RECREATION

'Golf is my life': Former IHSA champ from Winnebago wins Rockford match play title

Matt Trowbridge
Rockford Register Star
Marcus Smith tees off on Saturday, May 14, 2022, at Mauh-Nah-Tee-See Country Club in Rockford.

ROCKFORD — Marcus Smith had plans after playing four rounds in two days to win the Mauh-Nah-Tee-See Match Play Invitational Sunday.

To drive to Forest Hills and practice more golf on one of Rockford’s other two country clubs.

“Golf is my life, essentially,” said Smith, a former Class 1A state champion from Winnebago who just finished his sophomore season at Eastern Michigan. “I want to be a pro one day, and I know if I’m going to make it, I am going to have to out-work everybody. That’s my plan this summer.”

Smith has been a star almost since the days when he took his first swing and saw his ball hit a house across the street when he was 3 years old. He finished in the top six at state all four years at Winnebago and beat record nine-time champ Jamie Hogan in a playoff in the Men’s City two years ago. He doesn’t play in that many local tournaments.

“I take it serious when I do, but I like to have some fun with it too,” he said. “Especially when I played with TJ Baker yesterday. That was a lot of fun. TJ pushes me more than anybody else around here. He’s really good. I’m looking forward to playing with him in the Men’s City, if he’s playing in that.”

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TJ Baker tees off on Saturday, May 14, 2022, at Mauh-Nah-Tee-See Country Club in Rockford.

Moving on from Eastern Michigan

Smith and Baker — who won the Class 2A state title for Boylan as a senior with a 134 score that was the second-lowest in state history — were the No. 2- and No. 4-ranked golf recruits in Illinois as seniors in 2020. Baker, who won the Men’s City last year when Smith didn’t play, picked Southern Illinois-Edwardsville, where he led the team in scoring as a sophomore with a 73.24 stroke average. Smith was in a virtual tie for second at Eastern Michigan with a 74.07 average but has entered the NCAA’s transfer portal.

“I wasn’t exactly happy with where I was at, but it’s also always been a dream of mine to play somewhere where there is better weather so I can play year-round golf and not have to play catch-up with all these great golfers out there,” Smith said. “I’ve got a few coaches biting on it. I am very happy that my parents were on board with me. Their support has been amazing. That made my decision feel really good.”

How he won the tournament

Smith reached the MNTS Match Play finals by beating David Nagel 4-and-2, Baker 1-up and 2019 Match Play champ Brian Silvers 2-and-1 in the semifinals. He closed out Baker Sunday morning with a six-foot birdie putt after Baker had made a 15-foot, downhill birdie putt of his own.

"I thought that would make us go into playoff holes, but he stepped up to his with confidence and nailed it," Baker said.

“His was over a little slope,” Smith said. ‘Wow, that was a good putt. That put a little pressure on me, but luckily I made mine.”

In the finals, Smith topped Garrett Ralston 3-and-2. Big-time putts on No. 13 and 14 pushed him over the top.

On 13, Smith saved par with a downhill six-footer that circled the hole and dropped. That kept him a hole ahead, instead of letting Ralston gain three holes in a four-hole stretch and tie the match after Smith made bogeys on 10 and 11..

“That was a change in momentum,” Smith said. “I lost it for a little bit. I lost my confidence and hit a few bad shots. What am I doing? But luckily that went in. The rest is history from there.”

Garrett Ralston tees off on Saturday, May 14, 2022, at Mauh-Nah-Tee-See Country Club in Rockford.

Not quite. Smith was in trouble again on the next hole. On 14, he took a provisional after flying the green from 170 yards out in the right round with an 8-iron after a 330-yard drive. He assumed his ball went out of bounds. But somehow, it stuck when it landed on the downslope and he was able to chip onto the green and then sink a 15-foot birdie putt to win the hole and go 2-up.

“I had a nice lie, so I went pin-hunting and went right over the pin,” Smith said. “I thought it was gone. That had me shaken up. It was very gracious that it didn’t go out of bounds. I thought it was out of bounds for sure.”

Given a reprieve, Smith then increased his lead to three holes with a four-foot birdie on No. 15 and closed out the match when both got above the hole just off the green for bogeys on No. 16.

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“This whole course, you can’t be above the hole,” said Ralston, 27, who has become a frequent challenger in local tourneys the last few years by “working my butt off.” He tied for fifth at the season-opening Gold Medal Classic in Byron earlier this month.

“That’s the one thing you can’t do here," Ralston said. "Unfortunately, I was above the hole too much this whole week. But I was pretty consistent. I made a lot of pars. I was trying to eliminate mistakes, trying to make my opponents make mistakes. I did that for the most part. In the end, I didn’t make enough birdies, but I played well.”

What's next?

Baker will play in the Men's City this year and looks forward to meeting Smith again the same way Smith wants another test against Baker.

"I still remember when I was a freshman starting to play golf hearing about this Marcus guy," said Baker, one of Rockford's latest-starting golf stars. "I always looked up to him when I started to get into the game. Now we are competing at the same level. It's been fun getting to know each other, talking about schools and the stresses and successes of college golf. I am sure we will be competing until we are old together."

Matt Trowbridge is a Rockford Register Star sports reporter. Email him at mtrowbridge@rrstar.com and follow him on Twitter at @MattTrowbridge. Sign up for the Rockford High School newsletter at rrstar.com.