An Oak Harbor golfer is heading to a national competition later this month.

Last September, 44-year-old David Phay landed a spot at the National 2025 Professional Golfers’ Association (also known as PGA) Professional Championship, which will take place April 27-30 in Port St. Lucie, Florida.

This is a big deal for the Whidbey Golf Club, where Phay works as the head professional and recently took over the role of general manager and director of golf. As far as he knows, this is the first time in the club’s history that a member made it to the nationals.

Phay made the cut at the Pacific Northwest PGA Professional Championship held at the Everett Golf & Country Club, where he faced over 100 seasoned golfers from Washington, Oregon and parts of Idaho and Montana.

There he placed second with an 11-under-205, earning a prize of $6,250 and a spot at the competition in Florida where he will face 311 professionals. According to the PGA’s website, the top finishers will earn a spot on the Corebridge Financial PGA Team and an invitation to the PGA Championship.

According to Whidbey Golf Club President John Geragotelis, the PGA Championship is one of the top four events in the world of golf. This year, the competition will take place May 12-18 at the Quail Hollow Club in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Phay’s passion for the sport began his junior year of high school, 28 years ago. Until then, he had been following in his family member’s footsteps, playing soccer, but quickly realized he quite enjoyed the solitary nature of golf.

“It’s you and the golf course,” he said. “There’s nobody but yourself to rely on.”

By the end of the year, he was on the school’s varsity team, he said.

Geragotelis said Phay is a regular winner at the Western Washington PRO-AM events, which are tournaments in which club profesionals and amateurs compete together, and tries to play friendly rounds with all club members.

“I can tell you firsthand that it is truly a treat playing with a professional golfer of Dave’s high skill-level, while at the same time feeling comfortable because of his easy-going demeanor and positive reinforcement,” Geragotelis wrote in an email.

Lately, Phay has been struggling to practice as often as he would like to due to his busy schedule in which he can work between 60 and 80 hours a week. With the competition being less than a month away, he hopes to get out in the field more often.

“If you’re not nervous, you don’t care enough,” he said.

Nevertheless, he is excited to give it his best shot. A handful of club members, Geragotelis wrote, will be there to cheer him on and post Facebook updates.

“Who knows what will happen,” Phay said with a smile. “It’s just gonna be another adventure.”

(Photo by Luisa Loi) Dave Phay, 44, has been playing golf since he was a junior at Oak Harbor High School. Now, his two eldest daughters play in the school’s golf team.