Many high school athletes, especially juniors, hold the ultimate goal of continuing to play their beloved sport in college. For junior Maddie Smith, this is already a reality as she has committed to playing Division 1 golf at the University of Memphis. Despite having already committed to a college, Smith is still putting her all into golf at the high school level through her relentless pursuit of higher accomplishments.
Smith secured her first sectional title by just one stroke at the MIAA North/Central/West Sectional Tournament held at the Haven Country Club on May 28. Leading up to this competition, Smith was determined to improve her short range skills to be able to perform her best.
According to Smith, she did everything she could in order to compete at her highest ability, whether that was consistently going to the driving range multiple times a week to focus on her short game, or playing practice rounds at the Haven Country Club to get comfortable with the unfamiliar course.
With around 76 girls aiming for the sectional title, this win was not easy. Along with scoping out the competition course and making the driving range her second home, Smith also spent much of her time on the green, perfecting her stroke for the lowest score. Even though golf is an individual sport and coaches cannot help athletes during a competition, Smith still notes that the head coach of WA’s golf team, Patrick Claycomb, is largely why her mental game and strategy is so strong.
“There are many things that stand out about Maddie. [Her] work ethic, competitiveness, ability to be a role model and a great teammate, […] and more. She is a coach’s dream on and off the course,” Claycomb said. “She treats everyone with respect and you can see that her friends know she truly cares about them. She loves to compete no matter what the sport or situation [and] she always gives one hundred percent.”
Although this is Smith’s first high school sectional title, she has been playing golf for as long as she can remember, and she has won many awards over the course of her career. After starting to take the sport seriously at around nine years old, Smith knew that it was something that she truly loved.
“My whole family plays [golf] so it keeps it fun and, honestly, the love I have for the game inspires me to keep playing in college,” Smith said.
Going into the round, Smith’s goal was to advance to states but her standings on the field did not matter much to her. In the round, she was facing senior Erika Redmond from Concord-Carlisle who she had competed against before when she was younger. Smith also played with Redmond on the U.S. National Development team for Massachusetts. So while the sectional title was very competitive, Smith and Redmond played as friends and wanted the best for each other after each stroke.
“We both want each other to play well, so you kind of cheer for the best golfer and whoever ends up winning at the end of the day deserves it,” Smith said.
During the match, Smith was not thinking much about her score as she was trying to play her best game with no distractions. When the round concluded, she was informed by Claycomb that she had won the sectional title with 74 strokes to Redmond’s 75. According to Smith, the news that she had won by a singular stroke was thrilling.
“I was pretty excited. I kind of knew I was going to be up there [on the leaderboard] but didn’t really know for sure.[Claycomb] was the one who told me so it was a really good way to find out,” Smith said.
Smith did not dwell on this win for too long. Shortly after the tournament on June 4, she placed second in the state championship at the Sandy Burr Country Club. After these two back-to-back accomplishments, Smith is excited for her senior year as she aims to improve her skillset even more.
