LPGA

(program) came into play. … It kind of expanded and blew up, and now there’s all kinds of ladies groups that you can join.” ough female participation in golf has been growing slowly since DeSantis has been a pro, the COVID-19 pandemic is where it really began to skyrocket. e National Golf Foundation reported that in 2019, there were 5.6 million female golfers. Today, there are 6.4 million, a 15% increase in the female player base in comparison to a 2% increase in male players during that time period.

“Way unexpected,” DeSantis said. “I mean, the lessons went crazy, the rounds went crazy. Most of it was because it was one of the few sports that people could still come out (and play). … I think it introduced a lot of people back into the sport and into the sport.”

She has taught LPGA 101, a

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20 hours of work or training activities per week does nothing to help people nd or maintain employment, it just makes the program beginner’s golf lessons program for women and their families, since its inception in 2019. at’s when she began to work with Dan O’Shaughnessy, who took over as Head PGA Pro at Springhill in 2020.

O’Shaughnessy, whose main goal is to expose the game to as many people as possible, built a dedicated learning area in 2021 for DeSantis and others to teach newcomers. Even though 70-year-old DeSantis retired in 2021, O’Shaughnessy has kept the door open for her to teach on weekends, a nod to the value she brings to the course.

Plus, DeSantis doesn’t think she’ll ever stop wanting to teach.

“I would say Karen is a bit of an anomaly in that she still loves to teach after” 40 years in the business, O’Shaughnessy said. “A lot don’t. … (She’s) passionate about teaching, helping golfers, giving them the tools for starting out. She’s just really good at knowing what to give people and how much to give them, so (students) aren’t overwhelmed.” at passion and knack for teach- more costly to administer.

“Taking away someone’s food does not make it easier to hold down a job, or go to that job interview,” Rose contended. “It just creates more red tape for people to access the basic resources that they need.”

In 2017, SNAP added more than $700 million to local Colorado econ- ing is what got Liz Vonau to stick around for a ve-lesson course from DeSantis.

Vonau had a little experience gol ng as a teenager with her father, but she never got into it. Last summer, at 41, she decided to jump back in. She wanted to take up something outdoorsy, and with her father still being an avid golfer, she wanted to be able to do that with him.

One of the only ways to get better at golf is to go out and play a course, but for many new golfers, doing so can be intimidating at rst. According to Vonau, DeSantis has a air for making the learning process more comfortable.

“She really taught you the basics, but then also taught you to not be intimidated,” Vonau said. “It was just like building that con dence of (saying) if you hit well, you don’t need to hit far. (She) really makes you feel like you don’t have to be the best player, you don’t have to be the farthest hitter to go and play and have fun.”

A year after taking lessons from omies, with an overall economic impact of $1.25 billion, but the state loses more than $230 million each year in grocery sales by not having all eligible residents enrolled. Rose noted back in 2019, just 59% of Coloradans eligible for SNAP got assistance.

“With the 2021 numbers, we’ve jumped up to 73%,” Rose acknowl-