Clint Smith Interview
Heading into the national championship, were you nervous?
Going into the National Championships I was always nervous. The weather conditions in all three were a battle.
Prior to winning the national championship, did you have a certain hole or shot that was a memorable moment for you during the tournament?
I will never forget the 18th hole on the last day. We all knew it was really close. The 18th was a par 5 that was reachable in 2. I can remember seeing coach Carlisle walking down the 18th fairway towards me on the tee box (this was not normal) seeing coach walk up the fairway with a different than normal walk than his normal I knew it was close. I still remember the energy and how nervous I was. The tee shot on this hole was the hardest shot on the hole. It had OB left and right off the tee. The hole was backed up and there were two groups on the tee also rules officials started showing up, you could see the gallery around the green. I can just remember us talking about just making par. Not trying to do anything special. I hit my tee ball in the fairway and that’s about all I can remember of that hole minus all the celebration after we knew we had secured the first Championship.
Playing the last round - when did you know you were going to secure the championship?
All the Championships came down to the last round the last day. We only knew what the outcome was going to be once we finished the 18th hole. With each championship, we played very very hard golf courses under some crazy weather conditions. Winning was never a guarantee.
How was winning the school's first-ever national championship?
Winning USC Aiken’s first national championship meant a lot to me. I knew then I would forever be part of USCA and awesome golf legacy Coach Carlisle has built.
Winning the third consecutive national championship - did you realize then how much of an impact/legacy it would leave for future years?
At the time of winning the 3rd championship I wasn’t sure what impact it would leave. I was there for all three championships, the team grew and changed through the years to something I was extremely proud to be a part of and say that I was a golf team member.
I haven’t been to Aiken in over 10 years, but it would be nice travel for a weekend to re-visit the “legacy” that I was privileged to be a part of.
