119th #GAPOpen: Round One

Bensel wedges way to top of leaderboard

BUCKINGHAM, Pa. – Trevor Bensel looks ahead whenever Lookaway is on the schedule.

In 2021, the 28-year-old Sandy Run Country Club assistant professional captured the prestigious Philadelphia Players Championship at said club. Wednesday, in the 119^th Open Championship, he added another entry to his Lookaway (par 72, 6,889 yards) manifesto with a scintillating 65 (7 under) to grab the first-round lead in Philadelphia’s most demanding championship.

| Scoring portal | History | Round One Notebook | Round One Video |

Bensel stands two strokes clear of Zachary Oakley, an assistant professional at Bidermann Golf Club, and amateur Rij Patel of the Country Club of York. Bensel, a North Wales, Pa. resident, is in search of his first Open victory. Bensel’s top prior Open finish was a tie for sixth last year at Philadelphia Cricket Club (Wissahickon). Defending champion, amateur John Brennan of Philadelphia Cricket, carded a 2 under.

The cutline fell at 2 over with 72 players advancing to the final round. Tee times begin at 7:30 a.m.

The leaders start at 11:40 a.m.

Bensel stood tall, above all, on this day with eight birdies and a single bogey blemish.

“I do have a good track record playing here. I love the golf course,” said Bensel, in his second year at Sandy Run. “Literally, like a week ago, I just started hitting the ball better. I actually started practicing and it’s amazing what that can do for your confidence.

“I went out last night [and] hit some shots. [I hit] all wedges from 60 to 100 yards and it was helpful today because I had a lot of shots inside 100 yards that I was able to stick close. Coming into this I haven’t had a good year playing wise. It’s been very frustrating. It’s nice to get a good round under my belt.”

The Bensel barrage, and his sharpened wedges, stated their intentions immediately.

Starting the round on No. 10 (par 4, 337 yards), Bensel dropped a sand wedge from 118 yards to four feet for a stress-free three. On No. 13 (par 5, 587 yards), with another sand wedge in-hand, this time from 105 yards, he stopped his third shot 15 feet from the cup. An uphill look resulted in a red four. On the next hole, No. 14 (par 4, 475 yards), he ratcheted an 8-iron from 169 yards to 12 feet below the hole and to the left.

“That one just dripped in, that was nice,” said Bensel of the birdie putt. “It was still early in the round, but anytime you can get under par it builds confidence and you can start attacking more pins than you normally would.”

True to his word, Bensel followed with aggressive plays, and birdies on Nos. 16 (par 4, 405 yards) and 17 (par 5, 523 yards). On No. 16, he lifted a gap wedge from 118 yards to 15 feet, directly below the hole. In that went. On No. 17, he laced a 5-iron from 218 yards that stopped just short of the green. His chip stopped three feet from the cup and a fifth red figure followed.

Bensel’s lone bogey blemish came on No. 18 (par 4, 434 yards), when he found tree trouble off the tee.

Coming in, Bensel added three more birdies to his tally. On No. 3 (par 5, 531 yards), he displayed a deft touch by knocking a 40-yard pitch-and-run shot to three feet for a four; on No. 4 (par 4, 362 yards), Bensel skied a 9-iron from 138 yards out in the right fairway bunker to five feet for another easy three and then on No. 9 (par 4, 355 yards) nipped a 58-degree wedge from 68 yards to four feet.

Bensel’s competitive best round is 61, 9-under, twice.

His best at Lookaway is the 67 he shot to win the aforementioned Philadelphia Players.

“You always want to go as low as possible the first day so there’s less pressure to make up ground on the second day,” said Bensel. “[Tomorrow], I’m going to go out and try to do the same thing I did today. Just try to hit the fairway, hit the green and make putts. It’s not a hard formula.”

Ironically, Oakley, 40, of King of Prussia, Pa., finished in a four-way tie for second the year Bensel won the Philadelphia Players Championship. A few years prior, in 2019, Oakley, at Lookaway, captured the Philadelphia PGA Section Match Play Championship, over, yes, you guessed it, Bensel, 4&3.

Oakley posted a clean card with three birdies, an eagle and 14 pars.

Patel, 25, of Hunt Valley, Md., finished in a four-way tie for second in last year’s Open at Cricket.

His first round produced six birdies and a bogey. A pretty good result considering a 3 a.m. wake-up call.

“I didn’t think about it,” said Patel of the long drive to Lookaway. “I just go out there and take everything one shot at a time.”

The Open features the deepest and most competitive field of the year with top amateurs from GAP and top professionals from the Philadelphia PGA Section vying for the John J. McDermott Trophy. This year 103 amateurs and 40 professionals started.

The Open is GAP’s third oldest championship. The Amateur is 123 years old. The Joseph H. Patterson Cup is 121.

GAP
Celebrating Amateur Golf since 1897, GAP, also known as the Golf Association of Philadelphia, is the oldest regional or state golf association in the United States. It serves as the principal ruling body of amateur golf in its region. The organization’s 340 Member Clubs and 100,000 individual members are spread across Pennsylvania, Delaware, New Jersey and Maryland. The GAP’s mission is to promote, preserve and protect the game of golf.