Represent the city with pride: Matt Vogt competes in opening round at the 2025 U.S. Open

Yahoo

13-06-2025

OAKMONT — Matt Vogt may not have had his greatest of rounds in the first round of the 2025 U.S. Open championship.
He carded an 82 (+12) shooting 41 on both the front and back nine, but the former Oakmont caddie and Cranberry Township native hoped that he still made his hometown proud.
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'I don't want this all to be about me but I hope that I represented the city of Pittsburgh and Oakmont with pride,' Vogt said. 'Everything about this week has been incredible, and I hope that it brings joy to the city.'
The nerves were high off of the first tee box for the 34-year-old as he hit the championship's opening shot with his drive settling in the rough on No. 9.
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But following the drive, Vogt recovered nicely and began to settle in finishing with a par on the first two holes to begin his round.
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'The only thing that you can do on the first hole is hit it to the right but my ball went left. There were tons of nerves to begin the round,' Vogt said.
The Cranberry Township native knows that he did not play his best round after some early mental mistakes set him behind.
As a former caddie at the course for six years, mental mistakes paired with physical ones are not a recipe for success.
'You can get away by making one physical or mental error at a time but you can't get away with both. When you do that out here, it can seem like your head is spinning, and it just gets away from you.'
Matt Vogt walks toward the green during the 125th U.S. Open practice round on June 11, 2025 at Oakmont Country Club in Oakmont, Pa.
It has been an emotional roller coaster of a month for Vogt, who resides in Indianapolis and is a dentist by trade.
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Back on June 2, the amateur shot two scores of 68 at Wine Valley Golf Club in Walla Walla, Washington in the final qualifying round for the U.S. Open Championship.
This week, he returned home to the course with family and friends flooding the grounds to cheer him on.
As the week progressed, Vogt has continued to get zoned in with the championship rounds approaching. But even then, he still got to see some familiar faces along the ropes and in the stands that were cheering him on.
'As the week goes on, you have to get in your bubble but you hear things out there. It is really neat to have that support. I saw my wife and mom a few times and there are a lot more family and friends here,' Vogt said.
Matt Vogt takes a practice shot out of the rough during the 125th U.S. Open practice round on June 11, 2025 at Oakmont Country Club in Oakmont, Pa.
Along with his family and friends, Vogt also received messages from various individuals and saw golf players from his high school alma mater, Seneca Valley.
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The Cranberry Township native hopes that his story can inspire those golfers to continue to work hard and achieve their goals.
'With all the attention that I have been getting, I have tried to keep my phone to the side for the last few days but I did get some messages and saw some Seneca Valley golf team members out here,' Vogt said. 'It is awesome because I hope to inspire them because they see this and say let's work hard.'
No matter how Vogt golfs the rest of the week, he came into the U.S. Open with an open mind and wants to continue to build toward the future.
'However this week goes, there are zero expectations because this will be building blocks for future golf and life experiences,' Vogt said.
This article originally appeared on Beaver County Times: 2025 U.S. Open: Pittsburgh native Matt Vogt reflects on first round