Marcus Smith Jr. won’t be gunning for his second Men’s City title July 26-28. Or try to win the Winnebago County Amateur next weekend. Or play in any local golf tournaments this year.
The greatest Black golfer in Rockford history will be in his 2013 Volkswagen Turag, driving somewhere to take on some of the top amateurs in the country.
“It’s Mr. Reliable. It’s treated me really well,” Smith said of his car before leaving June 30 on a 13-hour drive to Hattiesburg, Mississippi, for the Magnolia Amateur.
A long drive for Smith is not his normal 305-yard carry with his driver. It’s crisscrossing the nation. Earlier trips included a 10-hour drive to Alabama for the Robert Trent Jones Amateur. He is also going to play in events in Walla Walla, Washington and Rochester, New York. He recently finished tied as the top amateur in the John Shippen Invitational in Detroit.
“I am on my own traveling the country, playing golf and taking my Spanish 3 and 4 summer class,” Smith said. “I am blessed. I get to travel and play the game I love. It doesn’t get much better than that.”
Smith grew up a mile from Madasyn Pettersen, who is one year older. The two friends were the greatest young phenom golfers in Rockford history. Pettersen finished second in the 6-under division of the Callaway Junior World Championships in San Diego at age 6. At age 12, she qualified second for the State Am, a dozen strokes ahead of the reigning Class AA state high school champion. At 15, she joined Brad Benjamin as the only other local golfer to win an Illinois Open title when she birdied the final five holes to win by five strokes and become the youngest-ever champ. But after winning the state high school title later that year, her body began breaking down. She developed Crohn’s Disease and never played college golf.
Smith has been a star since he was 7, ranking 13th in the world at that age. He won the Class 1A state title his junior year at Winnebago and was a four-time top-six state medalist, the only state medalist in Winnebago golf history. He is the only Black golfer to ever win an Illinois state title.
When he signed to play golf for Eastern Michigan, there were only 119 Black men and women golfers on 541 college golf teams across the nation, according to African American Golfer’s Digest.
“Growing up, that was always something I noticed,” Smith said. “Playing in locals, regionals and nationals in the U.S. Kids World Tour, there was always one other Black golfer, Kristopher Styles of San Jose State. He was always the familiar face. I tried to stay close to him. It was us vs. the world.
“In the world of golf, there is not much Black representation. That’s what we’re trying to change.”
Being not just a golfer but a Black golfer became more important to Marcus Smith after Howard University, with donations from NBA star Steph Curry, re-started a golf program and Smith transferred to the historically Black university after his sophomore year at Eastern Michigan. That seemed to spark him out of a golf lull. He finished third in the Illinois Open before enrolling at Howard, the second-highest finish behind Benjamin’s win in 2009, the summer before he played in The Masters.
Last year, Smith averaged 73.7 strokes and made second-team all-conference, helping Howard win its first-ever Northeast Conference title and play in the NCAA Regionals for the first time.
He has one year of eligibility left and one year to finish his Psychology degree. He also maybe has one year left to decide whether or not he can make it as a pro golfer.
“It’s a big year for me,” Smith said. “if I want to pursue golf, I have to have a good year. But I am just enjoying the moment. I feel I am playing better than before. And every mistake is a new opportunity to try something else or to show off.
“I need to hit more fairways. The courses are so long now, you can’t just lay up with a 2-iron or a 3-wood. You’ve got to be able to hit the driver and you’ve got to hit it straight and in the fairway. The rough is so thick. Hitting fairways is a must. And putting. Your short game can always get better, but if you make putts from anywhere, you can save a round. You can give yourself all the opportunities in the world, but if you don’t make putts it’s useless because everybody shoots low scores.”
Rockford’s best minority golfer also learns more about those before him as he travels the country. The John Shippen Invitational in Detroit is designed to provide more opportunities for Black golfers on the PGA and LPGA Tours. Currently, only one Black woman is on the LPGA Tour, four Black Men on the PGA Tour and less than one percent of PGA club professionals are Black. Shippen was the first Black golf pro in America and finished fifth in the 1896 and 1902 U.S. Opens. He was the only Black golfer to play in the U.S. Open for more than 50 years.
“I didn’t know much about him before,” Smith said. “It was cool to learn about his history.”
Smith wants to spread the golf bug to other Black athletes, but even his seven younger siblings have not caught on yet.
“I try to get them out there,” he said. “For Father’s Day, I was able to get me and my dad and Myles and Mason out there. It was a cool treat for my father and the most fun I have ever had golfing. All these siblings, I want to get them in golf. Myles could be really good if he locked in, but he is really good at basketball and track. That’s probably where he will reside.
“There is not much Black representation in the world of golf. That’s what we’re trying to change. It starts with getting interest in golf. The interest is always basketball and football. Young Black kids don’t realize golf is something cool to do until they get older, 22 or 23, and don’t have anything else to do but they can go golf.
“When you golf, you can spend time with your favorite people on the course. Afterward, you can go eat. There’s networking ability. You meet people from a business standpoint. We’re starting to push more. Hopefully, I can help that. I want to elevate my profile so I can reach more kids. I want to make golf cool for the younger generation.”
Most Popular
Comments / 0