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As wild ride ends at the Rocket, Nick Bienz goes looking for — what else? — a beer

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6 months ago

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As wild ride ends at the Rocket, Nick Bienz goes looking for — what else? — a beer

Detroit — Nick Bienz was a little out of sorts early Friday afternoon, wandering around following the second round of the Rocket Mortgage Classic at Detroit Golf Club, the gravity of his PGA Tour just really hitting him. Bienz’s credential was in his golf bag, so he was wondering how he was going to get back into the clubhouse.

Of course, he could’ve simply shown any security guard any of the myriad of news stories written about him this week, and that would suffice. Then again, his cellphone was in his golf bag, too.

All Bienz wanted to do was go sit in the grandstands, watch some golf — and, you guessed it, have a beer. His time in the Rocket was over, but he wasn’t ready for the week to end.

“I don’t think I’ll ever forget one part of this week. I think you could ask me 10 years from now, and I can tell you almost every shot I hit,” Bienz, 28, a pro from Indianapolis, told The News after finishing 6 over for his two rounds, well off the cut, but still a heck of an experience for a guy who Monday qualified for the first time. He finished 1 under on his last six holes, including a birdie in front of a delighted gallery at the par-3 15th hole.

“It was so much fun. That feeling of making a birdie is unlike anything, where people are standing up and cheering and everybody’s rooting for you. You don’t need caffeine, you don’t need drugs, you don’t need alcohol, you don’t need any of that when you can have that feeling when you’re playing. It’s so cool, and it was such a blast this week.”

Bienz was perhaps the most popular Monday qualifier on the PGA Tour in years, when he shot a 7-under 65 at The Orchards and, figuring he was getting in to the Rocket Mortgage Classic, proceeded to have one Summer Shandy, then another, and then another, to calm his nerves, before all the other groups came in.

Problem is, when all the groups had come in, there were four more 65s and there were only four spots available. That meant a playoff, in which Bienz advanced with a birdie on the eighth hole.

More: The News’ tee-to-green coverage of the Rocket Mortgage Classic, all right here

It was the first PGA Tour start for Bienz, who works at Golf Galaxy in Indianapolis and does most of his practicing there, because he doesn’t have much time to get out to an actual golf course. He doesn’t play many qualifiers, because he doesn’t have the time, and they’re expensive.

That might be about to change. He’s automatically into the Monday qualifier for next week’s John Deere Classic in the Quad Cities, and from there, who knows. His story went viral this week, so more opportunities may be coming.

“The crazy part of this is, I’m 18 holes away from doing this all over again. It’s why you do a Monday. You don’t do a Monday not wanting to get in,” Bienz said. “But just having the experience now of this week and what it all means, it’s insane. There’s not words to explain it, at least nothing I can come up with.

“I have family and friends that were almost like in tears the first day watching me do it, because they haven’t experienced it, either. This is a first for them, this is a first for me.

“And, gosh, it was just amazing. I’m so thankful for everybody who’s helped get me to this point.”

Bienz, who played college golf at IUPUI in the Horizon League and won the 2023 Indiana Open, got plenty of support, both emotionally and financially.

Most Monday qualifiers who don’t make the cut in their PGA Tour event lose money for the week, but Bienz, while not cashing a check from the Rocket, turned a handsome profit. His employer, Golf Galaxy, sponsored him for the week, putting its logo on his TravisMatthew long-sleeved polo (TM sponsored him, too), and overnighting him a custom Golf Galaxy golf bag before the start of play Thursday.

Bienz also collected a whole bunch of donations from all over the golf world via Venmo, thanks to an X (formerly Twitter) post from Monday Q Info’s Ryan French, who has a vast following.

Donations still were coming in after Friday’s round, and Bienz had no idea how much the total was, but it clearly was well into the thousands, enough to fund many more tournament and qualifier entry fees. He might have to cut back a bit on his hours at Golf Galaxy, which the company seems OK with. It updated its social media accounts this week to include, “Nick Bienz works here.”

“It’s just getting crazier and crazier,” Bienz said.

Bienz was admittedly nervous on his first tee, the par-4 10th, on Thursday, and he let out a big sigh of relief after hitting the tee shot. He made bogey on the hole, but bounced back with birdie at the par-3 11th. He opened with a 3-over 75, and finished with a 3-over 75, not his best golf by any means, but given the circumstances and the swiftness with which he went from nobody to somebody, he put on a fine display.

Bienz was pulled in many different directions throughout the week, doing local and national interviews, including with his idol and fellow Indianapolis fella Pat McAfee. He did Golf Channel. He was going to do ESPN’s “SportsCenter.”

And it didn’t leave him a lot of time for beer. He had one Thursday night, after his first round. And he was planning on having some more in the stands Friday, as a fan, a role you get the sense he’s more comfortable in.

But, will he have more beers if he goes low in his next Monday qualifier? Or wait to make sure there’s no playoff?

“We might just have to run it back,” Bienz, whose caddie for the week was recent Michigan grad Colin Christie (they only met for the first time at Monday’s qualifier), said with a smile. “It might be a recipe for success.”

It might happen again. It might not. But Bienz, if nothing else, has the memories forever.

“Man, I get what this is all about. I get why these guys do this and what they chase,” said Bienz, whose other three Monday qualifiers, Brandon Berry (1 over), Danny Guise (5 over) and Angelo Giantsopoulos (7 over), missed the Rocket cut, as well. “That shot of adrenaline that you get when those guys, the fans are out.

“I can only imagine what these guys through on like a Saturday or Sunday down the stretch, with 100x amount of fans. Just that little bit of dip my toes in the water of an experience, it was incredible.”

tpaul@detroitnews.com

@tonypaul1984

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