Dock bound for Augusta
Queensbury 13-year-old looks forward to finals at home of the Masters
Brayden Dock calls three-time major champion Jordan Spieth his favorite golfer.
That seems only natural. After all, at their levels, they both have outstanding short games.
Come April, they might even get a chance to meet.
Dock, a 13-year-old from Queensbury, is among 80 youngsters nationwide who qualified for the national Drive, Chip and Putt Championship, which will be played April 5 at famed Augusta National Golf Club.
That is home to the Masters, in which Spieth is a former champion (2015), and he is likely to be hanging around to watch.
“It’s pretty exciting,” said Dock, who competed Tuesday for Glens Falls in the Section II Class B championship at Fairways of Halfmoon.
The Capital Region has some history in the event. Nicole Criscone of Clifton Park (2016) and Kennedy Swedick of Altamont (2017) advanced to the national finals when they were in the 7- to 9-year-old girls’ division. They also competed last month at the regional finals in Cromwell, Conn., where Dock, an eighthgrader, won the 12- to 13-year-old boys’ division. (Criscone was
fourth in the girls’ 14-15; Swedick seventh in 12-13.)
“It’s great,” Dock said, who added others have told him about the Augusta National experience. “It’s like the best day of your life.”
The second-best day of his life likely was Sunday, Sept. 29, on the home to the PGA Tour’s Travelers Championship.
Anders Mattson, who owns the Anders Mattson Golf School in Saratoga Springs, has worked with all three area youngsters who have qualified for Augusta.
“When I was at Turning Stone (for the sub-regionals), I got this feeling,” Mattson said, “that Brayden has the right mindset, he has the skill set to be one of the contenders to go to Augusta.”
Dock fulfilled that vision by scoring 50 points (second-most in his division) in the chipping and 46 points in the putting.
“The way he conducts himself and the confidence he has in his own ability, he doesn’t get overly nervous, or at least doesn’t show that,” Mattson said. “He embraces those moments that are a little challenging for others.”
At the regional event, each competitor attempted three putts. Dock made his 6-footer, narrowly missed the 15-footer, then “blew my 30-footer,” hitting it nearly 10 feet past the hole.
“I was the first one to putt, so it was a roller-coaster,” said Dock, who had calculated that he was in second place heading into the putting. “I was up and then down and went back up. There were two other kids who were right there, but they just missed it. I got pretty lucky.”
“It just worked out where those that needed the higher points didn’t quite get them, and those further back got the higher points,” Mattson said. “It worked out in his favor. You need a little bit of that luck to get through.”
Dock, who said he has played golf since he was old enough to hold a club, is a member at Hiland, where he has worked with assistant pro Scott Berliner.
“He reminds me a lot of me when I was a kid,” said Berliner, a Lake Luzerne native and nine-time Northeastern New York PGA Player of the Year. “He plays hockey in the winter. I play hockey in the winter. He golfs in the summer. He loves it.
“I don’t do much with him, to be honest. He’s the one who works on his short game. We talk about stuff and do a lot of competition stuff. He always wants to play against me, closest to the pin or whatever. It’s fun. Whenever he gets close to me, I’ll throw it in the bunker or give him a f lop shot over the bunker, something like that. I’ve got to get a little separation.”