You might not think much excitement can be generated on a drive from Dothan, Ala., to Atlanta.

Then again, you’ve never finished birdie-birdie in the fourth and final round of a qualifying tournament. A qualifying tournament that just might possibly open the door to your professional golf career, no less.

“It’s about a three-and-a-half-hour drive and we were maybe two hours in when there was that moment of realization,” said Matt Organisak, who had put the stirring news in motion. With a closing 67 for 7-under 281, the young man from Sudbury had qualified on the number at a second-stage site in the Korn Ferry Tour Qualifying Tournament.

“I had that moment when I couldn’t believe it. But my friend from Emory (Corey Levine, who had caddied for Organisak) was looking at the scores on his phone and figured it out.”

The Road from Dothan to Atlanta was filled with screams and celebratory high-fives.

But it’s the ride from Sudbury to the threshold of the Korn Ferry Tour that is still going, because the next stop for Organisak is the four-round final-stage test Nov. 4-7 in Savannah, Ga., where status for 2022 is up for grabs. (The higher you finish, the more tournaments you’ll get into, but Organisak and everyone else is guaranteed some sort of status.)

It’s a thought that makes Organisak pinch himself.

“I consider myself extremely lucky,” he said. “I’m privileged, very fortunate to be able to do something I love.”

In a field of dreamers and spirited lads who’ll tee it up at the final stage, Organisak will rate as one of the most unheralded. Oh, he seized a sliver of the spotlight when he won the 2020 Massachusetts State Amateur championship, but for the most part he played well beneath the radar at Lincoln-Sudbury High School and Emory.

“Division 1 colleges had no interest in me,” said Organisak. “Which is OK, because I was focused on academics, which Emory provided, and my golf tool helped me get into school.”

Turns out, Emory is a Division 3 power so the golf experience was “fantastic,” he said. “I never realized how (year-round) golf would help my golf game.”

Navigating his first attempt at the KFT Qualifying Tournament has been a steady walk through a pressure chamber. Forced to pre-qualify (he’s new, remember?), shot 220 for 54 holes and got in on the number. In Nevada, he fired 13-under 275 and made it by two. Then came Dothan and the kid from Sudbury started the fourth round at 2-under.

“I figured the number would be 8-under. Get there and you’d be safe,” he thought. When he didn’t birdie the 16th, Organisak was 5-under and figured a birdie-birdie finish would at least give him an outside chance.

He hit 7-iron to just inside of 20 feet at the par-3 17th, then hit a 9-iron to about 8 feet at the par-4 18th.

Both putts fell, Organisak was 7-under, but with two hours of tee times still on the course, “it was a strange feeling; we didn’t know whether to celebrate or not.”

Since the cut would be for low 20 “and ties,” Organisak and Levine knew there would be no playoff. Simple. They would be in, or they would be out.

So Organisak, who is based in Atlanta while he chases golf, and Levine, who is working as a ski instructor in Utah while he gets his arms around post-college life, packed the car.

They knew the numbers would find them somewhere between Dothan and Atlanta.