Tale of Cranberry's Matt Vogt qualifying for hometown U.S. Open captivates golfing public

As a high school and college golfer, Matt Vogt spent summers caddying at Oakmont Country Club and admits he wondered what playing a U.S. Open there might feel like.

He’ll know soon enough.

“You walk down those fairways, and there’s so much history there,” Vogt said. “You’re playing the course on Monday nights as a caddie, and you just dream a little bit.”

Now a dentist in Indianapolis, the Cranberry native will join the world’s top golfers next week in Oakmont when the historic course hosts the U.S. Open for a record 10th time. A 2009 Seneca Valley graduate, Vogt earned a spot in the 156-player field as the medalist at a qualifier Monday in Walla Walla, Wash.

In the two days since, the 34-year-old made his travel plans to Pittsburgh and checked in with colleagues at his dentistry office. But he also fielded an avalanche of calls and messages from friends, acquaintances and media outlets.

His dentist-to-golfer tale drew national interest.

“It’s been absolutely nuts, absolutely crazy,” Vogt said Wednesday. “I was not prepared for how much it would kind of become a story. … The last 48 hours have just been an outpouring of love and support. Oakmont and Pittsburgh mean so much to me. It’s incredible.

“It’s truly a dream come true.”

First, though, Vogt wants to set the record straight. He laughs at the characterization of him as some weekend warrior who found his way into the U.S. Open.

In truth, Vogt is an accomplished amateur golfer who has won Indiana PGA events, including the Indianapolis Open the past two years, and competed in the U.S. Amateur at Oakmont in 2021. In high school, Vogt placed fourth in the state as a senior.

“The initial media response has been: ‘This dentist did this out of nowhere,’ ” Vogt said laughing. “’This guy practices (dentistry) five days a week and goes and hits balls.’

“I am a dentist, trust me. I work very hard and have a lot of patients that I love, and I hope they love me. But I’ve managed to set up my schedule to allow me some time to focus on pursuits outside of the office.”

His office is in McCordsville, Ind., about 18 miles northeast of downtown Indianapolis. He attended nearby Butler University, where he played on the golf team, and later the Indiana University School of Dentistry. Another dentist also sees patients at his practice, so the lights stay on when Vogt’s out of town.

“The patients are taken care of,” he said. “But no matter what happens, I’ll be back there the week after.”

Vogt qualified for the U.S. Open with a pair of 4-under-par 68s at Wine Valley Golf Club in Washington. The Golf Channel cameras followed Vogt around the course, adding to the drama.

His wedge shot from a waste area off a fairway was shared widely on social media. After that shot stopped about a foot from the flag, Vogt knew the U.S. Open was within reach.

“That’s when I really started to think about it,” Vogt said. “A couple of times I was almost getting emotional thinking about being back at Oakmont, just the circumstances.”

Vogt said he watched the leaderboard all round, so he knew where he stood. The top two finishers qualified for a trip to Oakmont.

“We did everything we could to stay present in the moment,” Vogt said of him and his caddie. “Once I piped a drive on my last hole of the day and knew I was two shots clear, I was like, ‘Whoa! This is something.’ ”

What an amazing interview.

Matthew Vogt, a dentist and former caddie at Oakmont, qualified for the US Open yesterday.

Sometimes it’s hard to find the right words in that moment.

Matthew found them all.

What a cool story.

pic.twitter.com/gGuZCTLnsf

— Jamie Kennedy (@jamierkennedy) June 3, 2025

Vogt said he caddied at Oakmont for five seasons from 2009-14 including in summers when he came home from college. He hasn’t played the course since the 2021 U.S. Amateur, so he is interested to see the newest renovations.

He also is eager to see what the groundskeepers can do.

“I’ve never played in U.S. Open conditions,” Vogt said. “That’s the fun part: seeing the golf course I walked around for the better part of five years and how the setup has changed for a U.S. Open.”

He joked about whether his knowledge of the course was good or bad. It’s comforting to already know his way around the property, the order of the holes and how to find the locker room.

But he also knows the difficulty ahead.

“We always said as caddies maybe you don’t want to know all the crap you can get into out there,” Vogt said. “You don’t want to have that scar tissue. I did not play well in the U.S. Amateur when I played Oakmont.”

Vogt has lived out of state for more than a decade but wanted the Oakmont fans to know he hadn’t forgotten his roots.

He’ll make that clear before his first official shot.

“When they announce me on the first tee, I’m going to be playing for Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania,” Vogt said. “It’s going to be cool. I’m an adopted Hoosier, but I bleed black and gold.”