GOLF.com: The Inspiring Story Behind a 295-Over Par College Golf Score

From Volleyball Court to Golf Course in a Matter of Weeks

Reinhardt University's women's golf team needed four players to compete as a team, but only had three. Head coach Evans Nichols reached out to other athletic programs — and volleyball player Jenna Smith answered the call.

Smith had played just nine holes of golf before, reportedly shooting around 200. Her teammate Maja Brodzinska had barely any more experience. The weeks before the Appalachian Athletic Conference tournament played out like a crash course in a subject neither had studied — clubs, tees, and swing mechanics all had to be absorbed at speed.

295-Over Par, Three Rounds, No Quit

At Governors Towne Club in northern Georgia, Smith finished the NAIA conference event with a 511 total — 295-over par. Single-hole scores reached into the teens and twenties. But she finished every round.

More importantly, she improved each day: 184 in round one, 167 in round two, 160 in round three. The hole that tortured her most — the 4th — went from 21 strokes on day one to 11, then down to 7 on the final day. That trajectory matters.

The Mindset Behind the Numbers

After ditching her driver after the first hole (it kept going right, and no one could explain why), Smith completed three rounds with just a putter, wedge, 7-iron, and 4-hybrid. She turned the event into a personal competition: beat your own number tomorrow.

"Your score is not who you are," she told her golf teammates afterward — a message she also delivers to her volleyball teammates after tough losses.

Strokeslab Perspective

While there's no Strokes Gained data to analyze here, Smith's instinct to track personal improvement hole-by-hole mirrors the core philosophy of SG thinking: measure what changed, not just what happened. Her story is a reminder that the growth mindset — not the scorecard — is what drives long-term improvement in golf.