Ladue Golfer Ready to Take His Game to the Next Level

Without meaning to brag, Ladue senior golfer Seth Smith has an accomplishment equivalent to professional golfer John Daly. Not bad company to keep on the golf circuit.

This Ladue High senior has second lowest round ever recorded for Missouri High School golf in a 9-hole match. He shot five under (31) on a par 36 course. That record is held by two-time major winner John Daly.

Smith is currently ranked No. 1 junior golfer in Missouri according to Junior Golf Scoreboard. 

He finished sixth in the Missouri State high school golf championships last year, despite having pneumonia.

He holds every Ladue High golf scoring record and has accepted a golf scholarship to Kansas State University.

Three-time state qualifier

Smith has qualified for the state tournament all three years in high school, and he is the captain of the eight-man squad.

He has ranked as high as 65th nationally, according to the magazine GolfWeek.

He looks forward to collegiate golf.  “Playing in the Big 12, we will face all kinds of competition," he said.

He is eager to face the golfers from Texas, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Texas Tech and other hot-bed schools who feature plenty of warm weather golf.

Smith got the golf bug when he was just five-years-old. His dad, Claude, introduced him to golf on a family vacation in Florida.

“My dad took me to the range, I hit some balls and I was kind of a natural at it,” he recalled. “I picked up the sport about five years ago. Until then, I was a big baseball player,”

“My dad was my first coach. He taught me when I was about 5 years old through age 12. Then I started taking lessons from Susan Fromuth, a pro at St. Louis Country Club.”

Summers are a busy time

Naturally, summers are devoted to constant practice and tournaments across the country. “High school golf is very different from amateur golf until you get to the state tournament. Then the you are facing all of the ranked guys and it gets much more competitive out there,” he said.

Smith plays in tournaments every other week. “I spend a couple of hours each day hitting balls on the range. We try to go to tournaments that we can drive by car to, but I’ll play in California tournaments if I qualify.”

Smith has his long-range goal already in mind. “If I have a chance to play professionally, I’d love to do that. That’s my long-range goal,”

With his determination, proper work habits and his natural right-handed swing, that might just happen for this talented senior golfer from Ladue.