Golf:

It’s hard to determine what has more titanium, Alex Solis or the driver he pulls out of his bag at Newport Beach Country Club, Monday.

Solis is a professional jockey, which as a group are some of the toughest athletes in sports.

It is a brutal way to make a living, especially in the beginning. Jockeys make about $100 a ride and 10% of any victory. They ride eight to nine times a day and spend about 15 hours at the track.

Solis is one of the best. He was up for induction to the Horse Racing Hall of Fame this year, but did not get honored. That blatant oversight will hopefully be corrected next year. How do you not bring in a man who has won more than 4,500 races?

Solis, who is 45, loves golf about as much as he loves racing.

“I was crazy for the sport,” Solis said. “I had a six handicap and played all the time.”

That was before he suffered a devastating accident three days after the Fourth of July in 2006. He was at Del Mar, one of his favorite tracks, when his horse clipped the heels of the horse in front of him. He got tossed and didn’t think it was that serious.

A nine-hour operation and two five-inch long titanium rods later, he realized how bad it was. He had the rods inserted to support his broken back and got more screws in his body than a Home Depot.

Doctors told him it would be at least a year before he could race and golf was in severe doubt because of the twisting that is required of the back to perform a golf swing. Solis proved them wrong on two counts; he returned to racing seven months later and was soon golfing again.

That doesn’t mean golfing doesn’t come with a price. Solis, who is 5-foot-4, didn’t exactly have a big swing plane to begin with, and the injury cut it down a little bit more.

He keeps a weight driver in his bag and pulls it out to swing and keep the back loose.

Monday, he and his son, Alex, traveled from his home in Glendora to Newport Beach Country Club to play in the Mariners Christian School Fall Golf Classic. He is a friend of the tournament’s sponsor, Bob Waltos, who owns an insurance and financial business in Newport Beach and is a board member of the Tiger Woods Learning Center.

One of the reasons Solis is playing golf so quickly is his physical condition. He runs, hikes and walks multiple miles every day and works on his flexibility.

It showed from his very first drive. He hit a driver on Newport Beach’s short par-four No. 1 hole right down the middle. His drive was about 240 yards.

That would be remarkable for anyone of his size, but it is truly extraordinary considering his back.

While Waltos, myself and the younger Solis were all over the place with our drives, Solis was consistently in the fairway. It was actually nice because we knew we had one person we could count on to get us a ball that was playable during the scramble format.

The iron game was equally impressive. He probably was the leader of the foursome in greens in regulation and we were using his ball for birdie putts more than anyone else’s.

Where I was really impressed was Solis’ short game. He carries five wedges and I think he used them all during the round.

Solis, a member at Glendora Country Club, showed me a golf game that doesn’t have to be predicated on power. It was a joy to watch and I actually learned a few things from watching him play.

JOHN REGER’S golf column appears Thursdays. He may be reached by e-mail at nolimepublishing@aol.com.