Golfing Glory
MURRYSVILLE — Golf can't get much better these days for 2000 Butler graduate Dan Rodgers.
Rodgers, 38, the men's and women's golf coach at Carnegie Mellon University, was named NCAA Division III Women's Golf Coach of the Year in May after leading the Tartans to the No. 1 ranking in the nation. He was a finalist for men's coach of the year as CMU finished at No. 4 in the nation.
“Of course, we didn't get a chance to finish the spring season,” Rodgers said of the national spring sports shutdown. “Both of our teams competed in one event in March (at Savannah, Ga.) and both teams won.
“It would have been nice to compete for a national championship.”
Between fall and spring, CMU's golf teams won five of the combined nine tournaments they played.
Rodgers is still competing on his own. Now living in Murrysville and having been an assistant pro at the Sewickley Heights Golf Club, he is a regular player on the Tri-State PGA Tour.
Tuesday, he claimed his first official win on the tour, roaring from behind to capture the 36-hole Falling Rock Classic at Nemacolin.
Rodgers shot a 6-under-par 66 to win the event with an overall score of 4-under-par 140. He won by four shots over Treesdale pro and Saxonburg resident Joe Boros and Oakmont pro Devin Gee.
Butler graduate Rob McClellan tied for ninth.
“I wasn't happy with the way I finished play Monday,” Rodgers said of the two-day event. “My tee shots on both 17 and 18 were in the fairway and I bogeyed both holes.
“I beat myself up pretty good on the ride home. The No. 66 kept popping into my head. That's what I wanted to shoot the next day.”
Rodgers began Tuesday's round trailing leader Chris Zumpano of Oakmont by four strokes. But Rodgers got off to a fast start, getting birdies on No.'s 1 and 4 and scoring an eagle on No. 5. He birdied No. 8 as well.
Rodgers had won one Tri-State PGA event before — the Assistants Championship — in 2011.
“But that was against a limited field, with only assistant club pros allowed to play,” he said. “This (Falling Rock) tournament had all of the top players in it. That was a tremendous field of golfers.
“Going down the stretch, I know the other contenders were breathing down my neck.”
Rodgers held them off.
He birdied No. 11, but his tee shot on No. 17 sailed to the right.
“My second worst shot of the day ... I thought I was dead,” Rodgers admitted. “But I wound up converting the best up and down I ever had and saved par.
“Then I sank a 30-foot putt for birdie on No. 18 and knew it was over. Everything just clicked all day. I was hitting the ball good, the greens were perfect and I was sinking my putts.”
Rodgers' next goal is to win the Tri-State Section Championship at the end of August and qualify for nationals. He placed third in the section tourney last year to qualify for the national event this year, but it was canceled.
“I'd love to keep finishing on the leaderboard this summer,” Rodgers said. “I know how hard it is to win on this tour. I've been playing for a few years and finally got one.”
As for coaching, he plans to stick with CMU.
“I love it there,” he said. “This year marked the first time any CMU women's athletic team was ranked first in the country. And I believe our men's team set an NCAA record by shooting 31-under over 54 holes and 19-under in a final round.
“Our teams are getting better each year. I have a young family, grew up around Pittsburgh, my family's here, my wife's family is here ... It would take quite a job to get me to leave.”
