Ryan Benzel’s appearance at next month’s PGA Championship at Southern Hills Country Club in Tulsa, Okla. might be a surprise to some people, but it’s a breakthrough the confident 28-year-old golfer believed would come.
Benzel has accumulated top finishes around the Northwest the past few years but earning a spot in one of golf’s premier events puts him up against the best in the game.
Benzel, an assistant pro at Seattle Golf &Country Club in Shoreline, qualified for the major by finishing in a tie for second at the 40th PGA Professional National Championship in Sunriver, Ore. June 21-24.
Benzel led the field of 312 players by one stroke going into the final round but made seven bogeys during the windy final round and finished four strokes behind winner Chip Sullivan.
“He played exceptionally well with the pressure on us, with the weather the way it was,” Benzel said. “He went out and took the golf tournament.”
Still, Benzel earned his first trip to a PGA tour event the first time he was eligible to play in the PGA Professional National Championship. The top 20 finishers in the tournament qualify for the PGA Championship.
“It was validation for me, but at the same time it was surprising to other people who didn’t know who I was,” he said. “It was just a great experience, a great week. My dad (Bruce) caddied for me all week, my wife (Stacey) was there all week long. The support I had from my family and membership of Seattle Golf Club was overwhelming. Hopefully I’ll take the momentum and take it to the PGA Championship.”
Benzel opened with a one-under-par 71 on the opening day on the Crosswater course and followed up with a five-under-par 66 on the easier Meadows course on the second day.
“I felt I played pretty well,” Benzel said. “I got good shifts, morning one day, afternoon the other…It kind of worked in my favor in that respect. I did not have to face the wind and the weather that some of the people had to face the second day.”
Benzel shot a 73 and 75 on Crosswater for the final two rounds.
Benzel’s finish also earned him enough points to land him a spot on the PGA Cup team, the equivalent of the Ryder Cup for club professionals. The U.S. plays a team from Great Britain and Ireland every two years. This year the Cup will be played at Reynolds Plantation in Georgia in September.
Benzel, a Bothell resident, has attempted to qualify for the PGA Tour three times, the last time coming in 2005, but he said it’s not his main focus right now.
“It’s always been a goal of mine to be on the PGA Tour and play golf for a living,” he said. “It’s a very difficult process. I’ve had success being a club professional in the Northwest so that’s what I’m focusing on right now.”
Benzel is originally from the small eastern Washington town of Ritzville, which is southwest of Spokane. He’s been a serious golfer since sixth grade but his dad gave him a cut-off golf club to play with at age two. He won the Washington Junior Golf Association state championship in the summer of 1996 and when he was a senior at Ritzville High School in 1997 he won the state Class B title.
He went on to play at the University of Idaho while it was in the Big West Conference and finished in the top 10 in college tournaments about 15 times and won one. After graduating he turned pro and played on the National Golf Association’s Hooters Tour in 2002. He played in 18 events and made $8,500 with his best finish a tie for 19th.
Seattle Golf &Country Club hired Benzel as its assistant pro in December 2002. It’s mainly a customer service job, meeting the needs of members of the private club, he said. He gives lessons to members and guests recommended by members.
As a club pro, Benzel’s added some hardware to his trophy case.
He was the 2005 PGA Section Player of the Year, which honors the player who tops the points list from Washington, Oregon, Idaho and western Montana.
He won the 2005 Rosauers Open in Spokane and won the Washington state PGA match play championship in 2004, 2005 and 2006. He also won the 2006 Pacific Northwest PGA Section Assistant Professional Championship.
“I think his real strength is his course management,” Bruce Benzel said. “He’s very meticulous in assessing the course and the greens, paces the greens off. He just has a good feel of how far away he is from the pin.”
The name Benzel might be familiar to residents of south Snohomish County and the surrounding area. Benzel’s uncle, Brian Benzel, was the Edmonds School District superintendent in the mid-1990s.
Benzel’s story will be featured on CBS this Sunday, July 29 at 11 a.m. during the Road to the PGA Championship special. A camera crew followed Benzel around for a couple of days after he returned from Sunriver.
In preparation for the PGA Championship Benzel doesn’t plan to do anything different from what he normally does.
“I very much understand that it will be a difficult test of golf,” said Benzel, who has studied the Southern Hills course online.
It’s a long course, he said. so he’s been practicing with his four and five irons. There will be a premium on driving the ball with accuracy and putting it in the fairway, he said.
Simply getting to the tournament is a major accomplishment, but Benzel hopes to play well enough to get some TV air time.
“It’s been a whirlwind since June,” he said. “That makes it all the more fun.”
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