A legend was born on Monday at The Orchards Golf Club in Washington, Mich., and his name is Nick Bienz.
Bienz, 27, shot a 65 at the Rocket Mortgage Monday qualifier, which earned him a spot in a 5-for-4 playoff. The playoff lasted eight holes, with Bienz ultimately securing one of the four spots on the final hole of the playoff. Typical Monday qualifier stuff, right? Not quite.
As Ryan French, aka Monday Q Info on Twitter/X, reported first on the scene, Bienz is an employee of Golf Galaxy who has never before played in a PGA Tour-sanctioned event. He’s played in select qualifiers before, even having some success, but never fully reaching the promised land.
The story got even more legendary when French tweeted that Bienz was downing beers in anticipation as he awaited the potential playoff. Three beers, to be exact.
Bienz said he “blacked out” on the 18th hole of regulation, but not because of one too many. His 12-footer for birdie on the 18th for 65 was an out-of-body experience. Then came the beers during the agonizing wait for the playoff. Turns out, three was the ideal amount. The “zone,” some would call it.
In another odd twist, there was public play happening in front of Bienz and the rest of the members of the playoff:
Bienz, Danny Guise, Brandon Berry and Angelo Giantsopoulos were all able to overcome the chaos and advance. Mind you, this was also a Monday qualifying field that featured PGA Tour players of past and present like Robert Garrigus, Ryan Palmer, Michael Gligic, David Hearn and Kyle Reifers. Another PGA Tour pro, one you may have heard of, wants to be paired with him this week in Detroit: