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.
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