By: Shane René, Administrator of Media and Communications
Jean Lane Smith’s name will always live in gold on the front plaque of the Idaho Women’s Amateur Trophy — which was named in her honor in 2019 — but her legacy lives in the long list of appearances her name makes around the sides of it.
Smith stands alone with seven Idaho Women’s Amateur titles, besting fellow Hall of Fame inductee Karen Darrington by one. Smith notched her first Idaho Am win in 1984 and went on to win the event six more times in the following 14 years. Smith used those years to make a historic run at Darrington, who’d won three titles before Smith had corralled her first. Darrington reached six titles in 1992, but Smith, almost 20 years her senior, knocked down three more wins over the next five years to cement her legacy over Idaho’s flagship women’s amateur event.
“Even today we go out and play, and it’s still like that — it’s just ingrained in us,” Smith laughed about her rivalry with Darrington. “They were good matches; some were close, some were runaways. But what comes out of it in the end, and which is most important to me, is to just look at the friendship that came out of it.”
She found similar success in the IGA’s senior division, winning five Women’s Senior Amateur titles, joining a rare club of players with double-digit IGA Major titles. Smith also won a number of titles outside of Idaho. In 2003, she won the PNGA Senior Women’s Amateur. She is also a six-time winner of the Western Golf Associations Senior Women’s Amateur.
But Smith’s success in state and regional championships takes a back seat to the pinnacle achievement of her career: winning the 1995 U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur. To this day, she is the only Idahoan to win a USGA Championship event — professional or amateur, male or female.
Born and raised in St. Louis, golf was not an obvious path forward for Smith. Tennis was the game of choice before her 16th birthday when she was gifted a set of golf clubs, taking to the fairways at Old Warson Country Club. Today, the St. Louis club's website refers to Smith as “Old Warson’s Best Woman Ever.”
Smith is known as a fierce competitor, bringing the sort of intensity to her craft that you can only find in the most accomplished athletes. But her competitive fire never overshadowed her model sportsmanship, a value she always sought to pass along to the generation of players she inspired to play and play their best.
“Jean Smith has left an indelible mark on golf in Idaho and inspired countless individuals with her dedication, skill and passion for the game,” 1997 Idaho Women’s Amateur Champion Sheryl Scott wrote. “Her journey as a golfer has been marked by remarkable accomplishments that underscore her status as a true icon in the golfing community.”
Smith was inducted into the Pacific Northwest Golf Association (PNGA) Hall of Fame in 2005.
Accomplishment Highlights:
Idaho Women’s Amateur Champion (1984, 1987, 1989, 1990, 1993, 1995 & 1998)
Idaho Women’s Senior Amateur Champion (2003, 2004, 2005, 2006 & 2014)
USGA Women’s Senior Amateur Champion (1995)
Inducted into the PNGA Hall of Fame in 2005