There is a memory that Kate Smith-Stroh carries into this week’s KPMG Women’s PGA Championship at Hazeltine National Golf Club.
It’s of the 2019 edition of this major championship, the year Smith-Stroh attended as a fan to watch Australian Hannah Green win. A college student at the University of Nebraska back then, Smith-Stroh was “just an average golfer . . .” and playing the game professionally “wasn’t in the cards.”
But seven years later, the cards have dealt this young woman from Detroit Lakes, Minn., a chance to fulfill an improbable dream. From the land of long, cold winters and very short golf seasons, Smith-Stroh is teeing it up in this week’s major championship, a KPMG sponsor exemption granted to a most grateful 27-year-old who can exclaim with great joy that “this is a celebration for my family and friends because I’m thankful to the people who got me here.”
A robust request for tickets has been granted by PGA of America officials and Smith-Stroh – a rookie on the LPGA Tour a year ago – is thrilled to help accommodate those who share a love of golf and this beautiful state. If Smith-Stroh were to offer a memory that sums up the way golf and Minnesota heartiness are entwined forever, it would include her parents, who owned an 18-hole par-3 called Ironman GC and probably had clinics for 200 kids a week.
Kris Smith, a PGA of America Golf Professional for 30 years, used to hang a mat inside the maintenance shed and Kate would hit golf balls all winter beside a heat lamp.
“My parents made a lot of sacrifices for me to be here. We would drive down to the cities (Minneapolis and St. Paul) four times a week,” said Smith-Stroh. “Get up at 4:00, 5:00 a.m. to come to places like these. (We would) play, and then we would get back at 11:00 p.m. and my dad would hop on a mower (the next morning) at 6:00 a.m. to mow the greens for the first group out.”
If there is a fact that Minnesota golfers are most proud of, it is this: Of the 500 courses in the state, some 90 percent of them are public. “I never knew there were golf courses that were private,” said Smith-Stroh.
Her game improved exponentially in college, so much so that she was able to win the Big Ten championship and get the urge to pursue a pro career. It’s been a struggle, some highs, but a lot of bumps. In ’25 she made the cut in eight of 17 starts, had one top 10, and missed regaining full status by one stroke. With fewer LPGA starts in 2026, Smith-Stroh remains committed to her pursuit and more determined than ever.
“I’ve handled a lot of hard moments,” she said, “but I’m ready to meet the moment.”
She has clearly “met the moment” when it comes to helping to accommodate all her proud golf-happy Minnesotans and if Smith-Stroh had a philosophy it was simple.
“Come one, come all.”
