Northwest golfer makes USGA final

Nate Smith of Tetonia, Idaho, advanced to but lost the final match of the 45th U.S. Mid-Amateur Championship to Andrew Bailey of Cleveland, Ohio, by a margin of 5 & 4 in the scheduled 36-hole match. The championship was held at The Lido and Sand Valley courses at Sand Valley Golf Resort in Nekoosa, Wisconsin.

Smith, who won the Idaho Men’s Amateur in 2024 and 2026, entered the match-play portion of the week as the No. 45 seed, having produced a 1-over par over 36 holes of stroke play. The 43-year-old and 2025 PNGA Men’s Mid-Amateur Player of the Year is a homebuilder in his Eastern Idaho community and was reinstated as an amateur in 2022. On his way to the final match, he defeated some of the finer names in amateur golf, like Stewart Hagestad, the three-time U.S. Mid-Amateur champ who Smith soundly bested 5 & 4 in the Round of 32 during the tournament.

Smith entered the week ranked 264th in the World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR). It was that ranking that earned him an exemption into this national championship, as he was a top 40 age-eligible point leader in WAGR as of July 15. Smith’s counting wins toward that also include the PNGA Men’s Master-40 Amateur and The Snedeker Memorial, both in 2025.