Andy Smith has had a tremendous summer of tournament golfing. The Grand Marais native capped it off with a win against other assistant golf pros from throughout the state at Northland Country Club in Duluth on September 24, capturing not only the trophy but also a check for $2,850.
Andy Smith has always been a good golfer. Early on he possessed a sweet swing and soon learned to hit the ball a county mile. He reads greens like a cartographer reads a map and has a nice touch with his putter. He was so good in fact he started for his college team at U.W. Stout and before that led Cook County High School in play before graduating in 2007.
“He played all four years in college,” his father Rory Smith of Grand Marais said. “They (his team) went to Nationals three of those years and Andy earned a Golf Enterprise Management degree (GEM) from Stout.”
But how would the assistant pro at Superior National Lutsen stack up against other assistant pros from across the state when they squared off at Northland Country Club in Duluth?
Pretty well, as a matter of fact.
On Monday, September 24, Smith, who has won his share of local tournaments and been in the hunt for several more, won a bigger prize when he claimed the PGA Assistants Tournament at Northland Country Cub in Duluth. He defeated 73 assistant pros, most from the Twin Cities.
Smith won the tournament by a convincing 3 strokes, finishing at par with a score of 142 for 36 holes. He was down 3 strokes in the morning but came back strong in the afternoon. He birdied 11 holes on the day but gave back 11 strokes on bogeys.
For his effort Smith won $2,850 and qualified for the National PGA Assistants Championship, which will be played in Florida come early November. Chris Bailey of North Oaks Golf Course was second at 145.
“He’s such a good kid and he works so hard,” said Mary Brislance, a volunteer at Superior National at Lutsen Golf Course where Smith worked as an assistant pro this summer.
“We are very proud of him and his huge accomplishment,” said Heath Ekstrom, head golf pro at Superior National.
The son of Rory and Katie Smith, Grand Marais, Andy is continuing with his love of golf by pursuing a career in the field. He will work at a private golf facility called Desert Mountain in Scottsdale, Arizona this winter.
“He’s looking at becoming certified as a teaching pro and has talked about someday maybe playing on a mini (professional) tour,” his father said, adding, “He can’t golf in amateur tournaments anymore. He can play in proams, teaming up with an amateur player, but he’s done playing amateur golf.”
Andy wasn’t available for this interview, because, what else? He was off playing a tournament.
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