Very sad news from the Kingston golf community, Matt McQuillan has passed away.

McQuillan earned his tour card at Q-school in 2010 in Orlando, and as a PGA Tour rookie in 2011 he posted three top-ten finishes. The biggest highlight came at the PGA’s John Deere Classic where McQuillan put up a stunning third-place finish.

Matt had missed the cut in ten straight tournaments, but caught fire that week. He shot an opening round 64 and was in the hunt on Sunday. In the final round McQuillan drained an amazing 35-foot eagle putt on 17 to finish the closing round at 7-under-par 64, minus-17 for the tournament. It was good for a third place finish and a US$261,000 pay cheque.

Back in Kingston that Sunday afternoon in July at his home club at Cataraqui Golf & Country Club, they had just finished their annual club championship and players had gathered inside to watch McQuillan’s back nine with a national TV audience on CBS Sports.

Cataraqui’s Peter Sauerbrei, who had played with McQuillan at Cataraqui the previous week, told the Whig Standard, “We got to see Matt’s eagle at 17, everything just erupted around here when that putt went in.”

Just three years earlier, McQuillan was away from golf and working at a Kingston pizza restaurant. After his third-place finish at the John Deere, McQuillan reflected, “I knew this was possible, but a couple of years ago I didn’t really see it happening.”

McQuillan earned US$583,000 that season but struggled in 2012 and dropped off the tour, never to return to that level. Matt played in 32 PGA tour events and had over US$600,000 in career earnings.

For a town like Kingston, best known for producing hockey players, Matt made Kingston proud by becoming the first local golfer to make it to the world’s top professional golf circuit. 

The bulk of PGA players come from warm weather states in the U.S., where they have the advantage of playing year round. Matt’s rise to the top was well earned, emerging from a much shorter Canadian golf season and against very long odds he overcame many obstacles to earn his PGA Tour card.

McQuillan turned pro on the Canadian Tour in 2003 and won the Telus Edmonton Open in 2005.

Growing up as a 14-year-old golfing sensation, McQuillan was setting records at Kingston’s Garrison Golf & Country Club.

In 1999, McQuillan won the Ontario Junior Championship in impressive fashion at the Dalewood Country Club in Port Hope, ON. Matt went under par in all four rounds and finished at minus-12 to set a new scoring record for the Ontario junior championship. That same year he finished second at the Canadian Junior Championships and was awarded the Gus Marker Trophy as Kingston’s Amateur Athlete of the Year.

In 2000, McQuillan was second at the Ontario Amateur Championship and played on the victorious Canadian team at the 2001 Four Nations Cup.

Matt graduated from LaSalle Secondary School, played U.S. College golf at Oklahoma State and later transferred to the University of Georgia.

Sadly, Kingston golfer Matt McQuillan is gone at age 45.

Mark Potter is a longtime Kingston sports broadcaster and honoured member of the Kingston & District Sports Hall of Fame.