Sep. 22—TRAVERSE CITY — Scott Hebert didn’t catch the golf symmetry right away after winning his record-breaking 18th Michigan PGA major championship.
Eighteen holes in a regular round of golf. And now 18 major titles tucked under his golf belt.
“That’s funny how those numbers work out like that sometimes,” Hebert said. “When you look back at it, one is good but 18 is unbelievable. There’s so many good players in Michigan; so to be fortunate enough to come out 18 times on top feels pretty good.”
Hebert can easily be given a pass for not making the 18-and-18 connection given the countless times the Traverse City Country Club PGA professional has played 18 holes of golf in the 40 years since he took up the game as a 15-year-old looking to earn a varsity letter in a high school sport — any sport.
“Both my parents played golf. I had two older sisters, one older brother, one younger brother, and they all played golf. But I loved baseball,” Hebert said. “I always told my dad that golf is an old man’s game. I got to high school and wanted to earn a letter. What’s an easy way to get a letter? Join the golf team.”
Even though his parents were members at the Bluff in Escanaba, Hebert’s only interaction with golf until that point had been hitting some golf balls around the yard. But once the golf bug bit him, Hebert found himself playing 54 holes every day of the summer with his friends.
“We just played and played and played,” he said.
Hebert graduated high school and then went on to play golf at Ferris State University, which is when he decided to make the game a serious part of not only his present life but his future.
“That’s when I decided that this is something I’ll stick with the rest of my life,” he said.
Hebert was originally on track for a computer information systems degree, but he changed to business administration when he made the decision that he was going to try and go pro in golf after college. Hebert was looking for the fastest route to a college degree, and majoring in business administration provided that pathway.
“I graduated in November and was down in Florida playing the mini tours that winter,” Hebert said.
Hebert continued his pursuit and eventually gained professional status. Soon after, he got married and wanted to start a family.
During a conversation with his father at Christmas, the then-28-year-old Hebert took stock of what was important in his life.
“He said, ‘Well, when I was your age, I already had three kids. I just want to make sure that you’re happy and not missing out on anything,'” Hebert said. “The golf portion of playing professionally is great, but unless you have a wife and life that goes with it … .”
Hebert said his wife, Laurie, was “very patient” with him as he toured professionally, on the road for three weeks and home for one. But he made a deal with her that he would never go backward in golf. When Hebert didn’t maintain his pro status, he came back to Michigan and landed a job at Sunnybrook Country Club.
“I was still playing a lot,” he said. “That’s when Michigan Opens and PGAs started accumulating.”
Eventually, Scott and Laurie moved back to Traverse City — the place where they first met. He took a job at the Grand Traverse Resort in 2006 after missing out on the position he holds now at the TC Country Club. Hebert was later hired as the TCCC’s club pro in 2015.
“The members have been great to me. They love to go out and see me play,” Hebert said. “Traverse City really is a fantastic spot.”
And it has been a fantastic spot for Scott and Laurie to raise their two children — JP, who is now a sophomore at Michigan State University, and Susie, who is a junior at Traverse City Central High School and plays golf for the girls varsity team.
“Coincidentally enough, she was 15 and said, ‘Dad, I want to play golf. I need some clubs.’ So I got her a set of TaylorMades and got her all set up … Watching her learn has been one of the biggest thrills. She’s starting to have some success,” Hebert said. “She seems to enjoy it, and it’s just funny that she started at the same age I did.”
Teaching the game of golf has become a great source of joy in Hebert’s life.
“I love everything about it, from running events to teaching it to interacting with members and sharing stories,” Hebert said, adding how fortunate he has been to be around world-class golf instructors like Jim McLean, Bob Parent, Carl Welty, Lynn Janson, Buddy Witt, Jeff Roth and Ron Berman to name a few. “It really is a great atmosphere to be around.”
Hebert’s role allows him to flourish in that atmosphere while helping others do the same.
“If you can make someone more happy with their golf game or enjoy it more when they play a round, that’s as rewarding as winning a golf tournament,” he said. “When you see a kid get it and their eyes light up and they want to play golf more, it’s every bit as enjoyable as raising one of those pieces of crystal.”
Hebert has now raised 18 Michigan PGA major championship trophies after he won the Michigan PGA Match Play Championship for the third time and set the record for the most major championship wins in Michigan PGA history.
“The ups are so high when you win something. You very seldom win,” he said. “I came back from the Michigan PGA last month, and everybody’s congratulating me for finishing second and losing by a stroke. But I was really just the first loser. That’s what makes the wins so special. They are so rare.”
The win broke a tie at 17 with fellow Michigan Golf Hall of Famer Jeff Roth of Boyne Golf Academy in Harbor Springs. In addition to his three Match Play Championship wins, Hebert counts eight Michigan PGA Professional Championship titles, six Michigan Open Championship titles and a Tournament of Champions win.
“I’m not sure if it’s completely sunk in yet,” he said. “It’s nothing really that was a goal of mine. I love to play. I love to compete. I love everything about it.”
Hebert’s most recent Michigan major title before Wednesday was in 2019 when he last won the Match Play Championship, and that same year won the Senior PGA Professional Championship. With that national title, he became just the fourth golf professional ever to win the Senior PGA and PGA Professional (2008) national titles.
“It’s hard because normally when you start talking about that stuff, that’s really at the end (of your career). And at 55, we’re probably pretty close to the end,” Hebert said. “There may be a few more that I could sneak in. A Tournament of Champions. I’d love to do another Michigan Open. But as I get older and the kids hit it a little further, it gets tougher.”
But Hebert still has gas left in the tank.
He’ll head out to Bend, Oregon, on Monday to prepare the 2024 Senior PGA Professional Championship, which is set for Thursday through Sunday.
“That wets that whistle enough,” Hebert said. “It’s not life or death whether I make a check or not. It’s really just going out, seeing the guys and playing some golf while knowing I have something solid and steady back here in Traverse City.”
