Faith Lutheran’s Sydney Smith plans to author championship golf season

The contents of a teenage girl’s journal usually are a well-guarded secret.

But since she’s writing about crushing tee shots — not her crushes — Faith Lutheran golfer Sydney Smith doesn’t mind sharing a bit of what’s inside hers.

“I started journaling my mental thoughts throughout holes and just strategies,” she said. “Definitely the mental aspect, I realized in high school that was my strong suit. And I kind of lost that over the summer, so I’m trying to regain that.”

Smith earned medalist honors at the Division I-A state and region tournaments as a sophomore and will lead the Crusaders this season as they transition back into the large-school classification.

The talented junior adds to a stacked field in the Class 4A Sunset Region, which already included defending state champion Annick Haczkiewicz of Palo Verde, state runner-up Hunter Pate of Bishop Gorman and three other players who finished in the top 12 at state.

“She has really continued to improve on the mental side and mature. I think that’s the best word,” Faith Lutheran coach Mark Cheney said of Smith. “She’s reflecting more and being more intentional to her approach to the game, and that’s the sign of a really mature competitor.”

Smith started golfing in third grade after following her neighbors, former Faith Lutheran golfers Brianna and Julia Becker, to the course. Last season, she defeated teammate Morgan Goldstein on the fifth playoff hole to win medalist honors at the Division I-A Southern Region tournament then shot a final-round 67 at state to win by three strokes.

Smith’s 5-under-par round was the lowest in school history at the state tournament.

But after struggling the past few months during junior tournaments, Smith decided to start her performance journal, an idea she got after taking Cheney’s sports psychology class at Faith Lutheran.

“What I took from it is that I would get ahead of myself and start to think of the future,” Smith said. “I tried to jump ahead and if I got a bogey I’d say, ‘OK, 15 is an easy birdie hole. I’ll birdie 15.’ And then something else would happen that would throw me off.

“So the whole one shot at a time, it’s a difficult thing to do in golf, but that’s what really helped me.”

Faith Lutheran won the past four Division I-A state team titles and was projected to be in the mix this season after moving back to the large-school classification. But Goldstein opted to focus on national-level tournaments this fall and is not playing high school golf, leaving the Crusaders’ lineup thinner than anticipated.

Smith, who has drawn recruiting interest from Colorado State and Sacramento State, shot 74 and finished three shots behind Haczkiewicz during Tuesday’s Northwest League match.

Cameron Griffin, who was fourth at the region tournament last season as a freshman, and senior Olivia Vogel also return for the Crusaders.

“It’s definitely a greater challenge to qualify for state this year,” Cheney said. “But when you do hard things, it’s more rewarding.”

Contact reporter David Schoen at dschoen@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-5203. Follow him on Twitter: @DavidSchoenLVRJ