Ritzville Municipal Golf Course, third green — that’s where Ryan Benzel spent a ton of time during his high-school years.
And all those late nights of putting near his family home have paid off for the current Bothell resident. The 30-year-old qualified for his third Professional Golfers Association of America (PGA) Championship at Hazeltine National Golf Club in Chaska, Minn. At Friday’s post time, Benzel shot +20 in the first two rounds (81 and 83) on Thursday and Friday and was not projected to make the weekend cut. He stood in 155th place.
The teaching professional at Battle Creek Golf Course in Tulalip recalled those Ritzville days last Friday morning.
“I can remember in the summer during high school out putting in the evening. And on the main road by the golf course, my friends would drive by 10 to 15 times,” he said. “They’d turn their car lights on and I’d keep putting.”
Benzel starred at Ritzville High (1997 state class A/B champ) and at the University of Idaho (Big West Conference first- and second-teamer). He is one of 20 PGA professionals joining the 156-player field at the upcoming premier event by finishing tied for fourth at the PGA Professional National Championship July 1 in Santa Ana Pueblo, N.M.
In his previous PGA Championship appearances, Benzel finished 71st in 2007, but didn’t make the weekend cut in 2008. Over the years, he’s mingled with some of golf’s greats, playing practice rounds with Fred Couples, Davis Love III and Jim Furyk.
“It’s been a fun experience,” he said.
What’s the key to success this time around?
“I need to drive the ball accurately and keep the ball in the fairways; hit wedges close, irons close and putt well,” he said, noting that Hazeltine is a difficult course from what he’s seen and read about it. “I don’t have any nerves now, but I will have my nerves when I get to the first tee on Thursday.”
Aside from the PGA Championship, life is good in Bothell and at Battle Creek Golf Course, said the husband and father of a 3-month-old son.
“I get to go to the golf course every day for work,” he said. “There’s not a bad thing with that job.”
Benzel was the PGA Professional Pacific Northwest Section Player of the Year for 2005-2008; he won the 2005 Rosavers Open in Spokane and has amassed about 20 top-five finishes since 2003.
He got serious about golf in junior high and hasn’t stopped since.
“It was just something I really liked and I was good at it. It’s just fun to me,” he said. “(My strengths) are probably my putting and short game. As I’m getting older, the rest of my game has improved, and that’s where better scores come from now.”
