Smith Excited About Upcoming Spring Campaign

DURHAM – Following a standout career on the America Junior Golf Association (AJGA), Andie Smith joined the Duke women’s golf program in August and played in five tournaments for the Blue Devils in the fall.  In her season-opening event, she rolled in seven birdies, including six on the back nine in the second round, to shoot 3-under, 69.  

A product of Hobe Sound, Fla., Smith counted 12-of-15 rounds in the fall and looks to have an even better spring. GoDuke.com caught up with the rookie to talk about her adjustment to college, being a Cameron Crazie and more.

GoDuke.com:  Looking back at this past fall, how was your transition to college life and college golf?

Andie Smith: I think my transition went very well, especially being surrounded by such a great team and both Coach Brooks/Jon – they really made that transition very easy coming from high school, high school tournaments and even some amateur events over the summer. Going into the fall with the tournament, practice and workout schedule and then juggling academics with all of that – It was very easy for me to get adjusted because I saw that everybody had already gone through what I was going through and they were all very supportive of me.  That made it super easy for me to get through in the beginning, coming from being away from home and adjusting to living on your own, it made it very easy.



GD:  Is there one thing you would tell Katie Li (Duke incoming freshman next year), a piece of advice to help her get adjusted, or anything that was very helpful for you?

AS:  I think definitely building a support system. Not only that, I have my team and my coaches and my roommate in there as well and friends that I made, but also just calling home and just keeping in touch really helped me get through it. If something was on my mind, I knew I could call my mom or anybody else in my family or friends from home. I could just forget about everything else and have chill time. It’s very important to just give yourself downtime like that. For me, that’s calling people from home and catching up. So definitely figuring out the best ways to juggle your time, but also give you the right amount of downtime to foster success in the future.

GD: After playing mostly as an individual leading up to college, did you like being a part of a team and traveling with the…