CHICAGO DISTRICT GOLF ASSOCIATION

“Last year, I went bogey-double on my final two holes to miss Match Play after grinding out what I thought was a solid round…But, just thinking, ‘Alright, if I play as good as I did last year, not including those last two holes, but just grind out a finish, things might be different.’”

And different they were, indeed, as Dofflemyer not only made it to Match Play, but topped the field at week’s end, defeating Dustin Sloat (Charleston / CDGA Member’s Club), 1 up, in the Final Match of the 11th CDGA Mid-Amateur Championship at Glen Flora Country Club Wednesday morning.

Cool, breezy conditions continued into the final day of play, with temperatures in the 40s at the start of the title tilt. Dofflemyer, who was “trying to get a feel for the swing” early on, relied on his caddie and wife, Melissa, who he claims is the best green reader he knows, and trusty flatstick to get him going the first couple of holes. He rolled in putts on the par-3 second and sixth to gain a 2-up advantage.

A few “squirrely” wedge and iron shots heading into the turn opened the door for Sloat, as pars on Nos. 8 and 9 won both holes to level the match heading to the inward nine.

“Coming in, I just took a quick breather and tried to refocus,” said Dofflemyer. “I felt like I was making good swings, just wasn’t really getting the contact and results I was hoping for. I know I lost a couple of holes, but my putter kind of kept me in the match going to Nos. 12 and 13.”

While he seemingly never lost the putter throughout Match Play, the rest of his game caught back up on the tournament’s final nine holes. Ties at Nos. 10 and 11 led to a golden opportunity for Dofflemyer at the par-4 12th, as a wind-influenced approach landed just off the green. His ensuing chip found the bottom of the cup for birdie and a 1-up advantage.

“I hit a good wedge shot, just a little right,” Dofflemyer said of his birdie at No. 12. “The wind was, I think, difficult to judge today…Dustin was just on the fringe, so I was just like, ‘Hit it up close and see what happens.’ To see it go in was nice because I was definitely hitting it a little squirrely with my irons and didn’t have many birdie opportunities, so to kind of steal one was pretty clutch for the last stretch of the match.”

Sloat answered with a clutch birdie of his own on the following hole to tie the closely-contested match once again. That score would remain until the two reached the par-5 15th. With Dofflemyer’s approach landing in the greenside bunker, the eventual victor splashed out and left himself just five feet for his birdie bid - a putt he admittedly felt was a must make.

“I think so,” Dofflemyer said of the severity of the birdie. “You don’t want to give one away, like, that was a five-footer for birdie to win the hole and a pretty simple read between my wife and I. So, I just hit a good putt. Those are some difficult holes down the stretch - 16, 17 and 18 are tough - so to have a little bit of a cushion was nice.”

With no time to rest, the Dofflemyer duo was quickly back out surveying a relatively lengthy par save at No. 16 after his third from out of the bunker took the terrain to the far right side of the severely sloping green. Read and executed to perfection, Dofflemyer sank the putt to really apply the pressure on Sloat, who had a birdie try awaiting him. Unable to capitalize, Sloat headed to the 17th tee knowing he let what might be his last opportunity slip away.

Pars down the stretch closed out the finale in a 1-up Dofflemyer advantage, as the first-time champion did all he needed to do in matching Sloat’s efforts on the final two holes.

While it was his first win in a CDGA-administered competition, it wasn’t the first time Dofflemyer has been spotted near the top of the leaderboard. A four-round total of 10 under, 278 tied him for fifth in last year’s Illinois State Amateur Championship. A finish that has propelled his confidence ever since.

“Playing in the mid-ams, the running joke is all of us have jobs,” Dofflemyer said. “We all, you know, have families and jobs and this isn’t our full-time thing. Last year, being able to play with some good college golfers and somewhat keep up with them, I think I could have definitely played better, but it was a feeling of, ‘Oh, I can still compete with these guys when I’m playing well.’ To be able to post a decent tournament, that was pretty cool.”

This time was different for Dofflemyer and, with a full season ahead, he will surely look to keep it that way.

The CDGA Mid-Am is the first of 10 championships during the 2026 season. Up next on the slate is the 24th CDGA Senior Amateur Championship, set for May 18-21 at Hawthorn Woods Country Club.