New York’s Matt Dobyns Birdies 72nd Hole to Capture the 48th PGA Professional National Championship
FLOURTOWN, Pa. Jul 01, 2015 – Matt Dobyns of Glen Head, New York, made a three-foot birdie putt on the 18th hole to overtake Ben Polland, who suffered a disastrous double bogey, and capture his second PGA Professional National Championship Wednesday at The Philadelphia Cricket Club.
Dobyns, 37, who trailed by two strokes coming to the 18th tee, hit a gap wedge from 148 yards to three feet of the hole after Polland, a 24-year-old PGA Assistant Professional at Deepdale Golf Club in Manhasset, New York, hit his approach shot from an awkward lie in a fairway bunker into the hazard on the Wissahickon Course.
From there, Polland took a penalty stroke and hit his fourth shot to the green before missing a potential-tying 10-foot bogey putt. Dobyns, the PGA Head Professional at Fresh Meadow Country Club in Lake Success, New York, then rolled in his winning putt to add to his 2012 National Championship.
Dobyns finished with an even-par 70 for a 72-hole total of 3-under par 279, while Polland closed with a 72 and 280 in his debut in the Championship. They were the only players finishing under-par.
Alan Morin (68) of Royal Palm Beach, Florida, shared third with Grant Sturgeon of Port Chester, New York (74), at 282.
“I knew if I didn’t hit a good tee shot or make birdie the tournament was over,” said Dobyns. “I hit it hard and off the bunker, and it went about 300 yards and ended up in the middle of the fairway. He made a mistake off the tee and had a bad break in the left fairway bunker. When he hit the ball and it went into the water, I was shocked. I felt really bad for him, because I know Ben and know him well. He works in the same club that I worked for years and for the same mentor (1996 PGA National Champion Darrell Kestner).
Dobyns’ final putt was the first time all week that he had a piece of the lead in the 48th showcase event for PGA Professionals. He earned $75,000 from a $550,000 total purse in a Championship presented by Club Car, Mercedes-Benz and OMEGA.
“I know how good of player Ben is and he’s a better person. At the same time, I’m also trying to win the thing,” said Dobyns, who trailed by five strokes with six hole to play. “I had a perfect number into the green. Ben hit a good putt for bogey and it just didn’t go in. The putt I had was just a matter of getting it on the right line.”
Polland said that his misfortunes began by having hit his 3-wood inconsistently throughout the week, and the miscue on 18 couldn’t have come at a worse time.
“I hit it almost off the heel and it left me with a really weird lie (in the left fairway bunker),” said Polland. “To be honest, if it was a foot shorter, I probably would have laid up. Since it was on top, I thought that I could get it over the creek. I’ve hit that shot before. I used a 7-iron and caught it on the toe. On the (bogey) putt, I hit it well, but it didn’t have enough speed.”
Dobyns became the fifth player to win multiple PGA Professional National Championships and the eighth overall National Champion from the Metropolitan PGA Section. In addition, he said that he had come full circle after an emotional 2014 in which his wife, Laurie gave birth at 27½ weeks to a son, Michael. That news came when Dobyns was about to play the third round of the 2014 National Championship.
“I’m dedicating this to my children,” said Dobyns, who also have a daughter, Kaitlyn. “We feel very blessed to have both kids healthy and for them to be here with us today.”
In addition to the low 20 scorers earning a berth in the 97th PGA Championship, Aug. 13-16, at Whistling Straits in Kohler, Wisconsin, there was a chase for spots on the 2015 U.S. PGA Cup Team.
| PLACE | PLAYER | SCORES | WINNINGS |
| 1 | Matt Dobyns, Lake Success, N.Y. | 72-69-68-70–279 | $75,000.00 |
| 2 | Ben Polland, Manhasset, N.Y. | 68-67-73-72–280 | $48,000.00 |
| T3 | Alan Morin, Royal Palm Beach, Fla. | 70-72-72-68–282 | $30,750.00 |
| T3 | Grant Sturgeon, Port Chester, N.Y. | 70-69-69-74–282 | $30,750.00 |
| T5 | Brian Cairns, Walled Lake, Mich. | 74-69-73-67–283 | $18,590.00 |
| T5 | Austin Peters, Thousand Oaks, Calif. | 68-74-72-69–283 | $18,590.00 |
| T5 | Brett Jones, Basking Ridge, N.J. | 72-73-69-69–283 | $18,590.00 |
| T5 | Omar Uresti, Austin, Texas | 70-73-71-69–283 | $18,590.00 |
| T5 | Sean Dougherty, Overland Park, Kan. | 73-74-67-69–283 | $18,590.00 |
| T10 | Ryan Kennedy, Ventura, Calif. | 74-72-72-66–284 | $10,250.00 |
| T10 | Adam Rainaud, South Hadley, Mass. | 76-70-70-68–284 | $10,250.00 |
| T10 | Charles Frost, Johns Island, S.C. | 72-67-75-70–284 | $10,250.00 |
| T10 | Johan Kok, Brentwood, Tenn. | 72-71-71-70–284 | $10,250.00 |
| T10 | Ryan Helminen, Menasha, Wis. | 71-74-69-70–284 | $10,250.00 |
| T10 | Bob Sowards, Dublin, Ohio | 72-71-70-71–284 | $10,250.00 |
| T16 | Daniel Venezio, South Hamilton, Mass. | 73-71-72-69–285 | $6,005.00 |
| T16 | Jeff Olson, Dublin, Ohio | 71-72-70-72–285 | $6,005.00 |
| T16 | Steven Young, Midland, Texas | 69-71-72-73–285 | $6,005.00 |
| T16 | Brent Snyder, Hudson, Wis. | 72-69-70-74–285 | $6,005.00 |
| T20 | Wyatt Worthington, II, Reynoldsburg, Ohio | 75-71-73-67–286 | $5,241.00 |
| T20 | Jason Martin, Wheeling, W. Va. | 76-70-69-71–286 | $5,241.00 |
| T20 | Boomer Erick, Hingham, Mass. | 72-71-71-72–286 | $5,241.00 |
| T20 | Brian Gaffney, Scarsdale, N.Y. | 73-69-71-73–286 | $5,241.00 |
| T20 | Shawn Warren, Cape Elizabeth, Maine | 68-72-72-74–286 | $5,241.00 |
| T25 | Rod Perry, Port Orange, Fla. | 74-71-74-68–287 | $4,545.00 |
| T25 | Stuart Smith, Reno, Nev. | 74-73-72-68–287 | $4,545.00 |
| T25 | Ben Willman, Conroe, Texas | 69-74-75-69–287 | $4,545.00 |
| T25 | Phil Schmitt, Baton Rouge, La. | 74-70-73-70–287 | $4,545.00 |
| T25 | Greg Boyette, Awendaw, S.C. | 75-72-68-72–287 | $4,545.00 |
| T25 | Joe Leonard, Wisconsin Rapids, Wis. | 70-70-70-77–287 | $4,545.00 |
| T31 | Jamie Broce, Ottawa Hills, Ohio | 72-70-77-69–288 | $3,730.00 |
| T31 | Joshua Rackley, King of Prussia, Pa. | 73-72-74-69–288 | $3,730.00 |
| T31 | Henrik Simonsen, Ooltewah, Tenn. | 73-74-71-70–288 | $3,730.00 |
| T31 | Chris Haarlow, Greensboro, N.C. | 76-67-74-71–288 | $3,730.00 |
| T31 | Judd Gibb, Fort Dodge, Iowa | 70-72-73-73–288 | $3,730.00 |
| T31 | Steve Scott, New City, N.Y. | 72-69-74-73–288 | $3,730.00 |
| T31 | Rick Schuller, Chester, Va. | 73-69-73-73–288 | $3,730.00 |
| T31 | Robby Bruns, Ardmore, Pa. | 73-74-68-73–288 | $3,730.00 |
| T39 | Darren Black, Seattle, Wash. | 72-70-78-69–289 | $2,921.25 |
| T39 | Jake Reeves, Knoxville, Tenn. | 72-74-74-69–289 | $2,921.25 |
| T39 | Rob Labritz, Pound Ridge, N.Y. | 69-71-77-72–289 | $2,921.25 |
| T39 | Sonny Skinner, Sylvester, Ga. | 72-72-73-72–289 | $2,921.25 |
| T39 | David Hutsell, Lutherville, Md. | 75-71-70-73–289 | $2,921.25 |
| T39 | Chris Wiemers, Omaha, Neb. | 74-73-68-74–289 | $2,921.25 |
| T39 | Brian Norman, The Colony, Texas | 72-75-68-74–289 | $2,921.25 |
| T39 | Shane Zywiec, Seward, Neb. | 68-73-72-76–289 | $2,921.25 |
| T47 | Tommy Sharp, Salt Lake City, Utah | 70-77-73-70–290 | $2,465.00 |
| T47 | Kyle Voska, Highlands Ranch, Colo. | 68-73-78-71–290 | $2,465.00 |
| T47 | Dustin Volk, Layton, Utah | 75-72-72-71–290 | $2,465.00 |
| T47 | Brian Coe, Kansas City, Mo. | 73-73-72-72–290 | $2,465.00 |
| T47 | Jerry Haas, Winston-Salem, N.C. | 71-76-71-72–290 | $2,465.00 |
| T52 | Scott Moran, Knoxville, Tenn. | 73-74-73-71–291 | $2,223.33 |
| T52 | Ben Krug, Sunland, Calif. | 72-70-77-72–291 | $2,223.33 |
| T52 | Rob Moss, Broadview Heights, Ohio | 69-74-73-75–291 | $2,223.33 |
| T52 | Mike Small, Champaign, Ill. | 75-71-70-75–291 | $2,223.33 |
| T52 | Eddie Wynne, Oakdale, Minn. | 72-70-73-76–291 | $2,223.33 |
| T52 | Jeffrey Schmid, Columbia, Mo. | 71-75-69-76–291 | $2,223.33 |
| T58 | Chris Dompier, Marana, Ariz. | 73-71-74-74–292 | $2,056.00 |
| T58 | Tyler Dunn, Overland Park, Kan. | 71-73-74-74–292 | $2,056.00 |
| T58 | John Pillar, Hawley, Pa. | 73-71-74-74–292 | $2,056.00 |
| T58 | Mark Brown, Glen Head, N.Y. | 72-68-77-75–292 | $2,056.00 |
| T58 | David Champagne, North Canton, Ohio | 76-68-73-75–292 | $2,056.00 |
| 63 | Mark Voeller, Pewaukee, Wis. | 71-72-77-73–293 | $1,975.00 |
| T64 | Patrick Clark, Norwalk, Conn. | 70-74-76-74–294 | $1,912.50 |
| T64 | Bill Wening, The Woodlands, Texas | 75-72-73-74–294 | $1,912.50 |
| T64 | John Seltzer, Grand Rapids, Mich. | 77-70-73-74–294 | $1,912.50 |
| T64 | Ed Kirby, Wakefield, R.I. | 73-71-74-76–294 | $1,912.50 |
| T68 | Stuart Deane, Arlington, Texas | 76-69-75-75–295 | $1,800.00 |
| T68 | Kris Kroetsch, Fargo, N.D. | 72-72-76-75–295 | $1,800.00 |
| T68 | Garrett Okamura, Wailuku, Hawaii | 73-71-75-76–295 | $1,800.00 |
| T68 | Chris Griffin, Sumner, Wash. | 73-73-73-76–295 | $1,800.00 |
| T68 | Michael Martin, Fort Worth, Texas | 73-74-71-77–295 | $1,800.00 |
| T73 | John Lynch, Selbyville, Del. | 75-71-74-76–296 | $1,687.50 |
| T73 | Pleasant Hughes, West Palm Beach, Fla. | 72-72-75-77–296 | $1,687.50 |
| T73 | Rob Corcoran, Melbourne, Fla. | 76-71-72-77–296 | $1,687.50 |
| T73 | Russell Harbold, Lancaster, Pa. | 78-67-73-78–296 | $1,687.50 |
| 77 | Geoff Keffer, Lakewood, Colo. | 75-71-74-78–298 | $1,625.00 |
| 78 | Zack King, Antioch, Calif. | 69-75-74-82–300 | $1,600.00 |
The PGA Professional National Championship is presented by Club Car, Mercedes-Benz USA and OMEGA.
SOURCE: PGA