AUGUSTA NATIONAL WOMEN'S AMATEUR

March 31, 2021

Katherine Smith

Quick Quotes

Q. Start with talking about how this course set up well for you today.

KATHERINE SMITH: Yeah, it was definitely a ball striker's course today. As long as you're hitting greens, there's an opportunity to make birdies. So I was hitting the ball well, hitting my long irons well with a lot of chances for birdie. So it was a fun round. I'm excited to finish it sometime soon.

Q. Where did you leave off?

KATHERINE SMITH: I've got about a 7-footer for par on 12. It's uphill, though. I think it will be pretty straight.

Q. So you were able to read the putt before you got off?

KATHERINE SMITH: Yeah. She said I had 30 seconds, and I just didn't want a horn in my backswing.

Q. You said you're bummed to have to come off the golf course.

KATHERINE SMITH: Yeah, I think a normal tournament, I'd be pretty disappointed, but this week, everything's been so awesome that I'm just excited for another day here and another day to go low and make some putts.

Q. Coming off of last night, I guess you went to Augusta, is that right?

KATHERINE SMITH: Yes.

Q. How did that set you up for today or give you a certain mindset?

KATHERINE SMITH: What a special experience, really, really amazing. I've cried off and on the last two weeks just knowing I'm here. Definitely probably the best moment of my life so far. So kind of everything to gain this week.

I was happy to have the afternoon tee time because it was really exciting, and it's hard to refocus and play some golf. Nice to have the afternoon of just playing some good golf. Yeah, it's so special to be here, really, really special. Yeah, it's just even more fun playing well.

Q. Were those happy tears or anxious tears?

KATHERINE SMITH: A little bit of both, yeah. I mean, this is the biggest stage I've ever competed on. A lot of us women. So, yeah, anxious, excited. I just wanted to have fun this week. Why ruin a week by putting pressure on yourself? So that was my mindset today.

Q. Did this play out as you pictured it, or has it been different than what you thought it would be in your head in any way?

KATHERINE SMITH: I think I have a better mindset than I thought I would have when I received the invite. I really worked hard the last couple months of trying to change my mindset. I think a lot of us want to go in and say, okay, I need to make that top 30 cut. So I really worked hard the last couple months of just being like, you can win this event. You can be up there. And you're just as good as everyone else.

So that was kind of what I've been working on, and it paid off so well.

Q. Did you win your last college start?

KATHERINE SMITH: Yes, my first win was a couple weeks ago.

Q. So that proves that what you've been working on pays off, right? So does that give you even higher expectations coming in?

KATHERINE SMITH: A little bit, yeah. Golf, we know there's ebbs and flows, though. It's like, well, who knows what I'll bring this week? Definitely having that win under my belt was nice. After five years of college golf, it was a big relief. It felt really good.

Q. How do you keep that good mojo kind of going, given the rain delay, given the fact that (inaudible) and what you want to do to keep it going?

KATHERINE SMITH: Honestly, I'm not going to do anything different. I've just had the mindset of enjoying this week and not really worried about the golf too much. So that's paid off.

I mean, I don't think my game's going to change tomorrow. Yeah, some of the putts might not go in. Some of the putts might go in that I don't expect. Just having fun and enjoying my time with my family here has been really helpful.

Q. How has the weather been in Nebraska the past couple months?

KATHERINE SMITH: It's been pretty cold. Yeah, we didn't get on golf courses until maybe like a month ago. So we've had a couple inside practices even before this because of some rain. So I'm enjoying the green grass. It's warming up now, though. My teammates will be ready for conference.

Q. Why do you think your game has come back so quickly? You haven't been on a golf course until a month ago.

KATHERINE SMITH: I got an e-mail that I was being considered in November for Augusta, and so I was like I need to be south. I need to be playing. I need to do everything I can to be ready for this event. So I played two events in Florida. We had an event in Texas in February. So a couple more events in the spring. I've been competing for a really long time and haven't taken many breaks.

Just really tried to avoid, yeah, that kind of slump you get in the winter because of the weather.

Q. How did you select your brother for a caddie this week?

KATHERINE SMITH: Yeah, that was tough. He's shaking his head back there. Yeah, hard choice having -- you know, who do you bring? My coaches, I love my coaches, but they've only been here for a couple years at Nebraska, and they're doing a great job, but it felt like the longer the relationship I had with someone, the better it would be this week. So having my brother on the bag -- he was a college golfer, so he knows what to do. Having the familiar face today was really nice.

Q. You said this is the biggest stage you've been on. What's the second biggest?

KATHERINE SMITH: I played my first U.S. Am this summer out at Woodmont. So that was pretty big for me.

Q. How much did it make a difference, do you think, this week that you had already played that?

KATHERINE SMITH: Huge difference. I played really well on short play. I think I was like 12th or something. I was up there with a lot of the big names. So I knew I could play, and I won a match in match play. Yeah, that's been a lot of confidence building. Played well in The Sally. I think this last -- ever since COVID hit, I think I just really recommitted myself and figured out that I can play and I can play well.

Q. Can you talk a little bit about how having the option to take a fifth year has kind of helped you? Maybe it was a bit of a good thing, like a silver lining to a really not great year for everyone?

KATHERINE SMITH: Yeah, it's been obviously a hard year for everybody, and I realized that golf was kind of the only thing I have and the only thing I could do throughout the pandemic, luckily in the U.S. So when Coach gave me that opportunity, I was so excited to compete for the Huskers for another year. I don't think I thought this is another year of amateur golf too.

So U.S. Am, this awesome tournament, The Sally, some of the events I never got to play in. So it's like a new lease on my amateur career, and I'm just trying to make the most of it.

Q. What are your plans the next month, month and a half?

KATHERINE SMITH: So we have one more non-conference event, and then we have Big Tens end of April. I've got a U.S. Open qualifier in May and possibly turn pro after regionals, Nationals, whatever we reach. So this is definitely like the homestretch of amateur golf. Boy, what a way to finish it.

Q. Can you talk a little bit about how the mindset of having sort of a more team format changes when you're at the these events where it's more on you?

KATHERINE SMITH: Yeah, it kind of helps me. Coach Lisa is always like, okay, you've got to focus on yourself. You can't get your teammates to play better during the round or things like that. So, yeah, focusing on myself this week has helped. I've been texting and calling my teammates back home. How's qualifying going, stuff like that, but it's probably been good for me to focus just where I am in the present.

Q. Are you trying to turn pro or do you want to do something else?

KATHERINE SMITH: I have two internships right now. I'm a graphic design major. I work at a sports marketing company, and then I also work in mental health and suicide prevention on campus. So I'm keeping my options open. I have a lot of different passions, but this one's definitely the most fun.

Q. How did you get into those two?

KATHERINE SMITH: Yeah, just being in sports, I reached out. I read a blog for one of them, and then the one on campus, I actually put up suicide prevention displays throughout the campus, try to end the stigma, stuff like that. So it keeps me busy. It keeps my mind busy.

Yeah, I'm a graphic design major, so I like to be creative. That's always helped me with my golf.