Junior golf: Hobe Sound's Andie Smith bounces back, on cusp of U.S. Women's Amateur
A golfer’s ability to “bounce back” from a mistake or bad break is integral to their success, especially if they’re going to play for a long time.
There will be plenty of mistakes and bad breaks. It’s how they handle them that matters most.
Andie Smith of Hobe Sound went through that experience recently. She was off to a torrid start in the final round of the Rolex Girls Junior Championship – one of the AJGA’s top invitationals – on June 24 at the Loxahatchee Club in Jupiter.
Smith was 3-under on her first 12 holes and was closing in on leader Kaitlyn Schroeder. But as Smith took her putter back for a 1-foot par attempt at the 13th, a player’s father had his phone loudly go off.
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Smith missed the putt and clearly was upset. “I told him that was really loud, and I would appreciate if it didn’t happen again,” she said.
Unnerved, Smith double bogeyed the 14th hole and eventually finished sixth. She was so upset she didn’t want to be interviewed after the round.
Four days later, Smith headed to Bent Pine Golf Club in Vero Beach to try and qualify for her first U.S. Women’s Amateur. Among her threesome was Schroeder, who shot 67 to earn medalist honors.
Smith shot a 1-under 71 that just missed one of the four qualifying spots, but placed her in a four-way playoff for the critical first-alternate spot. She stuffed her approach at the first playoff hole to 1 foot and beat, among others, Chloe Kovelesky, who had qualified for last year’s U.S. Women’s Open.
Smith doesn’t yet have a spot in the U.S. Women’s Amateur at Chambers Bay, but she has a good chance at making it if an exempt player or any of the four qualifiers from Bent Pine WDs. She also showed she can bounce back from adversity.
“I tried to focus on my game and treat it as just another round of golf,” Smith said Tuesday. “There’s definitely a maturity aspect of it – not to blame anyone but myself.”
It has been four years since Smith committed to Duke and nine months since she signed her letter of intent. In six weeks, that dream will become reality when the Benjamin graduate heads to Durham, N.C., to play for the famed Blue Devils.
This is not an ordinary program: The Duke women’s golf team has won seven national titles since 1999 and has been the most successful team on campus since 2000. Even better than the men’s hoops team.
“My expectations are to play like I know how I can play, qualify a lot, have a good time and work on myself and improving,” Smith said.
And deal with any setbacks along the way.
Castaldi wins Girls’ Junior: Brianna Castaldi of Port St. Lucie won the 63rd Florida Girls’ Junior Amateur Championship at the Country Club at Winter Haven.
Castaldi shot rounds of 75-70-70 to earn a two-shot victory over Mi Li in the 16-to-18 division. Castaldi started the final round trailing by two shots, but played 2-under on the front nine to take a three-shot lead and cruise to her second victory in this tournament. She won the 12-and-under division in 2017.
“This is my biggest win because it makes me exempt for just about everything (in Florida),” Castaldi said Tuesday. “I’ve been working really hard with my new coach, Matt Gallant, at the Floridian for four months and it takes a little while for that work to pay off. This was the tournament where it did.”
Castaldi had been working with longtime Treasure Coast instructor Mike Malizia for two years, but that relationship ended when Malizia took a job at Admiral’s Cove. The club doesn’t allow non-members to receive lessons because of COVID.
“Matt tweaked my swing so I’m hitting the ball more consistently,” said Castaldi, a 17-year-old senior at The Pine School. “He also changed me to the Stick putter after using a Scotty Cameron Newport 2. I’m putting a lot better and hitting the ball closer.”
Chip shots: Qualifying for the U.S. Amateur Championship will be held next week at Hobe Sound Golf Club (July 13-14).
Ten locals are entered: Ryan Slater, Scott Turner and Nashawn Tyson of Stuart, Garrett Giles of Palm City, Tyler Foegen of Hobe Sound, Charles White and Ken Chuparkoff of Port St. Lucie and Jackson Hiller, Cade Coffey and Nicholas Cammarene of Vero Beach. The U.S. Amateur is Aug. 15-22 at Ridgewood Country Club in Paramus, N.J.
This article originally appeared on Treasure Coast Newspapers: Hobe Sound's Andie Smith on cusp of U.S. Women's Amateur
