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New York’s Matt Dobyns Birdies 72nd Hole to Capture the 48th PGA Professional National Championship

Golf, Golf Tournaments, Press Releases Golf

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

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