This 10-year-old from Andale just won a world golf title. Again.
From a town without a golf course, Graham Schmidt has become the best 10-year-old golfer in the world.
The fifth-grader from Andale captured his second straight title at the U.S. Kids Golf World Championships last weekend, winning the boys’ 10-year-old division at Legacy Golf Links in North Carolina. His 54-hole total of 200 strokes, a blistering 16-under par, separated him by four shots from a 150-player field stacked with top junior golfers from across 20 countries and 46 states.
After an opening-round 67 put him atop the leaderboard, Schmidt backed it up with a 65 in the second round, then closed the deal in the rain on Saturday with a steady 68.
His father, Dylan Schmidt, is no stranger to high-stakes pressure — he’s guided Andale to five football state titles in six seasons with a 97-4 record as the head coach. But even that can’t quite compare to caddying for your 10-year-old son as he stares down another world championship.
“To be able to be involved in your kids’ sports, it makes it so much fun,” Dylan said. “And for him to be able to do it at this level, it’s even more memorable. To be right in the thick of it with your son is pretty cool.”
Dylan, a self-taught golfer, introduced Graham, the oldest of five siblings, to the game at Cherry Oaks Golf Course in Cheney, the closest track to their hometown. It started as father-son time. It quickly became something much more.
As Graham’s game outgrew the local muni, the family started making regular trips to Wichita for more advanced coaching and tougher competition. Graham now splits time between Cherry Oaks, Auburn Hills, Crestview and Terradyne — working with elite instructors like Trent Rommann at Crestview and Doug Atherly at Terradyne through the Josh Cook Golf Academy.
The results speak for themselves. Graham’s swing is polished, his mechanics mature beyond his age, and his power? Exceptional for his age.
On a simulator, he’s already been tracked with a 225-yard carry off the tee and a 260-yard drive — at age 10. That kind of distance changes how he attacks a course.
“He’s hitting a lot of wedges to the green when other kids are hitting long irons or hybrids or woods,” Dylan said. “His athleticism, strength and club-head speed are all things that have contributed to him being a really good driver.”
He’s drawn comparisons to Xander Schauffele for his well-rounded game, but Dylan says Graham’s driver — a high, towering draw — reminds him of Rory McIlroy.
For anyone unfamiliar with youth golf, winning one world title is rare. Back-to-back? Nearly unheard of. Golf is a volatile, streaky sport. But Graham has proven he is built for the biggest stages and biggest moments.
His summers are packed with events hosted by Central Links, South Central PGA and Wichita junior golf tournaments. The grind is real, but so is Graham’s love for the game. Dylan shares in the passion, and not just for the golf, but for the bond.
Over the years, Dylan has intentionally stepped back as a coach during tournaments. He’s still on the bag, still a sounding board when needed, but Graham is increasingly making his own decisions and managing his own game.
That approach has been there from the beginning. When Graham was 5, Dylan would challenge him to putting duels — giving his son two balls to try to beat him. It didn’t take long before Graham only needed one.
Then came the matches.
They started with Graham playing from the red tees, Dylan from the whites. For a while, Dad always won. But that changed. Graham began shooting under par from the reds, so he moved back to the whites to challenge his father. And he nearly beat him last summer. Then, last month, he finally broke through.
Graham shot a 37 to his dad’s 38 on the front nine at Cherry Oaks. Dylan had a four-shot lead early and was talking trash, until his son rallied for the win on the final hole.
“I knew it would happen at some point,” Dylan said with a laugh. “But I didn’t think it would happen at age 10. So now he’s cocky again and running his mouth to me.”
It might be friendly father-son trash talk, but it’s also pride. Because behind the banter is the undeniable truth: Graham, still just a fifth-grader at Andale Elementary, is doing things few kids, anywhere, have ever done.
And it feels like he’s just getting started.
This story was originally published August 7, 2025 at 6:01 AM.
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