Matt Gogel

Gogel was born in Denver, Colorado, and grew up in Tulsa, Oklahoma, where he attended Bishop Kelley High School. He has lived most of his adult life in Kansas. He attended the University of Kansas and was a member of the golf team. He played in the 1988 U.S. Junior, 1993 & '94 U.S. Publinks, and the 1991 U.S. Amateur. Turned pro in 1994 and joined the PGA Tour in 2000.
Played on the Asian Tour in 1995 & '96. His best finish was 4th in the 1995 China Open & Korea Shinhan Open. Won the Asian Tour qualifying tournament in 1995 while playing the 1996 Indian Open in Calcutta, met Mother Teresa.
Gogel played on the Korn Ferry Tour between 1996 and 1999. He is the first player in Korn Ferry Tour history to win in four consecutive years. He earned his PGA Tour card for 2000 by finishing 7th on the Korn Ferry Tour money list in 1999. Played in 94 Korn Ferry Tour making 51 cuts with 18 top-ten finishes. He won six times on the Korn Ferry Tour and had earnings of $443,342. His wife Blair caddied for him in his first win at the 1996 Boise Open.
He played on the PGA Tour only between 2000 and 2006. He played a total of 178 events, making 83 cuts and 16 top-ten finishes. His two best finishes in official PGA Tour events have come at the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am; he won the tournament in 2002 and finished T-2nd in 2000. He was 3rd at the 2003 Chrysler-Greensboro Open. His best finish in a major championship is a T-12th at the 2001 U.S. Open.
In November of 2006, seemingly in the midst of a solid career on the PGA Tour, Gogel announced his retirement. At the time, Gogel said, "The past two years I just didn't have chances to win. I always said I was never going to play the game if I couldn't win or at least be competitive." Truth be told, part of his decision to retire was due to a shoulder injury. Gogel procrastinated after retirement before finally having the shoulder repaired in 2008. The rehab kept him from playing for almost a year. Gogel earned $4,596,216 million during his career. Gogel settled down with Blair in Mission Hills, Kansas and Gogel became a principal partner in Matthews, Gogel & Craddock, Inc., a First Insurance Group partner, offering businesses a wide range of corporate insurance and benefits services. In addition to the insurance and benefits business, Gogel joined Golf Channel and then CBS Sports as a commentator. Gogel consulted friends like MLB Hall of Famer George Brett (Brett worked briefly as an announcer for Fox Sports Baseball Game of the Week) and long-time golf announcer Roger Twibell. However, armed with a vast knowledge of the game and the players, and his communications degree from the University of Kansas, Gogel has been somewhat of a natural.
In 2017, Gogel, along with his brother Mike, a golf course architect, became heavily involved in redesigning the Alvamar Golf Club in Lawrence, Kansas, from a 36-hole facility into a 270-hole private club. The name of the club changed to Jayhawk Club
In 2021, Gogel turned 50 and felt he could return to play on the PGA Tour Champions. He made his comeback start at the 2021 AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, missing the cut. Gogel made his senior debut at the 2021 Insperity Invitational, finishing T-45th. Played at the Regions Tradition and was T-59th, was T-32nd at the Mitsubishi Electric Classic. Did finish in the top ten at the Shaw Charity Classic (T-9th), Consolation Furky & Friends (T-7th), and Dominion Energy Charity (T-8th). Did play in the final stages of Q-School finishing T-14th.
2022 Notes: Played in 8 PGA Tour Champions events, best finish T-23rd at the Shaw Charity Classic. Returned to the final stage of Q-School finishing T-21st.
2023 Notes: He played in 13 PGA Tour Champions events and had two top-ten finishes. He was 55th in the Schwab Cup and 54th on the money list with earnings of $352,335. As an open qualifier for the Invited Celebrity Classic, he shot 8-under 63 in the second round after opening with 75. He closed with 68 to finish T-8th. He finished 5th at the Insperity Invitational after rounds of 67-71-71. He returned to the final stage of Q-School, finishing T-28th.
2024 Notes: Was T-21st at the Chubb Classic.