Minnesota Golfer - Summer 2021 - 30

what I could do. It just became more and
more fun the better I got, the more competitive
it was. When I was 8 or 9, I was
like the only girl in my division. When
you got into 9, 10, 11, you could compete
with more girls in the area and that competition
was really exciting. "
Kate competed with boys, as well-specifi
cally her brother and his friends. She
started on the forward tees, but it wasn't
long before she teed it up next to them.
" At the beginning, I struggled, " she
says. " But I didn't want to [hold] them
up. So, the less strokes I took, I knew that
was better. By the end, I could shoot better
scores than some guys in the group.
That was exciting to be able to just keep
up with them from their tees. It made me
feel like I belonged in that group. "
Karter put together a nice high school
career, fi nishing second at state twice
and then playing at Drake for four years.
According to his dad, who admits his bias,
Karter was one of the best high school
golfers coming out of Detroit Lakes-a
place that claims two boys team state
titles (one featuring Minnesota Viking
Adam Thielen). But then Kate came
along, and the golf mecca of " DL " had
another star. And nobody has enjoyed it
more than big brother Karter.
" We joke constantly that [Kate's golf]
is such a family project, " Kris says. " It's
something that Karter has been so
instrumental in. He has reveled in her
success. He's just her biggest fan. "
" It's defi nitely been a family sport, and
we have all taken turns being at the forefront
of it, " Kate adds. " So, I am kind of
leading the charge right now, and it has
been nice having my family support me. "
The " family project " has been quite
successful. As most local prep golf fans
know, Kate is a fi ve-time consecutive
Minnesota State Individual champion
(albeit co-champ three times), and that
moniker has stuck with her-despite
playing in the NCAA's her freshman year
at Nebraska and this past spring temporarily
leading the Augusta National
Women's Amateur (with Karter on the
bag), winning the Big Ten Individual title
and competing at the NCAA regional
tournament with her teammates. Still,
" It's definitely been a
family sport, and we
have all taken turns
being at the forefront
of it. So, I am kind of
leading the charge
right now, and it has
been nice having my
family support me. "
-Kate Smith
she looks back at those hard-fought state
tournament contests (sinking a putt on
the fi nal hole of her high school career
for one of those co-championships) as
good preparation for what has followed:
which included two MGA Women's
Amateur Championships, 2017 and
2020, and the 2020 MGA Women's
Co-Player of the Year.
" The last high school tournament, the
night before the last round I barely slept, "
she says. " I had a roommate. I was just
in the bathroom, up all night. Whereas
I just played in the Augusta Am and the
Big Ten and I slept like a baby the night
before. I went through a lot of those big
competitive moments at the state tournament,
which was cool-and it's cool
that we had such a competitive team at
the time, too. "
Her DL Laker teams won four girls
state team titles (out of six total since
2012), and " team " has always meant a lot
to Kate. She returned to Nebraska as a
fi fth-year senior with the expressed purpose
of making the NCAA tournament
with her teammates.
" I always wanted to go to the regionals
with the team, and I felt a little bit unfi nished
in my college career, " Kate said a
week before regionals. " To be able to do
that is really special, and we are all just so
excited. We made it. The program is in a
really good spot. "
The past spring, Kate graduated with a
30
MINNESOTAGOLFER Summer 2021
degree in graphic design and was named
honorable-mention All-American by the
Women's Golf Coaches Association. This
summer, she'll play in the Arnold Palmer
Cup Team as an amateur, turning pro
afterward. Her game plan is the same as
always: " I'm going to work as hard as I
can to set myself up for success. I've got
to bet on myself; that's the only way it
works. "
Before then, however, she will be back
in DL, just like every summer, to help
her mom (who is the chief organizer and
operator) and dad with the clinics-particularly
Kate's Club, which her parents
formed when she was fi ve years old to
fi nd her some girls to play golf with.
" That one is really special, just seeing
all the girls, " Kate says. " We've been up to
50, 60 girls a week. "
But Kate offers some advice to those
young girls (and their parents), whom
she occasionally hears saying they want
to play golf in college or professionally
someday.
" I would rather see them have fun and
enjoy the game and not worrying about
a scholarship when they're 10 years old, "
Kate says. " I don't think I had those aspirations
at that age. I just wanted to be as
good as my brother or his friends. I didn't
really think about it very far [ahead]. It's
just cool seeing women at any age having
opportunities and being able to go play
together at a golf course. " MG
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