NATCHEZ, Miss. — With a few weeks before the start of the season, Alcorn State University formally announced the hiring of Lynette West-Smith as its new head golf coach. According to the natchezdemocrat.com feature, West-Smith is the first African-American golf female head coach in the Southwestern Athletic Conference.
Smith is a native of Natchez and attended Natchez High School where she played under the late Thomas Matthews.
Her achievements in high school earned her a full golf scholarship to Texas Southern University. She received a Bachelor of Science in Biology beofre obtaining a certificate in Cardiovascular Ultrasound from Southern Medical Corporation.
During her collegiate career at Texas Southern, Smith was named Most Valuable Player, an All-SWAC Tournament selection, Low Medalist, and garnered the Coaches Award.
Her professional career consisted of several first-place awards including the Gulf Coast Par Buster, Lady Drivers Tournament, Harvest Club Invitational and the Boot Walker Golf Classic.
She also completed and passed the Player’s Ability Test while participating in the qualifying school for the LPGA and Duramed Futures Golf Tour.
Smith hosts her own youth golf camp which inspired her pursuit of a career in coaching.
“I think great things will come about with me being coach,” West-Smith told the Natchez Democrat. “I think I will be able to put Alcorn (State) golf on the map.
Source: http://www.swac.org/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=27400&ATCLID=208359960