Dentist Playing in U.S. Open Says Practice Fielding ‘a Ton of Inquiries’

OAKMONT, Pa. — Apparently, qualifying for the U.S. Open is good for business.

Matt Vogt, the dentist from Indianapolis who was one of 15 amateurs to earn a spot in this week’s field at Oakmont Country Club, said his practice has received “a ton of inquiries” since he became the feel-good story of final U.S. Open qualifying last week.

Vogt, 34, started The Dentists at Gateway Crossing in 2018 and is now one of two dentists working at the McCordsville, Ind., office. He went to dental school at Indiana after playing golf at Butler University. Vogt grew up in nearby Cranberry Township, Pa., and was previously a caddie at Oakmont.

“It’s been a lot of fun, some patients reaching out, and fellow dentists. I feel like there’s so many people behind me this week—Oakmont, Pittsburgh, dentistry,” he said Monday.

After Vogt qualified for the U.S. Open on June 2, he made an appearance on The Pat McAfee Show on June 3. “One of the producers on Pat McAfee’s show, he’s a patient, but he told the world so he waived his HIPAA rights in that way,” Vogt said. “He gave me a call the next day and wanted to get me on Pat’s show, which was a blast.”

Vogt appears to be staying humble about his newfound stardom, though. “I’ve got such a great team, I’ve got friends helping me out with all those messages and inquiries. … Honestly, from a business perspective, that’s not what it’s about,” he said. “We try to take good care of people, and if it brings us more great patients that we can help, awesome. It will give us something to talk about around the office.”

Away From the Dental Chair

The full scope of Vogt’s professional career has been a hot topic on social media. In addition to his Gateway Crossing role, his LinkedIn bio says he is a partner at The Lifestyle Practice, which has online training, one-on-one coaching, “mastermind groups,” and a podcast.

Vogt described his role there as “consulting” to help other dentists “learn how to start and grow their own practices. So we don’t learn that in school. We learn how to be great dentists. It’s hard, and I hope to help people learn from my mistakes.”

The growth of Vogt’s main dental practice, he said, has afforded him “some opportunity to have some flexibility in my schedule to treat patients when I’m there … and have some flexibility in how I administer the practice and kind of make sure everyone is taken care of as far as all the stuff behind the scenes and still get out and try to pursue golf.”

Vogt will be playing in the first group off in Round 1, teeing off at 6:45 a.m. ET on Thursday.