'Truly historic' - Bensel makes back-to-back holes-in-one
New York club professional Bensel Jr has played in six PGA Tour events
- Published
Frank Bensel Jr made back-to-back holes-in-one during the second round of the US Senior Open in Rhode Island.
The club professional, 56, landed his first ace on the 184-yard par-three fourth then remarkably repeated the feat on the 203-yard par-three fifth.
"It was just unbelievable, it's the rarest thing you could ever imagine," Bensel Jr told NBC.
"These things are just so rare. It was just so much fun and excitement."
The American is the first player to make successive aces in professional competition since Englishman John Hudson in the European Tour's Martini International at Royal Norwich in 1971.
Hudson followed a hole-in-one at the 195-yard 11th with another at the par-four 12th, which measured 314 yards.
The National Hole-in-One Registry says the odds of carding two aces in the same round are 67 million to one - so to do so in consecutive holes is an even more unlikely feat.
The United States Golf Association (USGA) posted an image of Bensel Jr's scorecard on social media, external, hailing his achievement at Newport Country Club as "truly historic".
Despite playing two holes in two shots, Bensel Jr was one over par for his round by the ninth after making a bogey in each of the four holes that followed his two aces.
He said making the two holes-in-one felt "like an out-of-body experience" and that he was "more excited than I wanted to be".
Bensel Jr, who carded a five-over par 75 on Thursday, ended the second day nine over par as he dropped a further three shots on the back nine.
The long-time professional at Century Country Club in Purchase, New York, was in joint 135th position when he finished his round and is set to miss the cut in one of the senior game's majors.