Frank Bensel Jr. didn’t make the cut at this week’s U.S. Senior Open, but he will have a historic takeaway from the tournament.
During the second round of play at Newport Country Club in Newport, Rhode Island, the 56-year-old Bensel Jr. carded back-to-back aces.
Yes, that’s right — consecutive holes-in-one.
Bensel’s first ace came on the 184-yard par-3 fourth hole. He followed that up with another on the 203-yard par-3 fifth hole.
Frank Bensel Jr. made BACK-TO-BACK holes-in-one this morning at the US Senior Open. And yet somehow, he’s even on the day! pic.twitter.com/rj0FsLLv9j
— Ryan Ballengee (@RyanBallengee) June 28, 2024
The odds of making a hole-in-one, according to the National Hole-in-One registry, is 12,500-to-1. Two in the same round, as Brian Harman achieved on the PGA Tour in 2015? 67 million to 1.
Bensel Jr. finished his second round with eight bogeys along with those two aces. Over the two rounds, he shot 9-over par.
“The first one was great,” said Bensel Jr., who added those were his 13th and 14th career holes-in-one between competition and recreational play. “I was kidding around, like now let’s go for another one, and it happened to go in. Everybody just couldn’t believe it.”
When Bensel Jr. isn’t hitting aces he’s a golf coach at Century Country Club in Purchase, New York. He has participated in six PGA Tour events in his career, including three PGA Championships and the 2007 U.S. Open.