The final round of the 2023 Indiana PGA Open was an eventful day to say the least. The day started with Hoagland’s Nick Bienz leading the field by three strokes over Evansville’s Ben Hoagland, and ended with a torrential downpour preventing them from finishing the final hole and forcing them into a short weather delay.
Prior to the last round, Bienz had a stellar first two days shooting 66,68 and Hoagland followed suit with a 67,70 putting the two into a tight competition. Even with heavy downpours, Bienz held his ground early on birdieing holes 1,5,8, and 10 and finished 9-under par for the three day competition. Hoagland was also able to birdie ten but Bienz still sat four strokes ahead at 11-under par. The competition continued to get even tighter after Hoagland started sinking some much needed putts on the back nine. He came through with a clutch birdie putt on hole fifteen and a nail biting eagle shot on seventeen to put him one stroke back from Bienz going into the final hole.
Bienz was not fully aware of his position until hole fifteen but knew he wanted to figure out his stance in order to determine how he would strategize finishing out the final few holes.
“Once I found out that I had that three shot lead at fifteen, it meant that I could be a little bit more conservative and that I didn’t have to go after too many pins, which is a hard thing to do in the rain” said Bienz.
Bienz added “I couldn’t actually see the green coming down eighteen fairway. Ben and I had no idea where our shots were until we came up to the green”.
The delay prevented Hoagland and Bienz from finishing out their birdie putts but the weather quickly cleared up and allowed them to get back out on the course to finish the competition.
“To be completely honest my mindset coming back out was to hit and hope that I got the right speed because I had no idea how the green would play after the delay. I was actually fortunate enough to putt second and be able to recognize the speed from Hoagland’s attempt” said Bienz.
Bienz has been in contention to win the Indiana Open a few times over the past few years but never leading all three days.
“I have played in the State Open for probably the past 10-11 years and it showed me that if I play well the first day, I could possibly win this thing. I had all the confidence going into this week knowing if I play my game the way I think I can, I’ll be fine” said Bienz.
Hoagland, our runner-up who also took the win for the low amateur of the competition had a solid performance of 3-under par today, which was the lowest round of the day alongside Asbell Golf Performance’s Mike Asbell, Poseyville’s Caleb Wassmer, Fort Wayne’s Justin Hicks, and Sellersburg’s Carter Smith.
“I was hitting the ball really well all day today and yesterday. I felt like I was just a touch off and hit a lot of really good putts that didn’t go in. So it was really fun to have a couple of those go in to make things interesting at the end” said Hoagland.
Hoagland was our 2023 IGA Match Play Champion who also had a tied 11th finish at the State Amateur this June.
“Golf is a lot of ups and downs so I am just trying to ride the up for as long as I can right now” said Hoagland.