Rickel, Benzel team up for PGA Championship
Brad Rickel’s school loyalties might have changed, but his personal allegiances remain unaltered.
Which is why Gonzaga University’s first-year women’s golf coach will once again accompany former University of Idaho standout Ryan Benzel to this year’s PGA Championship, which will play out Aug. 7-10 at Oakland Hills Country Club in Bloomfield Township, Mich.
“In college, he was my all-time favorite kid I ever coached,” Rickel said of the 29-year-old Benzel, a Ritzville native who played for him for four seasons at Idaho, “because nobody loves competitive golf more than Ryan.”
Rickel, who coached the men’s and women’s golf teams at UI for eight seasons prior to hiring on at GU, will play the role of instructor/coach for Benzel, who earned a second-consecutive berth in the PGA Championship by finishing in a tie for fourth at this year’s PGA Professional National Championship in Greensboro, Ga.
In that capacity, Rickel will be able to work with Benzel during his practice rounds and on the putting green, driving range and short-game facility at Oakland Hills prior to the start of each official round of the PGA tournament.
“Since I was his college coach, I think we just see stuff the same way,” Rickel explained. “And I think Ryan is comfortable with me giving him advice.”
Benzel’s caddy, like it was last August in Tulsa, will be his father, Bruce – which Rickel also thinks is a good thing.
“Having his dad on the bag, I think, gives Ryan a certain level of comfort,” Rickel explained. “I would love to caddy for him, but our relationship has always been me a coach and him a player, and if I was on the bag, it would be hard for him to be the boss.
“And the player needs to be the boss over his caddy, for the most part.”
Last year at Southern Hills, with Rickel serving as his instructor and his dad carrying his bag, Benzel made the cut. But a third-round score of 10-over-par 80, followed by a 74 on Sunday, left him at 17-over 297 and in last place on the final-day leaderboard.
“It works out well having Brad along,” said Benzel, the head pro at Mill Creek Country Club, who finished second in last weekend’s Rosauers Open at Indian Canyon Golf Course. “He understands my game as well as anyone.”
And even though Rickel is now coaching at Gonzaga, his relationship with Benzel is as solid as ever.
“Ryan and I are buddies for life,” Rickel said. “We see golf the same, we see life the same and we’ve always just kind of fit together like a glove.”
Welch wins
Former Washington State University all-American Kim Welch, who was featured in last Saturday’s column after winning the Golf Channel’s Big Break Ka’anapali, continued her recent roll last weekend by picking up her first career win on the Duramed FUTURES Tour.
Welch prevailed in a four-hole playoff against South Korea’s Jin Young Pak to win the Alliance Bank Golf Classic at The Links at Erie Village in Syracuse, N.Y. The win was worth $12,600 and vaulted Welch from 11th to 7th on the FUTURE Tour’s list of money leaders with $31,299.
“I’m so excited and really proud of myself,” Welch told reporters after her win. “I’ve known all year that I could do it, and now that the season is coming to the end, I knew I had to get a win and try to get into the top five.”
The top five players on the Duramed FUTURES Tour money list receive automatic exemption onto next year’s LPGA Tour.
Stensgar honored
The new 5,800 square foot events pavilion at Circling Raven Golf Club in Worley, Idaho, was officially christened the Stensgar Pavilion last week in honor of Ernie Stensgar, a longtime chairman of the Coeur d’ Alene Tribe that built the golf course and adjoining casino and resort hotel.
“Ernie Stensgar remains one of the great leaders, great figures in Indian Country,” current Tribal Chairman Chief Allen said in a press release announcing the naming of the pavilion, which will be used for golf ceremonies, meetings, retreats, weddings and various other events year round. “His devotion to the tribe over so many years puts him in a special place in tribal lore.
“We continue building on the success of his leadership, and this pavilion is a very solid reminder of what he means to the Coeur d’ Alene Tribe.”
Stensgar served as the Coeur d’ Alene Tribe’s chairman from 1986 to 2004 and oversaw the development of both the nationally acclaimed Circling Raven golf course and the Coeur d’ Alene Casino Resort Hotel.
Lindeblad to EWU Hall
Gary Lindeblad, the longtime head professional at Indian Canyon Golf Course and founder of the Rosauers Open golf tournament, will be one of four individuals inducted into Eastern Washington University’s Hall of Fame on Sept. 27.
Lindeblad, a four-time participant in the NAIA golf championship during his four-year stay at Eastern, helped lead the Eagles to three-consecutive Evergreen Conference titles and four NAIA District 1 championships. In 1971, he won medalist honors at the NAIA District 1 event, and went on to win numerous events in the Pacific Northwest Section of the PGA, including the 1988 Rosauers Open.