My Favorite Golf Stories of 2024

After Christmas, I went to the movie theater and saw Nosferatu. It was dark and mesmerizing, with stunning cinematography that left a haunting mark. When the credits rolled, I came away inspired to use the film as a metaphor for an end of the year golf piece. Given the year we’ve had in professional golf and beyond, it wouldn’t be difficult, but it wouldn’t be uplifting either. While it was fun to write, I realized the piece wasn’t revealing anything new or interesting – we don’t need another reminder of how much pro golf is losing – and it was more of a self-indulgent writing exercise. Rather than focus on the darkness at the end of the year, I want to turn to the light and hope we stay there in the new year.

Here are my top five favorite stories from the past year in pro golf:

5. Gutschewski & Sons

Pro golf journeyman Scott Gutschewski played in a dream pairing during the opening rounds of his hometown event, the Korn Ferry Tour’s Pinnacle Bank Championship in Omaha. Gutschewski made his first-ever KFT start (then Buy.com) in 2000, in Omaha, after Monday qualifying. 24 years later, Gutschewski’s son Luke, a junior at Iowa State University, earned a spot in the field by winning the Indian Creek Invitational. Gutschewski’s other son, the reigning U.S. Junior Amateur champion, won a sectional qualifier to nab another spot in the field, and with help from tournament officials, the Gutschewski dream pairing became a reality. 

4. The Longest Playoff in Pro Golf History

In Yankton, S.D., a 16-hole playoff between Chris Gilman and Mitch Davis ended at 9:30 at night on the Dakotas Tour. Fox Run Golf Club members lined the tee boxes and greens with their cart lights to watch the marathon. Gilman and Davis had teed off eight hours earlier in the final pairing of the tournament and hadn’t stopped. 

As they matched each other shot-for-shot, birdie-for-birdie, the two laughed at the absurdity of the competition. The playoff took nearly three hours, and the scorecard was composed of 25 pars and seven birdies, including a winning chip-in. The longest playoff in pro golf history was an experience they won’t forget. 

3. Joel Dahmen Saves His Job

Watching Joel Dahmen celebrate on Sunday at the RSM was a reminder of what we’re losing as golf fans. Dahmen’s made cut on Friday was emotional, and a bogey-free 64 on Sunday saved his job, and was far more engaged with on social media than any other golf content that week. One of golf's most relatable personalities finished 124th in the FedExCup standings and you couldn’t help but want to crack open a White Claw and celebrate. 

“We get to do it all again next year,” Dahmen said quietly as he hugged his wife after signing his card on Sunday. Next season, the tour will cut exempt cards from 125 to 100, and if the same sequence were to play out next fall, Dahmen, and 24 others, will have a less certain future. 

2. Matt McCarty’s Sweet Summer

Matt McCarty turned pro three years ago after graduating from Santa Clara University, and in his 68th start on the Korn Ferry Tour in Springfield, Mo., the 27-year-old captured his first win. Four weeks later in Omaha, he won for a second time. Two weeks later in Boise, McCarty captured his third win in six weeks, earning a battlefield promotion. McCarty opted to delay his promotion to the PGA Tour to secure the number one position on the season-long points list, which came with exemptions into The Players Championship and U.S. Open. 

After capturing the top spot on KFT, McCarty proved he was ready for the game’s biggest stage and won in his second start of the season on the PGA Tour. At the inaugural Black Desert Championship in Utah, McCarty avoided the black lava desert framing the fairways, shot 23-under par, and coasted to a three-shot victory. It was his fourth win in 10 weeks. McCarty is going to be a force in 2025. 

1. Jim Knous Goes Out in Style

When Jim Knous teed it up in the Waste Management Open Monday qualifier earlier this year, he’d earned $822,515 in 43 events on the PGA Tour, but after an unsuccessful bid at Q-school in the fall of ‘23, Knous didn’t have meaningful tour status. He’d bounced between the PGA Tour and KFT in the past few years while battling injuries. His updated LinkedIn bio read, “I am currently seeking a new profession in the golf industry,” and he had just accepted a job with PING. Then Knous shot 65 and survived a 4-for-3 playoff in the Monday qualifier for the Tour’s most rollicking event. 

“This career path is a grind,” Knous said after the Monday Q. “I may be going a different way, but this week is going to be amazing.”

With his college coach on the bag, Knous holed out a bunker shot at the final hole in Round 2, making the cut with a heroic 66. He shot 1-under in Round 3, and birdied four of the last six holes of his PGA Tour career for a final round 68, and a t-28 finish. 

Most pro golfers end their careers in obscurity. Knous went out in style. 

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