Long hours pay off for club pro Brian Gaffney at PGA

Rainaud was the 2014 Connecticut Section PGA Player of the Year, and qualified for the PGA Championship after finishing 10th at the PGA Professional National Championship in Philadelphia on July 1.

Darien’s Brian Gaffney leads all club pros through Round 1 at the PGA Championship.

This was a new experience for Brian Gaffney and he was set on soaking it all in.

This was the fifth time Gaffney had played in a major championship, and he had never come close to making a cut in the previous four – three PGAs and a U.S. Open.

“It’s going to be great, I would imagine”, Gaffney said. When he does, he’ll have quite a story to share with his two young sons.

“That was a lot of pressure”, Gaffney said.

When that final putt fell, the 44-year-old PGA head professional at Quaker Ridge Golf Club in Scarsdale, N.Y., pumped his fists repeatedly and then met his wife with a hug off the green.

“It’s not the only goal, but it’s something that validates the hard work that I’ve put in over the years”, Gaffney said.

Things started looking up last Saturday, when Gaffney set the course record before flying to Wisconsin. And when I make bogey, they are probably thinking, “Is it all falling apart now?” On Friday, Gaffney had four birdies and five bogeys.