Chris Gabriele, head pro at Old Westbury Golf and Country Club, thrilled to compete at PGA Championship

Chris Gabriele never had any doubts about qualifying for a major championship.

He knew he had the game to do so and didn’t put a timeline on himself, but he admitted that “this one came to me as a surprise.”

The 30-year-old Cold Spring Harbor native and Huntington resident was “free-minded” heading into last month’s PGA Professional Championship — the annual golf tournament for PGA of America professionals, with the top 20 qualifying for the PGA Championship — at Bandon Dunes Golf Resort in Oregon. He was hired as the head professional at Old Westbury Golf and Country Club in March, which didn’t leave him much time to prepare for the championship.

“I just went out there and just tried to have a good time,” Gabriele told Newsday. “It just ended up being a way better result than I ever could have imagined.”

It sure did.

Gabriele finished tied for 10th with a 1-over 288, capped by an epic eagle on his final hole to qualify for his first major. He will be part of the Corebridge Financial Team of 20 PGA of America pros competing in next week’s PGA Championship at Aronimink Golf Club in Newtown Square, Pennsylvania.

“I don't really know if it's sunk in,” he said. “. . . People have been humongously supportive and just saying, ‘Go kill it out there. Best of luck,’ all the encouraging words that you would expect.

“But I don't know what it's going to be like. I'm going to be playing in front of more people than I've ever played in front of. I might not be able to feel my hands on the first tee. I don't really know what to expect.

“From people who I know who have played in the tournament, who have been in my shoes as PGA members . . . They told me just to enjoy and soak every single moment that you possibly can because it's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.”

The PGA of America, according to its website, "is made up of more than 30,000 PGA of America Golf Professionals who love the game, are expert coaches, operators and business leaders, and work daily to drive interest, participation and inclusion in the sport."

Gabriele, who spent three years as the lead assistant pro at Scarsdale’s Quaker Ridge Golf Club before arriving at Old Westbury, was playing in his fourth consecutive PGA Professional Championship. He started the final day of the tournament on April 29 only one stroke inside the top 20. He shot 3-under on the front nine to put himself in contention to win the event. But he made five bogeys in his next eight holes, needing a birdie on the par-5 18th to get into a likely playoff for the last spot in the PGA Championship. 

He fired an aggressive drive on 18, landing in perfect position about 265 yards from the green. With steady 20-to-25-mph winds, Gabriele and his caddie — Oregon local Donald Hiebing — never discussed laying up. He grabbed his 3-wood and hit what he called the “best shot of my life,” leaving about 4 1/2 feet for a straight, uphill eagle putt for a spot in the PGA Championship.

He drilled it.

“I never wavered, never was fazed,” he said. “All I thought to myself leading up to it was, ‘This is the putt you've been waiting for for 20 years,’ when I started playing golf when I was 10.”

Gabriele, a two-time Newsday All-Long Island golfer at Cold Spring Harbor High School, played one college golf season at Franklin and Marshall in 2015, competing in the NCAA Division III national championship. He then transferred to Clemson, which has a PGA management program that would allow him to become a PGA of America member upon graduation.

He competed at Clemson, too, playing two years of club golf and in tournaments as part of the program. Though Gabriele virtually forwent his dream of playing on the PGA Tour by transferring, he ensured he would be involved in golf every day of his life as a PGA of America member.

Gabriele worked at several clubs before Old Westbury, including interning for Darrell Kestner at Manhasset’s Deepdale Golf Club in 2017. Kestner, 72, who played in 11 PGA Championships, recalled Gabriele having “the greatest work ethic.”

“The very first time I saw him swing and hit the ball, I said, ‘OK, he's got some talent there. He's going to be really, really good,’” Kestner said. “And then after seeing his work ethic, that he worked on it and didn't take it for granted, I knew that he was going to be a great PGA professional.”

Gabriele also worked for five years, including three as the lead assistant pro (2020-23), at Briarcliff Manor’s Sleepy Hollow Country Club under David Young, the father of world No. 3 Cameron Young.

“I actually grew up playing with Cam around this area, and always looking up to him as somebody that we were chasing and trying to be as good as,” Gabriele said. “It’s really cool now that we actually get to play in the same major and same tournament, which is exciting for me.”

David Young, who is hoping Cameron and Gabriele can play at least a practice round together, called Gabriele “very, very confident” and “one of my most outstanding assistants.”

“Chris has always been a really good player,” he said. “It seems like he's gotten better every year. He had that trajectory [to play in a major], and [it’s] not a surprise.”

Gabriele said his main goal at Aronimink is to make the cut, adding that it would be an “incredible honor” to potentially be the low club professional.

“I don't know if I'll ever make this tournament again,” he said. “I want to make it the best that it can possibly be.”

By Ben Dickson

benjamin.dickson@newsday.com@bendickson__

Ben Dickson is Newsday Sports' general assignment reporter. He joined Newsday’s high school sports staff in 2023 after graduating from Maryland, where he covered several of the Terrapins' teams.