For some golfers, their love affair with the sport starts early. Phil Mickelson was just 18 months old when his dad introduced him to the game. Michelle Wie swung a club for the first time at four years of age. Tiger Woods had carded 48 on nine holes and made it into Golf Digest before his sixth birthday.

On the other end of the spectrum are the Diaz sisters, whose relationship with golf began, according to them, “by pure accident.”

Sara Diaz, 28, works for the PGA Tour as a marketing manager. She also manages her younger sister: Elsa Diaz, 25, is a pro golfer currently active on the mini-tour scene. Both played college golf at the University of Richmond: in 2014-15, they were even teammates. Their brother, Adolfo Edward Diaz, is 26 and works for Facebook.

Unlike Mickelson and company, none of the Diaz siblings grew up with golf. But one day, their father Adolfo was at a convention center looking for an affordable set of clubs when he stumbled across a booth promoting the First Tee, a non-profit organization that introduces young people to golf.

Adolfo returned to the car and told his kids that he had found a great summer activity for them — and an organization whose values he believed mirrored the ones taught at home.

“What started as a summertime activity turned into a program that would impact our lives,” Sara said.

Sara, Adolfo Edward and Elsa began their involvement with First Tee at the respective ages of 13, 11 and 9. It was not necessarily love at first swing. The kids played various other sports growing up, and Elsa in particular enjoyed the fast-paced nature of basketball and softball. Golf is many things, but fast-paced isn’t one of them.

So how did the sisters come around?

“The program provided such a safe environment,” Elsa said. “And because we enjoyed being part of the First Tee, it kind of helped us start to fall in love with the game of golf.”

As it turns out, First Tee did not just provide the Diaz sisters with a lifelong passion and a career path. It also provided an anchor that saw them through the toughest parts of their lives.

The Best of Both Worlds

All the Diaz children were born in the United States: Sara and Adolfo Edward in San Diego, and Elsa in El Paso, Texas. Shortly after Elsa’s birth, however, the family moved down to Chihuahua, Mexico — their mother Maria’s homeland. (Their father Adolfo is from California). The kids believed they would only be there for a year or two. Instead, they ended up staying for 12.

“My parents really wanted us to learn both (Mexican and American) cultures, and they thought that the best way to learn both cultures was to fully immerse yourself,” Sara explained. “We have a very big family. It was a very good childhood for us.”

Adolfo and Maria did not teach their children any English during their time in Mexico. The goal was for them to master Spanish and experience the local culture as authentically as possible — which they did. But when the Diazes returned stateside and established themselves in San Antonio, Texas, the kids found themselves behind the eight ball in terms of their language skills.

“We were Americans who didn’t know any English,” Sara said.

Culture shock hit the sisters like a wayward tee shot. Their father worked out of town, leaving them at home with their Spanish-speaking mom and brother for much of the week. Nor did Sara and Elsa have the luxury of bilingual or Spanish-language programs in school. Instead, they were thrown into the deep end, pre-AP classes and all.

Back then, it was hardly uncommon for the Diaz siblings to go home with Ds and Fs on their report cards. School became an omnipresent source of anxiety. Sara remembers resorting to hand gestures to inform her teacher that she needed to sharpen her pencil. Elsa struggled with alopecia areata, a condition that causes hair loss due to stress.

The First Tee was their lifeline. The Diazes learned to play golf there, but they also developed their skills in areas like fundraising, public speaking, essay writing and simply socializing in English. Bolstered by a community that empowered them to grow, they were preparing for the future without realizing it at the time.

The Diaz siblings made the kind of comeback that has become ubiquitous in Hollywood drama. All three graduated amidst the top 5 percent of students at their high school, with Sara and Adolfo Edward earning full-ride scholarships to university. And looking back, they have no regrets.

“We’re very thankful our parents (raised us) like that because we can see from both cultures,” Elsa said. “In the U.S., we feel like Mexicans and in Mexico, we feel like Americans. We can connect with a lot of different individuals who were also raised bicultural or who have experienced feeling like you’re not from here.”

Reaching Full Circle

One of the greatest highlights of Sara’s time with the First Tee was the 2008 First Tee Open at Pebble Beach. This unique pro-am event is now called the Pure Insurance Championship Impacting the First Tee, and it provides 14-to-18-year-old juniors with a chance to play alongside PGA Tour Champions pros on live television with a gallery in attendance (before COVID-19). Sara was fortunate enough to be paired with Tom Watson, owner of 39 PGA Tour wins and 14 Champions Tour victories.

“Tom Watson was so patient,” Sara recalls. “He would tell me where to aim, how to hit the shot, and he even showed me (where he hit) his famous shot on the 17th hole in the 1982 U.S. Open, when he beat Jack Nicklaus. That whole week was magical.”

Afterwards, in a surprise press conference, Sara received an $8,000 scholarship that helped her fund her bachelor’s degree at Texas A&M Commerce. There, she cut her teeth as a college golfer in the early 2010s. Sara next completed her Masters in Human Resources at the University of Richmond from 2014 to 2016, and around this time she served on the junior leaderboard of Richmond’s First Tee chapter.

Elsa’s First Tee Open experience came in 2012, where she played with Robin Freeman. She remembers standing at the 10th hole at Pebble Beach that year and realizing that she wanted to turn pro.

Sara had no doubt that Elsa was for real. “If you know my sister, if she says something, she’s decided.”

However, Elsa could not afford to compete in as many junior tournaments as many of her opponents, which did not bode well for her ability to attract college coaches. But the First Tee provided her with the exact opportunity she needed.

In 2013, Elsa won the organization’s inaugural Speedgolf Championship in Richmond and earned a full scholarship from Maggie Will, then the head coach of the Spiders women’s golf team. After playing with Sara in her freshman year, Elsa wrapped up her college career in 2018 after appearing on three Patriot League title teams and winning an individual title, too.

On the cusp of turning pro, Elsa asked her big sister to be her manager, and Sara jumped at the opportunity. The two had always been close. Through some contacts in Richmond, Sara connected her sister with Markel, a Fortune 500 company that provides specialty insurance solutions for other businesses. Markel has been Elsa’s sponsor ever since.

“At the end of the day, you just look back at everyone who’s helped you,” said Elsa, referring to both the First Tee and its many supporters. “The PGA champions that dedicated their time when I was little, they’re the reason why I now want to dedicate the time to play well so the fans can enjoy watching me play.”

Not long afterwards, a First Tee connection led Sara to a job offer from the PGA Tour. She assumed her current position in March 2019, where she now manages the Tour’s multicultural marketing strategy. The eldest Diaz even gets to work with the First Tee’s own marketing department.

“Literally everything that we’ve done, if you look at where it started, it was all because of the First Tee,” Sara said with a laugh. “And now, I’m actually working with the people that awarded me this opportunity. We’ve reached full circle!”

Full circle, indeed.