Libby Smith Inducted into Vermont Sports Hall of Fame
Libby Smith was among 10 athletes inducted into the Vermont Sports Hall of Fame (VSHOF) at a dinner and celebration at the Delta Marriott Burlington Hotel on Williston Road in South Burlington on Saturday, October 24, 2020. Libbywas recognized for her achievements in both golf and basketball. Her golf record includes five straight Vermont Women’s Amateur titles from 1999-2003, tying the record for consecutive wins with Mae Murray Jones and Holly Reynolds. She was also the runner-up in 1998 and finished 4th in the New Englands in 2002. She turned pro in 2004.
Proceeds from the event go to Prevent Child Abuse Vermont, the designated charity of the Vermont Sports Hall of Fame.
Photos and details of Libby’s accomplishments in both basketball and golf and tournament results for the Vermont Women’s Amateur from 1998-2003 can be found in these articles assembled by Cindy Paquet.
The following is from the VSHOF press release:
[Libby Smith was] an outstanding multi-sport athlete at Essex High and she went on to a standout career in basketball and golf at UVM, and then earned a spot on the LPGA Tour.
On the court at Essex she was a four-year starter for VSHOF inductee Jean Robinson winning four state titles helping the Hornets to a 93-3 record including three perfect 24-0 seasons. She scored 1106 career points and was named the 1998 Vermont State Player of the Year by Gatorade and the Burlington Free Press. She was an all-state soccer player in the fall and in the spring was twice the Vermont girls high school golf state champ (1996 &1998).
Smith was a two-sport standout and two-sport captain at UVM in women’s basketball and men’s golf. In hoops she was a four-year starter at guard for another VSHOF inductee, coach Keith Cieplicki, leading the Catamounts to two conference regular season titles, an America East Championship, an NCAA Tournament appearance and the quarterfinals of the WNIT. She started all 122 games in her career and was named the 1998 America East Rookie of the Year and was first team all-conference as a senior. She finished her career as the only at UVM to have more than 1,000 career points, 500 rebounds and 400 assists.
She was a captain of the UVM men’s team as a senior, competing all four years recording the team’s top scoring average her senior season.
As an amateur golfer she won five straight Vermont Amateur Women’s Golf Championships from 1999 to 2003 after a runner-up finish in 1998. She turned pro in 2004 and competed for a decade on the LPGA Tour, the LET (Ladies European Tour), the LAGT (Ladies Asian Golf Tour), and the LPGA Symetra Tour. She earned her full-time LPGA Tour card in 2005 with a second place finish at the Q School tourney. Her lone professional tournament win was in 2007 capturing the Hong Kong Masters of the Ladies Asian Golf Tour.
She was inducted in the UVM Athletic Hall of Fame in 2012 and the VPA Hall of Fame in 2007. After working as a golf pro in Vermont, she now is a golf pro in Jupiter, Florida.