Long car ride from Arizona to Oregon for qualifying pays off for Oklahoma Sooner standout Ben Lorenz, who will play in 2022 U.S. Open with his brother as caddie
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 shot” to make the U.S. Open. Yet he believed that putting together a few good rounds could give him a chance to earn a spot in one of professional golf’s most prestigious events.
That’s exactly what he did by shooting a 71-67 to beat out over 60 golfers.
“He’s been playing some really, really good golf as of late,” Blake said. “I’m super excited that he gets to share the stage with the best players in the world and show off his skill sets.”
Now 20, Ben has come a long way from watching VHS tapes of Bobby Jones and Jack Nicklaus as a toddler.
Ben’s passion for golf began at age three, according to Jennifer, and was a vehicle for developing a bond with his brother.
Blake said that because his parents “didn’t want (Ben) alone out there,” he would play on the course for hours with his younger brother. As a result, Blake became a part of his “support system,” and also gained experience that would eventually lead him to the Sooners’ golf program.
Meanwhile, Ben took part in junior tournaments when his family moved from Oregon to Arizona and, like his brother, found success on the high-school level at Sunrise Mountain.
“A lot of the better players have grown up in the Phoenix area, Scottsdale (area),” Ben said. “I hopefully can inspire some other golfers from this region to push themselves and try to be the best. It can really happen to anyone out here.”
He certainly set a standard for golfers from Peoria by not only making the U.S. Open, but also earning a spot on the Oklahoma squad that played last month in the NCAA Division I Men’s Golf Championship at Scottsdale’s Grayhawk Golf Club.
The brothers won’t be the only Oklahoma representatives in Massachusetts next week. Fellow Sooner Chris Gotterup, who won the Haskins Award given to the top collegiate golfer, clinched a U.S. Open berth as well.
Ben plans to link up with Gotterup during practice rounds, as well as try to meet players he idolizes, including Justin Thomas and Jordan Spieth.
But once he tees off, it’s business as usual.
“I’m just going to stick to my normal routine,” Ben said. “It’s very easy to get caught up in the prestige of the U.S. Open and just overthink it. I’m just going to treat it like any other event. I feel like my game’s in a good spot and I’m just going to see what happens and enjoy the process.”
There to help with that will be Blake.
While the brothers will no longer be college teammates — Blake is graduating from Oklahoma this summer and using his final two years of eligibility at Wichita State — they are looking forward to embracing special moments together on the fairways, greens and bunkers in northeast Massachusetts.
“I’m really stoked for him,” Blake said, “and just glad that I could be a part of it and have a little bit of my finger on that whole situation.”
Ben Lorenz will be paired with Davis Shore and amateur Sam Stevens in the first two rounds, teeing off at 2:20 p.m. ET Thursday and 8:35 a.m. ET Friday.
Other Arizona golfers at Brookline
Jesse Mueller, Matt McCarty and Chan Kim will be bringing a piece of Arizona to Massachusetts after getting through USGA qualifying.
Mueller, a volunteer assistant coach at Grand Canyon University, recently played in the PGA Championship as one of 20 club professionals. He clinched his spot at The Olympic Club in San Francisco, where he played in the 2012 U.S. Open.
McCarty, a Scottsdale native and Desert Mountain High School graduate, played collegiately at Santa Clara and is a professional golfer on the Korn Ferry Tour. After carding birdies on two of his last three regulation holes at the Ansley Golf Club in Roswell, Georgia, he won a playoff hole to earn a trip to the Open.
Kim, currently ranked No. 107 in the world, played at Arizona State before turning professional in 2010. He has seven international victories. Kim played in the final qualifier at Wedgewood Golf & Country Club in Powell, Ohio. This will be his fifth U.S. Open appearance.
