EAST LANSING – Scott Hebert of Traverse City Golf & Country Club won the Michigan PGA Match Play Championship for the third time, and in the process set a record for the most major championship wins in Michigan Section PGA history.
The 55-year-old head professional made five birdies in 14 holes and topped Scott Cook of The Mines Golf Club in Ada, 5 and 4, in the championship match Wednesday at Eagle Eye Golf Club.
It was a record 18th Michigan Section major title for Hebert, breaking a tie at 17 titles with fellow Michigan Golf Hall of Famer Jeff Roth of Boyne Golf Academy in Harbor Springs. In addition to his three Match Play wins, Hebert counts eight Michigan PGA Professional Championship titles, six Michigan Open Championship titles and a Tournament of Champions win, too.
“I’ve had a decent summer, had a chance at the (Michigan PGA Professional Championship) in Benton Harbor, and I was disappointed that I had to withdraw from the Michigan Open with a work commitment,” said Hebert, who earned $3,000 for winning the championship presented by the PGA Tou
“I was playing well then. But hey, it’s nice to finish out the year with one. As you say, it’s been a minute.”
Hebert’s most recent Michigan major title before Wednesday was in 2019 when he last won the Match Play, and that same year won the Senior PGA Professional Championship. With that national title he became just the fourth golf professional to ever win the Senior PGA and PGA Professional (2008) national titles.
Hebert earned his spot in the finals with a 1-up morning semifinal win over Darren Husse of Warwick Hills Golf & Country Club in Grand Blanc. Cook topped Michigan Golf Hall of Famer Ron Beurmann of Country Club of Jackson, 3 and 2, in the other semifinal.
The final four were part of 16 golfers who advanced to the final two days of the championship from earlier conducted chapter or senior organization match play rounds.
Hebert made three birdies on the front nine at Nos. 2, 6 and 9, but led just 1-up at the turn as Cook’s hot putter kept him in the match.
The match turned in Hebert’s favor on holes 10 and 11. Hebert hit it to three-feet for birdie on No. 10, then rolled in a 25-foot curling downhill putt at No. 11 for par and won the hole.
The two players halved the par 3 12th with pars, and then Hebert won 13 with a par and closed the match out with his final birdie at No. 14, hitting another approach shot inside five feet.
“He hits them really close a lot,” said Cook, the 34-year-old general manager at The Mines and a first-time finalist. “That’s a pretty good recipe.”
Hebert said he loved that the final two days of the championship were at Eagle Eye, the site of five of his Michigan PGA Professional titles.
“This is a championship golf course,” he said. “You have to hit good tee shots, you have to control your distance and you have to know where to miss. To me, it’s the way golf should be. It’s not just bomb it and keep your putts below the hole. You have to control your golf ball here. Whenever we play a place like this, I always feel good about my chances.”
RESULTS: A complete bracket can be found HERE