Benzel sharp, but falls short in Washington Open golf tournament

Published 11:08 pm Wednesday, May 19, 2010

BELLEVUE — Ryan Benzel made a surge early in Wednesday’s final round, eliminating a three-shot deficit in the space of three holes to put himself in a great position to win his first Washington Open championship.

Alas, Benzel’s bid came up short over the remaining holes partly because of a drenching rain, but mostly due to the steady hand of rival Jeff Coston.

Coston, a teaching pro at Blaine’s Semiahmoo Golf and Country Club, took the lead for good with back-to-back birdies on the eighth and ninth holes, and went on to a two-stroke victory in the 84th-annual state open at Glendale Country Club.

Coston, who shot a 2-under-par 69 on Wednesday, finished with a 10-under total of 203. Benzel had a 1-under 70 for an 8-under 205 total.

It was the fourth tournament victory for the 54-year-old Coston, who also won in 1996, 1999 and 2001. And for someone on the far side of 50, he acknowledged with a grin, “you always wonder how long you’re going to be good.”

The victory also gives Coston a record 18 career victories in major Northwest tournaments, which include the Washington Open, Oregon Open, Northwest Open, Rosauers Open, the Pacific Northwest PGA Championship and the now defunct Al Guisti Memorial. Coston had previously shared the record with the late Bob Duden, who won 17 Northwest major tournaments from the mid-1950s to the mid-1970s.

The 31-year-old Benzel, meanwhile, is still looking to win his first state open. He tied for second in 2005.

“I started out playing real solid,” said Benzel, who lives in Bothell and is a teaching pro at Marysville’s Battle Creek Golf Course. “I actually played solid most of the day. … So it’s not a bad finish.”

Benzel trailed Coston by one shot at the start of the round, but quickly saw his deficit swell to three shots as Coston opened with two birdies. But the momentum swung the other way minutes later as Benzel birdied the fourth and sixth holes, and Coston took a bogey on No. 5, leaving them tied at 9 under par.

Was Coston ruffled? “No, it was too early,” he said shaking his head.

And he showed his mettle over the next three holes with a string of birdies to close his front nine with a 4-under 32.

Benzel, playing one foursome in front of Coston in the tourney’s pro-am format, had a birdie in that same stretch to trail by two shots at the turn, and then lost another stroke with a bogey on No. 10.

And by then the rain was falling, first in a gentle mist, then in a steady drizzle and later in an absolute downpour with intermittent gusting winds. Which, very predictably, sent the scores climbing. Coston and Benzel both played the back side in 2-over 37, and neither had a birdie after the turn.

“It was great weather early,” Benzel said, “but then it turned sour.” And for the last nine holes, he added, “it was just a game of survival.”

Benzel suffered a costly bogey on No. 16, a 376-yard par 4, with the weather the culprit.

His hand slipped from the club on the tee “and I just basically hit it with one hand,” he said. The ball hooked into a hazard, Benzel had to take a drop and a one-stroke penalty, and he needed a long iron approach and a difficult two-putt to make bogey.

On No. 18, still trailing by two, Benzel weighed hitting a fairway wood into the par-5 green on the chance he might make an eagle. But he decided to lay up due to water short and left of the green, and also because third-place finisher Corey Prugh of Spokane’s Manito Golf and Country Club was just one shot behind.

Benzel ended up missing a 12-foot birdie try — Coston was watching through binoculars from the 18th fairway — and the margin was still two strokes. Coston prudently laid up, chipped on for an easy two putts and the first-place prize of $15,000.

“And that’s huge,” Coston said with a smile. “That’s a lot of golf lessons.”

Benzel collected $10,000 for second place.

David Phay, a pro at Whidbey Golf and Country Club, finished 12th with an even-par total of 213 to earn $2,215. Two-time champion Keith Coleman (1997, 2004), the head superintendent and an assistant pro at Mukilteo’s Harbour Pointe Golf Club, finished tied for 15th with a two-over total of 215 for $1,833.