Story of the Year - Docherty is Legendary
This story won OGA Story of the Year based on a public vote that was held earlier this month. You can view the entire bracket by clicking here.
Docherty started the week by posting back-to-back rounds of 2-under par 70 on the Reserve’s North Course. His 36-hole total of 140 was good enough to earn him the eighth seed in the 64-player championship match play field.
On Wednesday, Docherty breezed through his first match for a 4&3 victory over Dean Stevenson of Portland, Ore. to advance to the round of 32, where he met his first bout of adversity. On Thursday morning Calvin Green of Springfield, Ore. won three of the first five holes to put Docherty two down early. Docherty responded by going 3-under on the next four holes to gain a 1-up lead in the match through nine holes. Docherty held his 1-up lead going into the 18th hole, but Green responded with his own bit of flare, birdieing the 18th to force extra holes. However, it only took two holes before the unflappable Docherty struck again, nailing a birdie putt on the 20th hole to defeat Green.
After a quick lunch break, Docherty teed off in the afternoon against Nicklaus Baines of Portland, Ore. in the round of 16. Docherty did not break stride from his clutch morning antics as he birdied 3 of his first 4 holes, and never trailed in the match. He finished off Baines on the 17th hole for a 2&1 victory. The next morning Docherty faced medalist Alex Wrenn in the quarterfinals. Making five birdies compared to Wrenn’s two, Docherty earned a 3&1 victory in another match in which he never trailed. There is never an easy match in the Oregon Amateur Championship, but looking back, Docherty’s textbook victories against Baines and Wrenn may have been just the rest he needed before the final match play gauntlet that awaited him.
Docherty had won four matches to this point, and during his lunch break on Friday he stood as one of the final four men in the championship. His semifinal opponent, Joel Johnson of Portland, Ore., had just defeated defending champion Thomas Lim in the quarterfinals. This is where Docherty was going to have to prove himself.
With temperatures near 100 degrees, Johnson started and stayed hot. Johnson won six of the first ten holes and had Docherty down four with six holes to play. For some players this might have been a good time to try to make a couple more pars and extend the match a little farther to avoid an extremely lopsided loss in the state’s most prestigious golf event, but for Docherty, it was go-time. Docherty made four straight 3’s on holes 13 through 16 to cut Johnson’s lead to one. On 17th hole Docherty pulled his drive left and ended up on the 12th tee box, two holes away. Sometimes good comebacks fall short, right? Wrong. After Johnson hit his second shot in the water, Docherty scrambled for a clutch par, and alas the match was all square going into the 18th hole, a 501-yard par five over water. After a solid drive, Docherty went for the green in two over the pond guarding the front of the green. He stuck it on the putting surface. After being down for the entire match, he now held the fate of the match in his own hands, an eagle putt for the win. He drained it. Boom. Match over. Comeback complete. But there was still one more match to go.
The Saturday 36-hole final match pitted Docherty against Northwestern sophomore-to-be Dylan Wu of Medford, Ore. who also had a bit of drama in his semifinal match. Wu won the final three holes for a 1-up comeback victory against Conner Kumpula of Corvallis, Ore. Docherty seemed to be ready to take control early after starting birdie-par-birdie-eagle to gain a 2-up advantage on Wu through four holes. But then an inspired Wu caught fire and it seemed the fatigue of playing 122 holes over five days began to set in for Docherty. Wu recorded 6 birdies from holes eight to 18 to gain a 4-up advantage going into the lunch break. Was this the end of the road for Docherty? Far from it. This is when legends are made.
Docherty started the afternoon by eagling the 19th hole and then strung together birdies on holes 23, 27, and 29 to square the match. This cat had scratched back. After Wu and Docherty halved the 30th hole with pars, it was Docherty’s time. The reinvigorated Docherty won the 31st and 33rd holes to go 2-up with three to play and then halved the 34th and 35th to earn a 2&1 victory. Ice in his veins, Docherty had completed yet another thrilling comeback to clinch his first Oregon Amateur Championship title. “I played well in the afternoon, that’s for sure,” Docherty said. “It’s amazing what can happen when the putter gets hot,” he tweeted after the round. What’s even more amazing is the fact that Docherty only led for ten out of his final 53 holes of match play.
So as the sun set over The Reserve on Saturday night, it was hard to find words to describe Docherty’s week at the Oregon Amateur Championship. It was more than just a tournament, more than just a journey. Another chapter was written in the state’s oldest championship, a story for the ages. Docherty’s win was truly legendary.
