Senior etches name into golf history, shooting a six-under 66
Photo courtesy of goxavier.com | Senior golfer Mikayla Smith set a school record in Round 2 of the William & Mary Invitational last week, shooting a six-under 66. The score broke the previous record set by Abby Fowler in 2003 by three strokes.
Senior golfer Mikayla Smith had the best round of golf a Xavier athlete has ever had last Sunday at the William & Mary Invitational in Williamsburg, Va.
She set a school record, shooting a six-under 66, during the second round of the invitational.
Smith broke the previous record, set in 2003 by Abby Fowler, by three strokes.
Smith explained that she was “aware of the previous record, but when (she) was out there (she) tried not to think about it too much.”
Breaking school records doesn’t come easily, and it certainly takes a lot of practice. Smith entered the new campaign with a certain mindset.
“To prepare for the season, we have been playing a lot of qualifying rounds, and as a team, we have been shooting some pretty good scores,” she said.
Smith aided the women’s golf team to a tie for fourth place in its first meet of the year at the invitational.
The season is still young, but Smith feels that this year will be “a record-breaking year for our golf program at Xavier.”
“We have a young and competitive team this year, which is good because it pushes everyone to get better,” she added.
One goal that Smith hopes to accomplish this season is to stay consistent with her scores. Throughout the past three years, Smith has posted an average score of 78.55, and she has lowered her average each year.
“I’m trying to stay in the mid-to-low 70s this season and avoid the higher scores — and if I continue my low scoring, it will end up being a pretty good year for me,” she said.
At Xavier, Smith is a Life Sciences for Business major and has earned a spot in the Big East All-Academic team every year so far in her collegiate golf career.
While most seniors depart Xavier after spending four years at the school, Smith plans on remaining in Cincinnati for a fifth year to complete an MBA in the Life Sciences for Business program.
When asked if she plans on pursuing a career playing golf after college, Smith said that she currently has no plans to do so.
However, Smith did say that “golf will always be a part of (her) life, and (she) definitely plans on playing for fun after (her) time here at Xavier.”
Smith set the tone nicely in the early part of the year. She believes her record-breaking performance to begin the season will give her “even more confidence going into future tournaments.”
The next tournament that Smith and the Musketeers will be competing in is the Nittany Lion Invitational held in State College, Pa., which is set to tee off on Saturday.
By: Evan Gottschalk | Guest Writer