A home builder from Idaho will face an Ohio-based national sales rep for a prominent golf apparel company for the right to hoist the Robert T. Jones Memorial Trophy as the champion of the 45th U.S. Mid-Amateur.
Nate Smith, 43, of Tetonia, and Andrew Bailey, 34, of Cleveland, each won a pair of matches on Wednesday at The Lido to set up their 36-hole showdown on Saturday in central Wisconsin. In the semifinals, Smith outlasted Texan Mikel Martinson, 2 and 1, while Bailey defeated 2025 U.S. Open qualifier Matt Vogt, a dentist from Indianapolis, Ind., 4 and 2.
The winner not only receives a gold medal and custody of the trophy for a year, but also an exemption into the 2027 U.S. Open at Pebble Beach (Calif.) Golf Links and a likely invitation to next April’s Masters Tournament.
Both would be the first from their respective states to win the title. Only two other Idahoans have won USGA titles: Jean Smith (not related) at the 1995 U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur and Jodie Niemann (1999 U.S. Women’s Amateur Public Links). This will be the second consecutive year Ohio is represented in the final; Jeg Coughlin III (Dublin) lost to Brandon Holtz at Troon Country Club. The late Bob Lewis Jr. lost a pair of finals, including the inaugural playing in 1981, and Bill Williamson came up short in 2013.
Neither competitor had gone past the quarterfinals in any USGA championship; Bailey reached the last eight in 2021 at Sankaty Head on Nantucket Island, in Massachusetts.
“This afternoon was a dogfight,” said Smith, a two-time Idaho State Amateur champion (2024, 2026) as well as the 2025 Snedeker Memorial, a mid-amateur event held in Point Clear, Ala., run by Haymes Snedeker, the younger brother of 2026 U.S. Presidents Cup captain Brandt Snedeker. “We both were a little shaky out of the gate and he really showed some tenacity out there.
“But what a great guy. We had an amazing match. This is what the Mid-Am is all about.”
Smith, who hasn’t played the par-4 18th hole since the second round of stroke play on Sunday, broke the tight match open with three consecutive wins from No. 9, two with birdies and a par on No. 11 after Martinson found a fairway bunker that he thought he cleared with his tee shot.
Martinson never quite recovered, despite winning Nos. 12 and 16 with birdies.
“I'm disappointed,” said Martinson, a U.S. Mid-Amateur rookie who played briefly as a pro before regaining his amateur status last year. “I wish I could have gave Nate a little better fight. I know we pushed it to 17, but I'm not sure what happened on my 11th hole today. That bunker is 260. For my ball not to cover that downwind hitting it pretty decent, I mean, I don't know if something happened to my driver or what. I didn't really hit another good drive after that.”
Smith, a former two-time All-American at Duke University, did have some success as a professional, playing on the DP World Tour, Korn Ferry Tour (won the 2010 WMB Classic in West Texas where Martinson now works as an oilfield salesman) and one year on the PGA Tour before tearing his meniscus at the Farmers Insurance Open. That’s when he began to lose the passion for the game.
In fact, he took an eight-year hiatus from competing. While rehabbing his knee in Charleston, S.C., he met his wife, Amra, and then decided to obtain his MBA. Because of his love for the outdoors, he and his wife decided to relocate an hour north of Jackson Hole, Wyo., where the native Northern Californian could hunt, fish and be away from the hustle and bustle.
“I was watching way too much survivalist television and wanted to go live a self-sufficient lifestyle,” said Smith. “We looked at some mountain towns, serendipitously found Teton Valley, moved out there. I found this amazing community.
“The economy there is pretty small, so we built our home, and through that process I built a construction company with a business partner of mine, Josh Steketee, Creative Construction. So, we're custom home builders in Teton Valley, Idaho, and Jackson, and I love what I do."
Smith got reinstated in 2022, and this week is his third U.S. Mid-Amateur; he advanced to the Round of 16 in 2023, losing to Bobby Massa.
Playing out of Tributary Golf Course, in Driggs, a David McClay Kidd design that is extremely firm and fast helped prepare him for the bouncy links-style course at The Lido, which was patterned after C.B. Macdonald’s classic design on Long Island (N.Y.) that closed in 1942.
Bailey, however, took a different path for his golf career. He starred at Cleveland State for four seasons, earning Horizon League Player of the Year honors three consecutive years (2012-14). He also tried professional golf but never advanced further than the mini-tour circuit. When he broke his wrist in 2015 after making $8,000, Bailey decided to go in a different direction. He worked for Cardinal Health for 2½ years before landing his current gig at Holderness & Bourne, where he currently is the national green grass sales manager.
He claimed the Ohio Amateur in 2023 and ’24 and claimed the inaugural Giles Invitational at Kinloch Golf Club in 2025. The 2022 inductee into the Cleveland State Athletics Hall of Fame also advanced to the quarterfinals of the Crump Cup at Pine Valley the past two years.
Putting matches at two-time U.S. Open venue Canterbury G.C., which is a mile from his residence, prepared him for the nuances of The Lido green complexes.
“I work remote and I travel, so on the days that I'm not traveling I'm able to get out and play six holes a couple nights a week,” said Bailey. “Love to putt. We have a good [practice] putting green. Like to get up there and practice.”
Against Vogt, he pulled ahead for good with consecutive wins on Nos. 6 and 7, the latter a birdie. He would go 2 up on No. 11 and after a Vogt holed a 5-foot birdie on 12 to win the hole, Bailey bounced right back with a beautiful greenside bunker shot on the 283-yard, par-4 13th hole to regain his 2-up advantage. He closed with winning pars on 15 (8 feet) and 16 when Vogt graciously conceded his 15-footer for par after making a bogey-4.
“Hats off to Andrew,” said Vogt, a native of Pittsburgh who caddied for five years at Oakmont Country Club, where he qualified for last year’s U.S. Open. “He played amazing. Didn't give me an inch.
“Andrew is a friend. I wish I wasn't playing Andrew because…I know him well, and he had a two putt to close out the match, and I didn't need to stand by. Like he won that match. I felt like that was the right thing to do in the moment.”
None of the four quarterfinal matches went beyond the 16th hole, with Smith recording the biggest margin of victory, 6 and 5, over South Dakota State men’s golf coach Parker Edens.
This was Edens’ third run to the final eight in the last four years but has yet to advance beyond that point. His only win came when he birdied the par-5 seventh. Smith was the equivalent of 3 under par over the 13-hole encounter.
Once again Sand Valley Resort caddie Matt Hutchins, 29, drew a nice gallery of employees, caddies and Lido members, but he couldn’t continue his momentum. Playing with a sleeve on his left calf, which he injured on the 11th hole of his Round-of-16 win on Tuesday, the Naples, Fla., resident was eliminated by Martinson, 3 and 2. The former UCLA golfer who played briefly on PGA Tour Latinoamerica before regaining his amateur status in 2022 will leave for Florida in a few weeks to caddie this fall/winter at Old Florida Golf Club.
Grady Brame Jr., of Hammond, La., who claimed the U.S. Amateur Four-Ball title in May with ex-Southeastern Louisiana teammate Lawrence Allan, was ousted, 3 and 2, by Bailey in his bid for a second USGA title in 2026.
And three-time USGA runner-up Drew Kittleson, of Scottsdale, Ariz., was beaten by Vogt, 4 and 3. Kittleson, a former Florida State standout who lost to Danny Lee in the 2008 U.S. Amateur final at Pinehurst No. 2, was a U.S. Mid-Amateur semifinalist in 2024 at Kinloch Golf Club. He also reached the final of the 2022 and 2023 U.S. Amateur Four-Ball Championships with partner Drew Stoltz, a co-host of the Subpar Podcast with two-time USGA champion Colt Knost.
What’s Next
Thursday’s 36-hole championship match is scheduled to begin at 7:30 a.m. CDT. The match will resume after the lunch break at a time yet to be determined. Admission is free and spectators are encouraged to attend.
Notable
Semifinal losers Mikel Martinson and Matt Vogt each received bronze medals and exemptions into the next two U.S. Mid-Amateur Championships that will be conducted at Jupiter Hills Club, in Tequesta, Fla., and the Country Club of Charleston (S.C.) in 2027 and 2028, respectively.
Both finalists are now exempt into the 2027 U.S. Amateur at Oak Hill Country Club, in Pittsford, N.Y. The champion also earns a spot in the 2027 U.S. Open at Pebble Beach (Calif.) Golf Links and a likely invitation to the 2027 Masters Tournament at Augusta National Golf Club.
Nate Smith’s 6-and-5 quarterfinal win over Parker Edens was the largest in this round since Hayes Brown defeated Colby Harwell by the same margin at Sankaty Head five years ago.
Trey Wren from Sticks Golf Research has been on property all week documenting the U.S. Mid-Amateur. He was first following 2025 semifinalist Christian Cavaliere, but after he was eliminated in the Round of 16, he switched over to Andrew Bailey.
Bailey was the only semifinalist using a local Sand Valley caddie (Pete Olig). Mikel Martinson carried his own bag, while Nate Smith has his father, Ken Smith, on his bag, and Matt Vogt had Nitin Gupte.
Martinson has caddied for a number of PGA Tour players, including Peter Malnati, Brice Garnett and Harold Varner III.
Should Andrew Bailey claim the title, he will be a busy man next year. Not only does he get all of the exemptions, but he’s also going to be the player liaison on the host committee for the 2027 U.S. Girls’ Junior at Canterbury Golf Club, where he’s a prominent member.
Two-time U.S. Open champion and USGA Executive Committee member Andy North was on property Wednesday with three other members of the EC: USGA president Kevin Hammer, Jim Gorrie and Leslie Henry. North lives in Madison, an hour and 40 minutes south of Sand Valley.
Quotable
“That's where I grew up, so that would be killer.” – Nate Smith on possibly playing Pebble Beach next year in the U.S. Open
“Oh, my God, he is just absolutely loving it right now. He's just in the zone and it's so cool. He caddied for me at the U.S. Open in 2004 [at Shinnecock Hills] and we have a picture of ourselves. It's still in his office. There was a picture one of you guys [at the USGA] took this week that looked very similar to that, so it's just been unbelievable experience.” – Smith on having his dad on the bag
“I'm doing whatever [championship director] Tracy Parsons tells me to [do]. I think I have a meeting with her on Friday, so hopefully it's an exciting one.” – Andrew Bailey on being involved with the 2027 U.S. Girls’ Junior at Canterbury Golf Club, his home club
“I think it's impossible not to think about it. You [have] got to just live with it and just keep telling yourself you're worthy of winning the event.” – Bailey on trying to deal with the exemptions for winning out of his mind
“This is what you want to be playing every year as a mid-am [competitor]. Right now, [however], all I can think about is seeing my wife and [two] kids.” – Matt Vogt
“I felt like I played great this morning [in the quarterfinals]. I didn't give him an inch and I know Drew [Kittleson] is a great player and I'm really proud of how I played in that match. Match play is a fickle beast for sure. Tale of two matches for me today.” – Vogt
“I'm exhausted. No excuse. Nate [Smith] played awesome. It was a fun match. Somebody told me earlier I would get a two-year exemption after getting to the final four. I will have a caddie the next couple years. It’s a lot of golf.” – Mikel Martinson
“I had a couple buddies [from home] who said they were going and then didn't [at the] last second. And then when you start the week it sounds like a good idea and then when you get deeper and deeper into it you're like, ‘All right, now you don't want to mess the vibes up.’” – Martinson on why he ended up carrying his own bag
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