During this time he won the 1899 U.S. Open, played at Baltimore Country Club's Roland Park Course.

In 1899, Smith won the first Western Open in a playoff against Laurie Auchterlonie.

He had refused to leave his post at the country club and was found trapped under a fallen beam after Emiliano Zapata's troops ransacked the club which they saw as a symbol of the corrupt ruling class.

[3] He was tasked with designing a new course, the Club de Golf Chapultepec, however due to his death it was completed by his brother Alex Smith.

It has hosted the Mexican Open multiple times, and the WGC-Mexico Championship since 2017.