George
Smith
George
Smith grew up in the
north Chicago suburbs, where he could ride his
bicycle to a great golf club
called Shoreacres in Lake Bluff, IL. George was
a caddy there from age 12 until
age 21 - 10 summers at $7.50/bag. He would get
to the course early for an
early loop, eat a bag lunch, then go out again
or pick the range, hit most of
the balls he picked up, and then try to get
home for supper. He
eventually learned how to play from
watching the members and the Golf
Professionals up close. The Club allowed
caddies to play 
Monday
afternoons and he learned how to play golf
at Shoreacres. Walking the
bluffs of Lake Michigan on a classic course
was an idyllic place to
grow up.
George
played golf on his
high school team and walked on to the University
of Illinois team as an Evans
Scholar. He majored in Engineering at
Illinois and couldn't practice
every day due to his course load but the coach
let him stay on the 2nd team and
practice with them. He
always
appreciated that.
After
graduating, George
accepted a job with the 3M Company and that
brought him to St. Paul, MN where
he still resides. He moved to MN in 1986
and soon found his way over to
Eau Claire to play in what turned out to be many
CVGA events.
George
has qualified to play
many Minnesota Golf Association State
tournaments and four National
Tournaments - a USGA Public Links at
Edinburgh USA, a USGA Amatuer at
Pumpkin Ridge in Portland, OR, a USGA Mid
Amateur at Dallas Athletic Club and a
British Amateur at Royal St. George's in
Sandwich, England. In 2002,
George started his 2nd career as a PGA Member
and has played in many Minnesota
State Opens along with four
PGA Senior
Professional National Championships. Among his
numerous CVGA victories are the
1999 Tournament of Champions, and the 2021
Tournament of Champions. In
2021, George became the oldest winner of a
Tournament of Champions shooting a sizzling 66
at the age of 61.
In
his book, "Down the
Fairway", Bobby Jones said that "there is golf
and then there is
tournament golf". George has always
enjoyed the golf in CVGA
tournaments because it is real golf -
tournament golf. Golf by
the rules - no handicaps. The great
memories of all the fun rounds
he has played on some very fine CVGA golf
courses are times that he will always
cherish. The friendships and people he has
competed with in the CVGA have
enriched his golf life.
Tournament
golf is George’s
refuge, and having CVGA tournaments to
prepare for and play in has been
a wonderful experience for him. George wishes to
thank Bill Rolland for
starting the CVGA and Mark Barstad for
continuing to provide great tournaments
for guys like George to compete in. According to
George, the CVGA is something
exceptional and has become a center of golf
excellence in Wisconsin.
George
met the love of his
life, Marylee, in 1995. Their family includes
grown children Gretchen and
Benjamin.