Nate Smith Finishes Runner-up at U.S. Mid-Amateur

Nekoosa, Wis. – 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 this week, Sept. 26 – Oct. 1, at The Lido and Sand Valley courses at Sand Valley Golf Resort in Nekoosa, Wis. 

(Click here to view the final scoring of the match.) 

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.  

In the final 36-hole match, Smith stayed close to his adversary for much of the morning. He went 1-up over Bailey on the third hole and was eventually 2-up after 14 holes, but a string of hole wins from Bailey tied the match after 18 holes. Maintaining momentum, Bailey notched a birdie-par-birdie stretch on the 23rd through the 25th and found himself 3-up as a result. That lead eventually expanded to 5-up before it was enough to clinch the match after 32 holes. 

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. 

This week, Smith’s father, Ken, served as his caddie. While his runner-up result doesn’t offer as many future exemptions as a victory, Smith is exempt into the 2027 U.S. Amateur at Oak Hill Country Club, in Pittsford, N.Y. 

Bailey won as the WAGR No. 180.