeanor to those who come to her for guidance, has long been her trademark teaching and coaching on Aurora courses.

Her love for the game started at 31. She would go out to courses with her husband, Carl DeSantis, to spend time with him while he played. She got bored watching and wanted to try it out herself. She took lessons and never looked back.

She once thought of going on tour, but money mattered, and teaching, and the stable income that comes with it was more appealing.

DeSantis started certi cation from the Ladies Professional Golf Association. In order to do that, she needed to work at least part-time at a golf course to gain experience and earn no less than an associate’s degree in a business–related eld. So she got to work.

Beginning as a part-time instructor at Springhill Golf Course in 1980, where DeSantis teaches today, she had to work nights as a server at Red Lobster to supplement her income. All the while, she went to Pickens Technical Institute in Aurora to get her associate’s degree in management of technology.

“It was a struggle, but I was pretty young,” DeSantis said. “Teaching just became my outlet. When I was on the lesson tee, I was in my own world and my own boss.”

Helping people solve a problem with a swing or a putt was as satisfying as her own personal wins.

By 1984, she was o cially an LPGA Pro.