U.S. Open 2025: Matthew Vogt quit his college golf team and stopped competing for 7 years. His journey back to Oakmont is as unlikely as it gets

Before becoming a viral sensation by sunset, Matthew Vogt sat nervously in a Denny’s in Walla Walla, Wash., at 4:45 a.m. on June 2. The 34-year-old dentist struggled to eat his big omelet before heading over to Wine Valley Golf Club for one of 10 Final Qualifiers for the 2025 U.S. Open.

Vogt was on the cusp of a potential fairy tale story, though unlikely, as just two players would advance to Oakmont Country Club, a home game for the now Indiana resident. That’s enough pressure to make any golfer nervous. But Vogt had even more of a weight on his shoulders.

He grew up 30 minutes from Oakmont, spending five seasons working there as a caddie, and where he competed in his first U.S. Amateur in 2021. If Vogt prevailed, he would compete alongside the world’s best golfers on Father’s Day weekend after losing his father to colon cancer two months prior.

You’ll hear Vogt’s story told numerous times this week. Only 16 competitors in the field of the 125th U.S. Open got through local and final qualifying—out of 10,202 registrants. That’s a 0.15 percent chance Vogt would end up back at Oakmont.

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But the 6-foot-6 dentist isn’t someone who lucked into a dream. While Vogt has “never once had aspirations of turning professional” and stepped away from Butler University’s golf team as a sophomore in 2011, he re-dedicated himself to golf in 2018 and began competing again, honing his strength as a driver through long-drive competition training.

Vogt has had an unconventional journey to this point. His story doesn’t end with the back-to-back 68s he shot to clinch his spot in the USGA’s marquee championship.

“Oakmont and Pittsburgh mean so much to me,” Vogt said. “Just to be a part of the U.S. Open at Oakmont, and to be able to play in the event, to test my game against the best players in the world, it's a dream come true, honestly. And I have zero expectations for the week, zero expectations. I just want to soak it all in and see what happens.”

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Growing up, Vogt played baseball and said he was always into science and math. As an eighth grader in 2005, he “randomly” tried out for Seneca Valley High School’s junior varsity golf team, with most of his previous experience coming from whacking balls around at the driving range. Upon making the team, Vogt credits his experience playing local courses over the summer with his friends for helping him improve incrementally as he progressed through high school.

“My story with golf as a kid is the one that we all seem to reminisce about, going with your buddies to the local course that they let the high school team play for like a 100 bucks a summer,” Vogt said. “We’d get dropped off, or whoever got their license first was the one driving every day, just go there literally all day and screw around and play golf. And so just by doing that, just got a little bit better every year, and then had a pretty decent senior year, and wasn't really highly recruited or anything, but managed to land at Butler.”

As Vogt looked into playing collegiately, then-Butler head coach Bill Mattingly received a résumé from Vogt. He remembers seeing good junior scores and an “off-the-charts” SAT score. But what Mattingly said stood out most was Vogt’s experience as a caddie at Oakmont.

A couple of friends of Vogt's caddied at Oakmont, prompting him to follow toward the end of high school. Every Monday evening, Vogt got to play the course with other caddies, so he's likely played Oakmont more than any other U.S. Open competitor. Other highlights include caddieing for amateur legend Carol Semple Thompson when she won the West Penn Championship at Oakmont and looping for Nick Watney when he was around the top 10 in the world. Additionally, throughout his time working at Oakmont, Vogt received a scholarship from member Stanley Drunkenmiller—who had a scholarship for Oakmont caddies—which helped him pay for college.

“Getting to walk that golf course, getting to carry the bags with some very great golfers, successful people, in a place as historic as Oakmont, I didn't realize how good I had it until after being done caddieing there,” Vogt said. “It's just so special, it's always held a great place in my heart.”

But for as much as Vogt loved Oakmont and golf, it wasn’t always his top priority. As a high schooler, he remembers telling people he would be a dentist when he grew up. He doesn’t have any dentists in his family, but he admired the way there was some artistry to the practice. What stood out most to Vogt, however, was the fulfilling aspect he would get in taking care of people.

Once Vogt got to Butler, he began studying biology and instantly made an impact on the golf team. His first collegiate tournament was at ArborLinks in Nebraska, and Vogt finished in the top 10. From there, Vogt played in every tournament through his freshman season.

Even with success on the course, it wasn’t all smooth. Almost 400 miles away from home in Indianapolis, Vogt said it was hard being away and focusing on school. So during the first semester of his sophomore year, he did what he thought was best for him. He quit Butler’s golf team.

Mattingly said he was shocked, first telling Vogt he could take some time off to reconsider the decision. But once Vogt walked out the door, Mattingly knew there was likely no convincing that would work.

“He was honest about it,” Mattingly said of the conversation he had with Vogt when he quit. “I don’t remember him being real emotional about it. He just made a decision, academics were first, and he was going to get that done first. It was just a lot of work to do both. And so that was going to be his decision.”

Though Vogt stepped away from Butler’s team, he continued playing “here and there.” Once he got to dental school, Vogt got the itch again but didn’t have the time to dedicate himself because he was starting his practice, The Dentists at Gateway Crossing. Shortly after launching his business in 2018, Vogt began to pick golf back up by trying to play and practice in his free time.

“It's funny how golf works,” Vogt said. “Sometimes it just kind of calls you back, and that's how the almost better part of a decade's been for me, I was just being called back.”

As Vogt began playing and practicing more seriously, he said every week became different in how he managed it with his dental schedule. He noted he’s usually in the office a handful of days a week, and there are other days where he’s managing and doing administrative work for the office. Additionally, on the side, Vogt helps mentor and advise fellow dentists with his work through The Lifestyle Practice.

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During stretches when Vogt’s dental activities take up most of his time, he said he still tries to do something to help his golf game every day, even if it’s just hitting a few putts in his basement or sneaking out to the driving range during lunch. In cases where he’s away playing tournaments, Vogt credits the fellow dentist in his office and his employees for handling everything and allowing him to juggle his balancing act. When Vogt does compete in tournaments, his profession usually stands out.

“A lot of guys that play mid-amateur golf in these events, you get a lot of wealth-management guys and insurance salesmen, they own a business, it’s a family business, things of that nature, where you have a lot of time to play,” said Kevin O’Brien, who has become close friends with Vogt since meeting on the amateur scene and will serve as his caddie at the U.S. Open. “It was funny to hear [Vogt] was a dentist, and then you throw on top of it that he’s 6-foot-6, so you wouldn’t peg him as a dentist.”

And in terms of other dentists on the scene?

“None that are that good, or nearly that good,” O’Brien said.

To enhance his game, Vogt began working with Max Niehans as his swing instructor, Michael Davin for his short game and Michael Christman for fitness. Because of Vogt’s imposing size, Christman, who began working with Vogt in 2020, pushed him to give Long Drive competitions a shot.

His main selling point was that it could teach Vogt to use his driver as a weapon, if nothing else. Vogt agreed to give it a shot midway through 2022. So, for about four months, Christman helped Vogt bulk up about 15 pounds while administering speed and explosive training. The training helped Vogt get his club speed around 140 miles per hour and his peak ball speed to hover around 215 miles per hour.

In October 2022, Christman said Vogt finished at the top of the World Long Drive Competition, where his furthest drive exceeded 450 yards. Yet that’s all Vogt needed, preferring to focus more on honing his overall game from there. Now, Vogt’s home club, Highland Country Club, has specially designed tee boxes that are backed up so he can effectively practice.

“He just became, I mean, basically a terror with a driver,” Christman said.

As Vogt began sharpening his game, he landed himself a date with trying to secure a homecoming to play in the U.S. Open on Golf’s Longest Day—made possible by advancing through local qualifying. When researching through the 10 Final Qualifying sites, Vogt settled on playing at Wine Valley Golf Club because he felt the wide-open layout best fit his game.

After struggling to scarf down food at Denny’s, Vogt admitted it almost felt like fate as his rounds progressed that he would advance to play back home at Oakmont while relying on six Uncrustables and “a bunch of junk” to power him through his two rounds. He said a good part of his second round was almost a total blackout. After hitting what Vogt said was his best drive of the day on 18, he started to feel it. Then he clinched medalist honors, and the emotions began settling in.

“The culmination of accomplishing something that I've only dreamed of accomplishing in golf,” he said. “The emotion of the recent passing of my father. The emotion of this all going down in Oakmont, a place that means so much to me. All those things in combination, and honestly just being done with a very long day of golf.”

The kid who once spent his summer days in Pittsburgh screwing around on the golf course is now headed to the U.S. Open, and in all places at Oakmont, a course where he’s already had some of his best memories. Though the past couple of months have been a tough maturation process for Vogt with the loss of his father, he knows he’ll be there watching over him.

When the week written straight out of a fantasy book comes to an end, Vogt will get back to doing what he also loves—helping patients and fellow dentists throughout the dental industry.

But first, Vogt will try to show the world it’s never too late to accomplish your dreams when he tees it off with the best players in the world at Oakmont.