College golf: Change of scenery leads Smith to national stage

SAN ANGELO The Raelyn Smith who will tee it up for Angelo State University today at the NCAA Division II Women's Golf Championships in Findlay, Ohio, probably wouldn't have recognized herself three years ago.

That Raelyn Smith couldn't wait to receive her diploma in 2006 from Permian High School and go take on the world as a University of Texas golfer.

"My goal my whole golf career was to play at the University of Texas," Smith said. "That was it and I felt like I accomplished my goal."

Smith was so sure, in fact, that she sealed her golf future during the early signing period her senior year of high school in the fall of 2005.

Imagine, then, Smith's realization that her dream really wasn't so glorious after all.

The breakneck pace of Division I athletics was to be expected. Smith admits she was so blinded by her dream that there was little attention paid to the means to the end.

"A lot of it was the atmosphere," Smith said. "I had a hard time being around the hustle and bustle of life. It was a 45-minute drive to the golf course - even going to the grocery store was a chore.

"I didn't look at the town of Austin. I didn't look if I was going to enjoy where I was living, the situation, the class size. I just saw Texas and it was automatic. Younger kids I would definitely tell to look at the surrounding area, do some research, stuff like that. It's definitely key."

Smith didn't, so after two years with the Lady Longhorns, she was done with competitive golf.

An illness her freshman year and a coaching change her sophomore year contributed to the angst that made her passion a chore.

She didn't want to practice, didn't want to play and definitely didn't want to be around the sport.

"I was actually done with golf," Smith said. "There were a few coaches that I had talked to and I told them that I'm not playing golf anymore."

Plans obviously do change, though, and she gave a second thought to an offer she got from an NCAA Division II program getting off the ground for the 2008-09 season just down the highway from her hometown.

Angelo State in San Angelo - which Smith claims is a drive of one hour, 45 minutes from her front door in Odessa - came knocking with co-head coaches Jason Hase and Jimmy Tidwell.

"Jimmy and Jason got a hold of me and they told me they're starting a program, and it's closer to Odessa, and it would be closer to my family," Smith said. "They convinced me that it was a pretty good fit, and so far I'm pretty happy with my decision."

Former Texas teammate Brittany Tomerlin, a 2006 San Angelo Central graduate, gets credit from Smith for recommending the Division II program. Tomerlin had worked with Tidwell, who is Bentwood Country Club's director of golf, during her high school days and told Smith to give Angelo State a look.

Hase is the director of golf at San Angelo Country Club, and they both work on a volunteer basis for Angelo State.

"I've grown to really enjoy my coaches," Smith said. "I think they're wonderful people and great coaches and I think their program is going to do great things. I went from last year not exactly enjoying golf or my coaches. I had great teammates, but my coaches here have become a lot like my family. I count on them and I trust them and I think that's a really cool thing."

It's really cool for everybody involved in the Angelo State program to have Smith give the Rambelles a national presence in their first season of existence.

Smith led after the first two days before settling for a third-place finish over 54 holes at the NCAA Division II West Regional in Nebraska last week to earn a trip to Findlay Country Club, where the NCAA Division II Championships will begin today.

The 72-hole national tournament runs through Saturday, and Smith figures to be among the contenders. In the GolfStat Cup Standings, which figure in scoring averages throughout the season along with other factors, Smith is the sixth-ranked Division II golfer in the nation.

"My short game since I've moved to San Angelo has improved greatly," Smith said. "My swing has improved, and I was not playing this well or hitting the ball this well - my game was nowhere near this caliber at Texas. If it was this way, I would've been playing top five every tournament, no doubt. But I wasn't happy, and you can't play golf if you're not happy off the course."

The joy has returned, and Smith said she spends a lot of her waking hours now working on her game.

A big part of Smith's final decision to play for Angelo State was to come to peace with playing at the NCAA Division II level instead of the Division I level that had been her ultimate aspiration.

She has enjoyed her pace of life in San Angelo, though, and has found the golf to be pretty good, too.

"A lot of Division II players are Division I caliber," Smith said, "but they didn't have the grades or they were just kind of overlooked. Truth is, there's still a lot of competition."

After basically playing very little in tournaments for her two seasons in Austin, Smith said she is still figuring out how to manage nerves and big shots at events like the one she's starting today in Ohio.

Don't doubt what her goal is, though.

"To win this would be amazing," Smith said. "Obviously, that's a pretty high goal to set for yourself, but why go if you're not going to win?"