From underwhelming to the ultimate.

Matt Vogt knows what that’s all about.

Vogt, 34, a 2009 Seneca Valley Senior High School graduate, recently qualified for this week’s U.S. Open at Oakmont Country Cub by golfing consecutive rounds of 68 to win the qualifier at Wine Valley Golf Club in Walla Walla, Wash. He became one of 156 golfers in the field — out of more than 10,000 who attempted to qualify — in the 125th Open Championship, slated to begin Thursday.

“I’m still trying to process all of this right now,” Vogt said.

Who can blame him?

Vogt played golf and basketball at Seneca Valley. He placed at the WPIAL Golf Championships his senior year and finished fourth in the state meet that same season.

“I blossomed my senior year,” Vogt recalled. “To be honest, I didn’t do a whole lot before that.”

In terms of golf, it appeared he wasn’t going to do much after it, either.

Vogt went on to Butler University in Indiana on a golf scholarship, but played on the team for only three semesters before leaving the program to concentrate on his studies. He was a biology major and followed it up with dental school.

Vogt now has a thriving dental practice in a small town near Indianapolis.

“You leave home to go to school for the first time ... I didn’t handle that well,” he admitted. “I had a few minor successes in golf at Butler, but handling the classwork while staying committed to the team and the sport was tough.”

Steve Mayes, Vogt’s high school coach, wasn’t surprised he opted to concentrate on the classroom. He’s also not surprised Vogt eventually returned to competitive golf.

“People don’t realize what it takes to play a sport in college, especially golf,” Mayes said. “Most of the tournaments are on Sundays and Mondays, some Tuesdays, you leave on Friday ... You miss a lot of class time. I was never close to Matt’s situation there, but I can understand.

“Matt was always a dedicated, driven golfer. He loves the game. That just wasn’t the time for him (to compete in the sport).”

Vogt decided to return to competitive golf in 2018. He competed in the 2021 U.S. Amateur at Oakmont. He was named the 2024 Indiana Golfer of the Year. He won the Indianapolis Open in 2024 and again this year.

And he decided to attempt qualifying for the U.S. Open — again.

“I came back to the sport because I didn’t want to have any regrets,” Vogt said. “I didn’t want to go through life realizing I never gave myself a real chance to become a great golfer, a championship golfer.

“Once my dental practice was established and I was starting a family, I got back into the game. And you know golf. You can get hooked.”

Seven times over the years, Vogt competed in local qualifying tournaments for the U.S. Open. Get past local, you compete in sectional qualifying. Get past that, you compete in a regional qualifier to try landing a spot in the Open.

Vogt never made it through the local qualifying round before this year.

Once he broke all the way through this year, he had options as to what regional qualifier to compete in.

“I researched a few sites,” Vogt said. “It would have been easy for me to just drive over to Ohio and do that one, but that field was stacked. It was coming off the (PGA) Memorial tournament and a bunch of pros would be there.

“Wine Valley is a beautiful course and, yeah, it was rough going all the way out there, but that was my best chance.”

And he made the most of it.

Now married and with a 16-month-old daughter, Vogt is returning to Oakmont, where he worked as a caddy from 2009 to 2014. He caddied for PGA pro Nick Watney and was Carole Semple Thompson’s caddy when she won a West Penn Women’s Open title there.

“Nick Watney was one of the top 10 golfers in the world when I caddied for him. That was some experience,” Vogt said. “I played in some WPGA (Western Pennsylvania Golf Assocation) events, caddied for a lot of golfers. It was a great bunch of people. I learned a lot from them.

“I forget my score when I played in the U.S. Amateur at Oakmont, but I know it began with an 8. Not too good. Hopefully, I’ll draw from that experience.”

North Allegheny graduate Kevin O’Brien, who played college golf at Seton Hall and is one of Vogt’s closest friends, will be his caddy for the Open.

“My family will be there, my friends, a large support group,” Vogt said. “I’m grateful for all of it. Golf is golf, you want to play your best, of course. I want to stay focused, play in my own bubble, but I know that’s easier said than done.

“My father will be there with me, too. I know that.”

Vogt’s father died of cancer two months ago.

“Pittsburgh sports were our connection. We’d be in different towns, but we always watched Steelers and Penguins games together at the same time. It was one of the ways I stayed close to him. My dad didn’t teach me golf, but he followed me along every step of the way.

“He’ll be doing that this week.”

Vogt plans to play a couple of practice rounds at Oakmont prior to Thursday “just to get used to being on the same course as those guys,” he said of the pros.

Mayes said the experience of playing in the U.S. Open won’t get to Vogt mentally.

“The man has tons of patients depending on him every day, he has his own family now — he’s used to dealing with pressure,” Mayes said. “The mental side of this won’t affect him.

“I’m just very happy for him.”

Vogt is relishing the challenge.

“I’m excited to be representing Seneca Valley, Western Pennsylvania golf, Oakmont caddies, dentists, all of it,” he said. “I am going to enjoy the heck out of this.

“It’s once-in-a-lifetime and I’m gonna soak it all in.”