From the CGA to the 124th U.S. Women's Amateur Championship

Don’t ever tell Kayla Smith she can’t do something — she’ll just work harder to prove you wrong. 

“She started late in the larger competitive tournaments and they said ‘listen, you’re never going to play for Carolina,’” Smith’s swing coach Heather Hauk said. “And I looked at her and said, ‘Oh, they have no idea who they’re talking to.” 

Golf didn’t initially peak Smith’s interest until her dad introduced her to the game at age 7, and now after playing five years at UNC, she’ll finish out her amateur career at the 124th U.S. Women’s Amateur Championship. 

This year, the North Carolina Women’s Amateur Championship became an official USGA Exemption Event, and Smith’s final round rally to win by three strokes secured her name in the field at Southern Hills Country Club. 

“For the USGA to support golf associations in this way, support the golfers, and provide a path that’s different than we ever have was a significant undertaking and a risk for the USGA,” Tyler Riggin, a USGA Regional Affairs Director, said. “But we truly believe in it and we know that we will end up improving our fields because of it.” 

Although she grew up initially playing team sports like soccer and basketball, Smith always loved the individuality and self accountability golf demands. 

“At seven or eight, in the first few clinics you could see that she was born with the talent,” Hauk said. “She would win against all the 12 and 13 year old boys, something in her brain clicked.” 

Playing other sports helped shape Smith into a strong athlete, but on her golf journey, Hauk has been there since day one. 

“She built my swing from the beginning,” Smith said. “She can look at me in one second and tell me exactly what I need to know.” 

As meticulously mechanical that golf can be, it’s the mental game that separates players apart.

And Smith loves the challenge, the perseverance of the chase.

“Obviously you’re not winning every single tournament,” Smith said. “I think the lessons that golf has taught me, as well as being a collegiate athlete, [is that] if stuff hasn’t gone right, I still always have that belief that each day I’m getting better.”

Growing up a Tar Heel fan her whole life, she returned for a fifth season. That fall, UNC played in the inaugural St. Andrews Links Collegiate and Smith left the Old Course with the title. 

“If the lights are on, that’s when she wants to shine the brightest,” UNC’s women’s golf coach Aimee Neff said. “When she’s in the zone, she’s really tough to beat.”

No goal is ever too big for Smith. 

“I don’t think she can imagine having a career that’s any different than playing this game,” Hauk said. “I don’t think I’ve ever talked to her about her major because it was never in our mind that she wasn’t going to keep going and taking the next step.”

In August, Smith will start Q School, the first part of her professional journey. 

“I think that it’s important to not put too much pressure on yourself to where you’re transitioning it into more work instead of the awesome ability that you have to go and do something that you love as a career,” Smith said. 

But, before she makes the trip out west to Mission Hills, she’ll travel to Tulsa, Oklahoma for her second appearance in the U.S. Amateur. 

Mentally preparing for match play has been the focus for Smith and Hauk. Finding a balance of playing aggressively or defensively is different from stroke play. Typically, you chase birdies but sometimes pars can win matches. 

“[Match play] is not really Kayla’s style, but she’s got to learn to do that,” Hauk said. “Because I told her, one of our goals is Solheim Cup, and we’re going baby!”

 

About the Carolinas Golf Association (CGA)

The CGA is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit educational organization founded in 1909 to promote and protect the game of golf in the Carolinas by providing competitions, education, support, and benefits to golf clubs and golfers. The CGA is one of the largest golf associations in the country, with over 700 member clubs represented by over 200,000 individuals.

The CGA annually conducts 48 championships and five team match competitions for men, women, juniors, and seniors. It also runs over 150 One-Day (net and gross) events and qualifying for USGA national championships. The CGA serves golf in the Carolinas with numerous programs such as: the USGA Handicap System; tournament management software and support; course measuring and course/slope ratings; agronomy consultation; answers about the Rules of Golf, Rules of Amateur Status, and Handicapping; Carolinas Golf Magazine; Interclub series; Tarheel Youth Golf Association; Carolinas Golf Hall of Fame; expense assistance for USGA Junior and Girls' Junior qualifiers from the Carolinas; and the Carolinas Golf Foundation (CGF). The CGF has distributed over $3,000,000 since 1977 to benefit Carolinas' golf initiatives, including junior, women and adaptive programs.

For more information about the Carolinas Golf Association, follow @cgagolf1909 on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and TikTok or visit our website www.carolinasgolf.org/

 

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