TrackMan disciple ready to make his mark at U.S. Senior Open

Mick Smith had one question for his caddy, Craig Czerniejewski, as he walked off the 11th hole after recording a bogey in his U.S. Senior Open qualifier at Stevens Point Country Club.

“‘How are we doing?’” Smith said.

The response?

“He said, ‘We’re tied for the lead,’” Smith said. “And that surprised me a bit but it gave me a bit of fire in my belly and a feeling of, ‘Alright let’s get in there and I can still win this.’”

Smith, an Australian who lives in Summit, then saw his lead expand to two strokes after he birdied the next two par-5s. Not long after that he learned he had won the qualifier to earn a spot in his first major, the 43rd edition of the U.S. Senior Open at SentryWorld Golf Course in Stevens Point.

“It was one of the highlights of my life,” Smith said. “It will be a moment I won’t forget and I’m still very excited (about it). For the last week, I have woken up early every morning and it was the first thing on my mind.”

Smith switched from tennis to golf as a teenager

Smith, 50, grew up in Sydney, Australia, playing tennis. But by 15 years old he realized he wasn’t good enough to play professionally, so he looked for another sport.

“My uncle gave me some clubs and we lived near a golf course, so I used to sneak on before and after school and play,” Smith said. “I loved playing and before I knew it I was hooked on golf, got good pretty quick and it all went from there.”

Aside from his early successes, Smith said what drew him to golf was the independence that the sport provides.

“I had a pretty strict dad and he was a good tennis player, so he would come and watch and if I didn’t play well I would get a bit of a rousing on,” Smith said. “But he wasn’t that good at golf, so when I got into golf it was basically all me and I was left alone to do it. I enjoyed that side of it.”

Smith first moved to the United States in 1997 to play golf at Wallace State Community College in Hanceville, Alabama.

“A friend of mine got a scholarship to Colorado State and the intermediary guy who set that up said to him, ‘Do any of your mates, who are decent players, want to come over and play? There is a junior college in Alabama looking for a good player,’’” Smith said.

“I had always wanted to come to America, so I said, ‘Yeah, I’ll do it’ and like two weeks later I was on a flight to a junior college in Alabama.”

Following his time at Wallace State, Smith returned to Australia…