Toast of the Coast: St. James’ Knaffle already ahead of competition on golf course
Three weeks after the high school golf season ended, Smith Knaffle was riding along an area course with her dad, Jim.
It was raining and temperatures were in the upper 50s. The St. James golfer didn’t feel comfortable with the site of an upcoming individual tournament, so father and daughter dealt with the very un-golf friendly conditions to prepare for an upcoming individual tournament.
“Effort and commitment is definitely key to playing big golf,” Knaffle said. “It’s helped me throughout the years. It’s given me good life skills. Hopefully one day, that can be my job. Starting young and working hard at it now, hopefully it will bring me to greatness in the future.”
The Toast of the Coast Girls Golfer of the Year already has an amazing jump-start on that long-term goal. Just an eighth-grader, Knaffle has a pair of top-six finishes in the Class AAA state tournament and two medalist honors from the Lower State tournament on her resume.
She plans to enroll at St. James High School next fall, and by the time she does that, she’ll already be one of the more decorated players on the Grand Strand in recent years.
This fall, Knaffle led the Sharks’ varsity team to a second-place finish in the state meet when she shot a two-day total of 152. It was the same figure she reached a year ago, although this time it equated to a tie for fourth individually.
Her nine-hole average (37) was two strokes better than the next best player in the area. Most importantly, every time she stepped on a golf course, she was a threat to win the tournament.
“She has the competitive edge that most kids her age don’t have – and even some older kids,” Sharks coach Denise Noll said. “I know some college athletes who don’t have that. It’s something unique.”
Most of her scores have been consistent, as well. In her four rounds at Black Bear Golf Course the last two years during the state tournament, she’s shot a 76, 76, 77 and 75. She also had a 75 during the Class AAA Lower State meet at Golden Bear Golf Course in Hilton Head.
“That’s where her maturity comes in. If she has a bad round, she doesn’t let it bring her down. She could shoot 68 one day and 88 the next,” Noll said. “But she lets it go. She doesn’t let it bring her down. She makes mistakes, has successes. But she’s always level-headed about it.”
Of the three players who bested her score in the Class AAA finals, one was a senior, another a junior and the third a sophomore.
Given what Knaffle’s done while still in middle school, she’ll be one of a handful of players in future seasons with some serious expectations attached to her name.
“I’m always going for the gold and I always want to win,” she said. “But golf’s a sport where anything can happen. I know in the next years to come, I can contend. Hopefully one year, everything can just click.”
This story was originally published December 21, 2014 at 6:32 PM with the headline "Toast of the Coast: St. James’ Knaffle already ahead of competition on golf course."