Taking a Swing at Father Time

As some of the higher scores came in from Friday’s opening round at the Los Angeles Women’s Championship--an 84 here, an 89 there--Cherie Zaun might have felt a little better.

The 87 she shot in qualifying earlier this week might have seemed a little less horrible, maybe just a bump in the road for a new player trying to fight her way onto the LPGA tour.

“She’s got what it takes to be out here,” said Helen Alfredsson, a friend and tour veteran. “She’s got a good swing and she’s competitive.”

But there’s something else. Zaun is 44. The Glendale resident has waited awfully long, raising three children and coaching at USC, before taking a shot at professional golf.

People have told her that she has the talent, that all she needs is experience. Even if that is true, does she have enough time?

“The clock is ticking on me,” Zaun said. “I feel like I have to get this done before I get too old.”

Coming from a competitive family--her brother is former major league catcher Rick Dempsey--Zaun grew up around sports. She tried golf for the first time at age 20 and took to it immediately.

“My first husband and I lived on a golf course,” she recalled. “The pro came out and said, ‘You’ve got a nice swing. You should do something with that.’ ”

But Zaun already had two children. She settled for playing in occasional amateur tournaments and a few pro qualifiers.

Later, after a divorce, she taught at golf courses around Los Angeles. She also remarried to Robert Zaun, a Glendale detective, and watched her son Gregg become a catcher for the Baltimore Orioles and, currently, the Florida Marlins.

“I had duties as a mother,” she said. “I had duties as a wife.”

Yet even after her kids grew up, thoughts of turning pro never occurred to her. Not when she won several club championships at Oakmont, including shooting a career-best 74. Not until she became the USC women’s golf coach.

“Watching those girls really made me want to play,” she said. “My husband told me that if I didn’t try now, I’d never know.”

In 1995, Zaun qualified for the U.S. Women’s Amateur championship but played horribly in the tournament. Later, at the Women’s Mid-Amateur championship, she had a hole-in-one but finished last.

Some of the golfers around Oakmont shrug and tap their heads. Maybe she lacks the necessary mental toughness, they say.

In moments of doubt, Zaun has turned to her husband, her golf coach, and Alfredsson.

“If they said I’ve got good tools but I’m not tour quality, I would accept that gracefully,” she said.

But they don’t tell her that.

After Monday’s disappointment, Zaun vowed to play qualifying rounds at as many stops as possible before trying for an LPGA card at qualifying school in the fall.

Then Alfredsson told her: “You’re not going to be able to breathe, let alone walk, when you get there. Give yourself a break.”

So Zaun has decided to stick close to home. She will be back on the course at Oakmont on Monday, working on her swing.

“It’s hard,” she said. “I just haven’t had enough experience.”

Her voice trails off. Zaun becomes quiet for a moment, as if she can hear the clock ticking.