Benzel will be one to beat
As host professional Gary Lindeblad reads through the impressive list of 168 players entered in this year’s Rosauers Open Invitational golf tournament, he can’t keep from going back to Ryan Benzel.
It was Benzel, a Ritzville native who works as an assistant pro at the Seattle Golf Club, who lapped the field in last year’s event and breezed to a six-stroke victory over local amateur Alex Prugh and Bob Rannow, the head professional at Sandpines Golf Links in Florence, Ore.
“I’ve got to think he’s a favorite,” said Lindeblad, the head professional at Indian Canyon Golf Course, where this year’s $135,000 Rosauers event will play out over the next five days, with the 54-hole tournament proper scheduled to begin Friday.
“If I was a handicapper, he’d be at the top of my list.”
Benzel, who recently finished in a tie for fifth in the Oregon Open, is one of seven past champions in this year’s field. The others include Lindeblad, who won the 1990 Rosauers, two-time champion Chris Mitchell (1989 and 1992), Rob Gibbons (1991), Jeff Coston (1997), Todd Erwin (2000) and Casey McCoy (2001). Lindeblad thinks several of those – including him – could play their way into contention again this year.
Coston, a teaching pro at Semiahmoo Golf & Country Club in Blaine, Wash., seems to be near the top of the Rosauers leaderboard every year. Lindeblad noted that Mitchell, a Spokane native who is the head pro at Portland Golf & Country Club, “probably knows the golf course as well as anyone who’s still alive.”
Lindeblad lists The Creek at Qualchan head pro Mark Gardner, his own assistant Adam Syverson, Manito Country Club’s Steve Prugh and MeadowWood’s Bob Scott among the local players with the best shot at challenging Benzel.
“And I might just be ready for an episode of ‘Touched by an Angel’ myself,” he added.
According to Lindeblad, the picturesque 6,255-yard Indian Canyon layout, which will play to a par of 71 for the tournament, is in splendid condition.
“Our superintendent, Don Nelson, has the course in absolutely unbelievable shape,” Lindeblad said. “The (Northwest Section) PGA people are captivated by how good it is. It’s going to play very hard and very fast, and it’s going to be hard to keep it in the fairways.”
The two-day Bank of America Pro-Am, which traditionally kicks off the Rosauers, starts today. Tee times for Friday’s start of the tournament proper will run from 7:30 a.m. until 2:30 p.m.
Proceeds from this year’s tournament will again go to the Vanessa Behan Crisis Nursery, Spokane’s safe haven for children at risk of abuse and neglect. The nursery, which provides counseling, education and referrals for parents of young children, received $111,000 from last year’s tourney and has netted well more than $1 million in the 19-year history of event.