The PGA Championship is a home game this year — being played at Baltusrol in Springfield, N.J. from July 28-31 — and it will be well represented by Metropolitan-area club pros.
With 20 available spots for the year’s fourth and final major championship hanging in the balance in Wednesday’s final round of the PGA Professional Championship at the Turning Stone Resort outside of Syracuse, five Met-area pros qualified.
The most dramatic entrance of the five locals came from Rob Labritz, the 45-year-old director of golf at GlenArbor Golf Club in Bedford Hills, and that should have come as no surprise.
Labritz delivered an ESPN SportsCenter moment in the 2013 PGA Professional Championship when he holed out for birdie from 95 yards in a playoff to claim the final spot into that year’s PGA Championship at Oak Hill.
On Wednesday, Labritz drained a 35-foot birdie putt on the 18th and final hole on the Atunyote Course at Turning Stone to seize the final spot again.
Labritz, who was 1-under at the time, needed to two-putt to get himself into a likely playoff. Instead, he one-putted for birdie to get to 2-under 286 and a guaranteed spot for his fifth career PGA Championship.
He’ll be joined at Baltusrol by fellow locals pros Mark Brown, from Tam O’Shanter on Long Island, Matt Dobyns from Fresh Meadow on Long Island, Ben Polland from Deepdale on Long Island, and Brian Gaffney from Quaker Ridge in Scarsdale.
For Brown, this will be his sixth career PGA. Polland, Dobyns and Gaffney are playing in their second consecutive PGA. For Gaffney, this will be his fifth.
Labritz said he knew exactly where he stood on his final two holes Wednesday.
“I like the adrenaline rush,” he said, explaining his flair for the dramatic. “It’s about the adrenaline rush for me. I know where I am in the tournament and when you know where you are, you kind of press a little bit. But I guess I’ve been doing this so long now.”
So now Labritz, along with Brown, Dobyns, Polland and Gaffney will play a major championship essentially in their respective backyards.
“I’m going to be close to my house, I’m going to be close to my club, my members … this is going to be awesome,” Labritz said. “I can’t wait to get there.”
Labritz, who was the low club pro at the 2010 PGA at Whistling Straits, said he’s setting loftier goals for Baltusrol.
“I want a top 15,” he said. “If I play as good as I can play, and I know I can top-15 it.”