TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. – Bradley Smithson grew up going up north to Grand Traverse Resort and its celebrated The Bear golf course to watch his father Gary, a PGA professional and accomplished player compete in the Michigan Open Championship.
In fact, dad, now a salesman for Yamaha Golf Cars Plus in Michigan, made 22 consecutive cuts in Michigan Open Championships.
Bradley, 20 and a Michigan State University golfer, did him one much better, going wire-to-wire to win the 104th Turtle Creek Casino Michigan Open Championship on The Bear.
“It’s pretty cool to win this one,” Smithson said. “I remember being up here at Opens riding around in a cart with my dad and he always played well here. I guess it’s come full-circle. He (Gary) is watching me now and giving me advice.”
Gary was proud.
“It has always been a great tournament to come to and I always played pretty well up here, but nothing like Brad did this week,” Gary said. “I’m so proud of him.”
Bradley, a tall left-hander with a powerful swing, walked a wire of intense final-day drama on The Bear to get the win.
“For sure it’s the biggest win of my life,” he said after he accepted the James D. Standish Trophy.
“At the end I was thinking wow, and I’m really tired, and I’m really hungry. I mean, it’s an awesome feeling. I mean, very emotional, but awesome feeling to get it done.”
Smithson, trailing by two shots on No. 18 tee in regulation play, birdied to land in a playoff when Ann Arbor teaching professional Patrick Wilkes-Krier missed the green and made bogey.
Then playing No. 18 again as the first playoff hole, he chipped in from about 15 yards off the green for birdie matching Wilkes-Krier who hit it to eight feet and made birdie.
Then they went to No. 16 where Smithson had made double-bogey 6 in regulation play with bunker trouble and missed short putt, and he hit it to 10-feet and made birdie to win.
The three consecutive birdies made him the fifth amateur in history to win the state championship, and Wilkes-Krier, 37, a runner-up with the first-place money of $12,000 from the $80,000 purse for professionals.
“I messed up 18 in regulation,” Wilkes-Krier said referring to losing a two-shot lead to a double-bogey when his tee shot landed in the rough area in the middle of the split fairway, his second shot missed the green and he missed a 10-foot par putt.
“But then, you know, he went out and earned it,” said the teacher for Dave Kendall Academy at Miles of Golf in Ypsilanti, who is also a former mini-tour player. “He made a bunch of putts and played great. He’s a great player. He was a lot of fun to play with. So you know, I lost to a good guy, for sure.”
Smithson shot a final 71 in regulation, and Wilkes-Krier shot 70 for the tie at 13-under 275.
“After the double (at 16 in regulation) I just tried to keep myself in it, thinking 17 and 18 are really tough holes especially with the wind today,” he said. “I knew anything could happen, and it kind of did. I mean a lot happened.”
Smithson said he couldn’t have picked a better championship to win, and that it will strengthen goals in golf.
“It was awesome to have my parents here, really cool,” he said. “When my dad (PGA professional Gary Smithson) hugged me he just told me he was proud of me and stuff. We’ve been coming up here since I was a little kid to watch my dad play, so this is really special.”
Bradley will be a junior in class standing with sophomore eligibility in the fall at MSU. His next golf stop was the Golf Association of Michigan’s premier event, the Michigan Amateur Championship in his hometown of Grand Rapids.
“I’m having a good summer,” he said and smiled.