U.S. MID-AMATEUR CHAMPIONSHIP

October 1, 2026

Nate Smith

Sand Valley Resort

Quick Quotes

Q. Difficult when you lose in a final when you get to the this stage after winning all these matches.

NATE SMITH: Sure.

Q. Describe your feelings right now.

NATE SMITH: I feel happy. You know, I mean, I'm disappointed I didn't win, but at the same time, I didn't do anything to lose. He just played an exceptional round of golf this afternoon.

My hat is off to him. I'm super stoked for him. It's amazing to be able to play that well and win this championship. That's so difficult.

I'm just fortunate to be here, and I had a great time.

Q. Your putter just didn't seem to cooperate. You had one birdie.

NATE SMITH: Yeah.

Q. So many good chances. Three-putt par --

NATE SMITH: Sure.

Q. Three-putt par on seven and missed one on nine. Seemed like that snowballed.

NATE SMITH: Yeah, I putted good all week.

Q. Did you have anybody else here this week besides your dad?

NATE SMITH: Well, two of my buddies just rolled up this morning all the way from Jackson Hole. They got there around the --

Q. Give me their names.

NATE SMITH: Chris Dick and Tom Fay.

Q. F-a-y?

NATE SMITH: F-a-y, yeah.

Q. Tom, T-o-m.

NATE SMITH: Yeah.

Q. Chris' last name?

NATE SMITH: Dick.

Q. D-y?

NATE SMITH: D-i-c-k.

Q. Okay. (Laughing.)

NATE SMITH: And then I had another buddy, Andy Sheils, and his buddy KP from Rockford that came up from Nashville last night or surprised me on the putting green.

So I had -- but honestly, like I just got along so well with all the staff here this week; made friends. So I felt like I had a little bit of, you know, gallery out there supporting me as well.

Q. Andy Sheils. The other guy?

NATE SMITH: KP.

Q. Last name?

NATE SMITH: I don't know.

Q. Okay. That's okay. Just the overall week, you get to a final in such a strong field; you played so well. Didn't even play an 18th hole until this morning.

NATE SMITH: I was thinking that. Man, this is the first time we've been here. It was a dream week. I played well versus Stew and I didn't play well in the afternoon match, but that's how this goes.

I've been on the other side of that where you play well and you lose. That's what happened this afternoon. I played decent. Like you said, the putter didn't really get going like it was, and part of that is because Andrew kept the pressure on me all day so those putts were harder to make.

It's just a great experience.

Q. What do you take from a week like this going forward? What is your schedule? What's your job, other things?

NATE SMITH: Well, it's funny, because I kind of put all my efforts into trying to make the Walker Cup this year, and just had a fairly disappointing summer. Didn't play as well as I thought I could.

So coming into this tournament very low expectations upon myself. I was like oh, we'll probably pull back the schedule next year. There is some other life stuff I need to focus on, my wife, family things.

Now it's like oh, we're back in here again. No, it's going to be a great opportunity. Like I'm stoked about the Country Club at Charleston.

Q. That's two years.

NATE SMITH: Yep, because I lived there, I have in laws there. So that was like circled on my radar, to know that I'm --

Q. (Talking at the same time.)

NATE SMITH: Yeah, which used to be an associate member at. I'm like stoked for that. And the U.S. Amateur at Oak Hill. It'll be incredible. I guess I'll get an opportunity to hopefully choose a few tournaments next year. I work full time so won't be a full season.

Q. Winters in Idaho, are you still building houses at this time of the year?

NATE SMITH: Yeah, there is just a booming building market there that people want their houses built and we've got guys that want to work, so we just work right through the winter. I spend a lot of time snowshoeing in the back country or skiing and hanging out with my dogs. I don't play a lot of golf.

We'll get back after to come springtime.

Q. I'm sure there will be a lot of invitations now that you're a finalist at this event. Maybe Crump Cup, George Thomas, Giles.

NATE SMITH: Yeah, I played the Giles last year. That's a special tournament. I'll be back because Vinny is an incredible guy and that facility is like top notch.

But, yeah, I've been wanting to go play those other tournaments for a little while. Maybe the invites will come.

Q. Hell of a week, Nate. Congratulations.

NATE SMITH: Thanks, I appreciate it.