Frank Bensel accomplished one of golf’s rarest feats at the U.S. Senior Open on Friday by recording back-to-back holes-in-one.
Bensel, 56, aced a pair of par-3 holes in the second round at Newport (R.I.) Country Club.
He started with a hole-in-one on the 184-yard fourth hole with a 6-iron, then repeated the move at the 203-yard fifth.
Bensel said after his round that he missed seeing the tee shot at No. 4 go in, though his nephew tracked it. But he made sure to watch his shot at No. 5.
“We saw that,” he said. “It was rolling the whole time.”
Bensel believes he had made several holes-in-one in competition in his career, but to go back-to-back left him stunned.
“Hit the ball kind of in the right place, and then it just started rolling,” he said of the first ace. “I was kidding around, and I was like, ‘OK, now let’s go for another one,’ and it happened to go in. Everybody just couldn’t believe it. We all went nuts.”
Making it even more memorable, Bensel had his 14-year-old son Hagen Bensel, named after Walter Hagen, carrying his bag.
“He’s a great caddie,” Frank Bensel said. “He loves golf, and we love spending time together. He’s a great reader of greens, and his eyes are a lot better than mine right now. I’ve been able to trust him a lot on the reads.”
Despite the historic two-for, Bensel wound up missing the cut. He made four straight bogeys after the two aces and admitted he “was more excited than (he) wanted to be” about his aces.
He started the day at 5 over and posted a 74 to finish 9 over, seven shots below the cut line.
The three-time Connecticut Open champion is also a golf instructor at Century Country Club in Purchase, N.Y., and at Marisol Golf Club in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla. He said he expects everyone will want a lesson from him now.
Bensel was also asked if he has to buy everyone two rounds of drinks, rather than the traditional one.
“No, I think they’re all complementary in the players’ lounge, thankfully,” he replied.
–Field Level Media
