Bret and Ben Beer took part in the Doubles Golf National Championships in Jupiter Florida this week. Photo provided

By Mike Deak
InkFreeNews

JUPITER, Fla. – With the creation of Doubles Golf, a duo with connections to the area played in the shadows of some of the elite of golf.

Ben and Bret Beer competed this week in the Doubles Golf program, a new national two-player, nine-hole golf program created by Jack Nicklaus and Annika Sorenstam, two legends in golf. The two were able to get into the program by qualifying through their local club, Timber Ridge in Bluffton, and then later winning the state qualifier championship in Prairie View Golf Club in Carmel.

The two now are at the Bear Club in Florida, having just completed their round of the program’s national championship. Kinda surreal for the father-son duo whose family ties include several branches of the Beer and Doty family trees in and around Milford.

“Our experience has been wonderful,” Ben Beer said. “We have met and seen many famous people during our visit to Jupiter including Jack Nicklaus, his grandson Nick O’Leary an NFL tight end, several PGA pros including Justin Thomas, Daniel Berner and Matthew Fitzpatrick. Jupiter is golf heaven.”

Ben noted the concept for the doubles program is to grow interest in the game of golf and make it more fun for people by shortening the round to nine holes and doing a two-man scramble format.  Clubs across America can register to be part of Doubles Golf. There are local leagues, a local club tournament, then a state tournament/qualifier, and finally the National Championship held at the Bear Club in Jupiter.

There are men’s, women’s, mixed (men/woman), and senior divisions competing. Each division awards a champion.

The duo wrapped up play Thursday concluding at two-over for the three-day tournament. The two had shot one-over on day one, only to break even after a one-under on Wednesday. The two-over on Thursday put them seven strokes back of Steve Bartkowski and John Osberg, which won the championship at five-under.

Of note among the other categories is former Penn High School star Julia Potter Bobb, who teamed with Kiel Bobb in the mixed doubles format and were the runaway champions.

The experience was enough for the Beers, who had nothing but rave reviews.

“We are truly blessed to have the experience and will never forget it,” Ben Beer said. “Due to the Doubles Golf program being new this year the field is not very large. We are certainly not the best two-man amateur golf team in Indiana. Simply were in the right place at the right time and played well enough to advance. I fully expect the program to grow each year. Jack Nicklaus has a great idea here.”

Click for more information on the Doubles Golf program.