By Peter Owen
IT WAS after he bombed out in the final stage of Q-School in 2017 – closing with rounds of 80 and 78 at Moonah Links all but dashing his dream of a career as a touring professional – that Mitchell Smith fell out of love with golf.
Disappointed and disillusioned, the former Tasmanian junior star abandoned any thoughts of a playing career, instead limiting his golf to an occasional social outing with his mates at the weekend.
At the age of 26, though, Smith found himself at the crossroads that we all reach sometime in our lives.
Armed with university degrees in business, sports management and marketing, and with an impressive career as an elite amateur behind him, Smith felt the need to do something with his life.
He considered becoming a teacher but, instead, signed up as an associate under the PGA’s Membership Pathway Program and began making the daily trek from his Brisbane home to Sanctuary Cove, on the northern edges of the Gold Coast.
Three years on, and it’s all been worth it.
At the national awards presentations late last year, Smith was named Australian PGA Associate of the Year – a reward for his playing ability, his academic achievements and his contribution to the MPP program.
And he’s found a new calling as a coach and mentor.
“It came as a real surprise,” Smith said. “I didn’t enter for it. In fact, I didn’t even know I was in the running until a week or so before the announcement.”
Smith has been playing golf since he was seven, introduced to the game by his grandfather Michael Johns, a scratch golfer at 50 and then course superintendent at tiny Seabrook Golf Club in Tasmania’s north-west.
Nick White, now head pro at Tasmania Golf Club and one of the state’s leading coaches, was the professional at Seabrook and conducted the Saturday morning junior clinics which Smith attended each week. He even worked in the pro shop on Sunday afternoons.
By the time he relocated to Brisbane as a 14-year-old, Smith was an elite junior – a high performance player, who worked with some of the country’s leading golf instructors.
And, while the competitive juices are still there, Smith is now convinced his future in the golf industry is in teaching, rather than playing, the game.
Now out of his time, Smith remains a key member of the Sanctuary Cove professional team, splitting his time working in the pro shop and teaching on the range.
He also runs the club’s junior program, which began with two youngsters and now numbers 15.
His entry into the coaching field was almost by accident.
“I love to see a smile on their face – to see them obviously happy because they have done something correctly.”
“I started with the juniors, then somebody asked me for some advice and so I gave a few lessons,” he said. “They seemed to go okay and I really started to like it.”
Smith says he enjoys working with beginners as much as he does with elite golfers, like Sanctuary Cove associate Chris Park.
“I love to see a smile on their face – to see them obviously happy because they have done something correctly,” he said. “You get the feeling that you’ve really helped.”
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