Most people never make a hole-in-one once. Frank Bensel Jr. did it twice — in two holes.
Bensel accomplished the remarkable feat in the second round of the U.S. Senior Open at Newport Country Club on Friday.
"According to the national hole-in-one registry, the odds of two holes-in-one in one round are 67,000,000 to 1," wrote Patrick McDonald of CBS Sports. "While the odds of making back-to-back holes-in-one are not available (because, well, why are odds needed on something that is never going to happen), that rare occurrence took place Friday when Bensel Jr. made two straight aces."
The back-to-back strokes of genius (or luck) are the first in a tour-sanctioned event and the first in a USGA championship. As McDonald relayed, Don Bliss made two holes-in-one at the 1987 U.S. Mid-Amateur Championship in the same round. But not back-to-back like Bensel.
TRULY HISTORIC ‼️
Frank Bensel Jr. just made back-to-back aces in Round 2 of the U.S. Senior Open. pic.twitter.com/8dyOZbb1yc
— USGA (@USGA) June 28, 2024
"I've played a lot of golf in my life, and just to see a hole-in-one in a tournament is pretty rare," Bensel told reporters. "For me to have that, it was great. I'm out here trying to play well and make the cut. And, at the time, it was pretty important for me to do that. So the first one was great, so that got me under par for the day. And then the second one, I just couldn't believe it. To even think that that could happen was amazing.
"Hit the ball kind of in the right place, and then it just started rolling. I was kidding around, and I was like, 'OK, now let's go for another one,' and it happened to go in. Everybody just couldn't believe it. We all went nuts. I've got a lot of family and friends here and they were all going crazy, and the guys I played with, same thing, they couldn't believe it. It was amazing."
