Christiana Schmidt raced to her dad as he walked off the 18th green and wrapped her arms around him as tight as possible.
She’d heard about past victories by Chris Schmidt.
But Christiana – clad in a bright outfit and Titleist visor – had never seen one until Sunday at Cleveland Country Club when the sixth-grader saw Schmidt best some of the best amateurs in the greater Chattanooga area.
“I think she’s more excited than I am,” Schmidt said, after signing his scorecard and posing for pictures with the Cleveland Invitational championship trophy.
Schmidt shot a 7-under-par 137 over two days to beat runner-up Matt Robertson by two shots with precise play with his irons, going back to an old putter, and some pre-tournament advice from Gibby Gilbert II.