Who Is Frank Bensel Jr.? Exploring Life & Career of the 56YO Golfer With Record-Breaking Senior Major Feat

 

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Talking about his professional life on the PGA Tour and beyond, Bensel has made starts in a total of six PGA Tour events since 1998, including the 2009 U.S. Open at Oakmont, and the 2024 PGA Championship. The latter being his recent-most start as an area PGA Professional, where he failed to make the cut. He has not been able to make the cut on the PGA Tour till now.

Talking about the Seniors Tour, the 2024 US Seniors Open is his third appearance on the over-50 PGA Tour Champions. The PGA of America member is a golf coach who claims to be a strong short-game teacher and helps his students

“play great golf through improved ball flight, efficiency of swing, and speed.” He has over 300 students.Bonus Fact: He has previously collaborated with TaylorMade Golf, and most likely will continue to!

But what makes the back-to-back aces he shot at Rhode Island’s Newport Country Club a standalone shoutout-worthy achievement?

Bensel crafts his name in history at 56 in Rhode Island

One in 67 million. Sounds impossible, right? Well, that’s how rare this 56-year-old golfer’s back-to-back aces in a professional event truly are, making his feat the only one recorded in any TOUR-sanctioned event on record, according to PGA TOUR Champions.

The only other possible counterpart to this USGA hero is John Hudson back in 1971 at the European Tour’s Martini International, where he shot back-to-back aces on a par 3 and followed it up with another on a par 4, becoming the only other player to ever achieve this feat on any major professional Tour.

Bensel’s case at the second round of the US Senio Open in Newport Country Club saw him carding a hole-in-one on par-3 fourth from a distance of 184 yards and following it up on par-3 fifth with another hole-in-one from a distance of 203 yards. Quite a feat, right? But what’s his take on the matter of playoffs?

Frank Bensel Jr.’s experienced advice when dealing with a playoff

Having played and won several playoffs in his time with golf, post his win at the PGA Assistants Tour Summer Major in 2015 after a playoff alongside Colin Amaral, Bensel was asked his secret to ace-ing playoffs. His tip? There is no secret. It’s actually a more nuanced combination of sticking to one’s routine and staying focused.

Bensel’s exact words were, “There’s no secret. Everyone’s a little bit more amped up and you just stick to your routines and stay focused well. I mean we’re all nervous and want to do well so you know it’s a different animal.”

It seems this discipline-centered approach has been working well for Bensel Jr. so far. Call it luck or the award of his long-going perseverance, it seems there’s only an upward hill for this hard-working area professional golfer! Don’t you think so?