NEWPORT, R.I. (AP) — Frank Bensel turned up a pair of aces — on back-to-back holes — in the second round of the U.S. Senior Open at the Newport Country Club on Friday.
Bensel aced the 173-yard fourth hole with a 6-iron and then followed it up with another hole-in-one on the 202-yard fifth with the same club. Both holes are par-3.
While consecutive holes-in-one are exceedingly rare, it’s also unusual for a course to have par-3’s on two straight holes, like the setup at the 7,024-yard, par-70 Newport Country Club this week.
Bensel is a 56-year-old from Jupiter, Florida. He has played in six PGA Tour events and never made a cut.
Even with the aces, Bensel has had a tough time at the seaside course. He opened the day at 4 over and had back-to-back bogeys to follow up his aces.
The only other USGA championship to have a player card two holes-in-one was at the 1987 U.S. Mid-Amateur when Donald Bliss aced the eighth and 10th holes. Because he started on the back nine, Bliss got a hole-in-one on his first hole of the day and his 17th at Brook Hollow in Dallas.
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