St. James Academy golfer Caroline Klemp wins Kenneth Smith Award

For Caroline Klemp, golf started as a chance to hang out with her dad, and to take her turn driving the golf cart as a kid.

But the game eventually became Klemp’s chance at a college scholarship, as well as the reason for her most recent honor, the Kenneth Smith Award. That award, which was presented to Klemp at St. James Academy on Thursday, honors the top male and female high school golfers in the Kansas City metro area each year. The boys’ winner will be announced in the spring.

“My dad and I would go out to the golf course and just kind of messed around, and then I started playing tournaments, and it started to become real,” Klemp said. “It became something I could actually do in high school and then in college, and then it just kept motivating me to get better because you just want to beat your previous score every time.”

In each of her tournaments this season, Klemp finished in the top five, and she was the Kansas Class 5A state runner-up (after winning as a junior last year).

The St. James senior will go on to play golf at the University of Denver.

“I just always dreamed of being on the team but never imagined I could actually get a spot,” Klemp said. “So to be able to have that chance is wonderful.”

This story was originally published November 17, 2016 at 6:41 PM with the headline "St. James Academy golfer Caroline Klemp wins Kenneth Smith Award."