PEORIA, Ariz. — On the night of June 4, Ben and Blake Lorenz hopped in their 2010 Honda Accord and began the drive northwest.
They reached Las Vegas at around 2 a.m. to catch a few hours of sleep before continuing the trek to Bend, Oregon, more than 12 hours away. At 10:30 p.m. on June 5, they finally arrived at their hotel.
“It was a long two days, honestly three days on the road,” Blake said. “A lot of hours spent, a lot of miles logged, but definitely worth it.”
That’s because Ben, a Peoria native and rising junior at Oklahoma, earned the last of three qualifying spots at Bend’s Pronghorn Golf Club for the 2022 U.S. Open. Blake, also a golfer for the Sooners, saw it all as his brother’s caddie.
“It was super cool,” Ben said. “We’ve played so much with each other growing up and we both caddied for each other in a lot of other events. It felt normal just cause he was on the bag. It was a cool moment.”
The brothers, who are two years apart, started golf at different times, yet their paths converged on the course.
Ben Lorenz was a standout high school golfer at Sunrise Mountain High School in Peoria, Arizona. (Photo: Cheryl Evans/The Arizona Republic)
Both went to Sunrise Mountain High School in the Phoenix suburb of Peoria and won state championships their senior year. Both joined Oklahoma, one of the top men’s college golf programs in the country.
Now, both are headed to The Country Club in Brookline, Massachusetts, where Ben will take part in his first professional event this week.
“I think this is going to go down in our family lore,” said Jennifer Lorenz, Ben and Blake’s mother.
The way Ben clinched his U.S. Open appearance might as well.
Since he was one of the first players to tee off, Ben had to wait two hours to begin his playoff match because as golfers were still on the course.
Yet he never lost momentum and defeated Boise State alumnus Ty Travis in two extra holes.
When he arrived in Oregon, Ben knew he was a “long…
Source : yahoo
