12th-place finisher Wong inspired by fellow phenom Hammer
THE WOODLANDS — In 2015, Shuai Ming (Ben) Wong was playing a junior golf tournament in the same group with Cole Hammer, two days before Hammer, then 15, became the thirdyoungest player ever to qualify for the U.S. Open.
“It’s great to see your good friends succeed like that, and it opens opportunities for juniors too,” Wong said. “When you look at a guy like Cole, you look to yourself and say, ‘I can do that too.’ ”
Wong hasn’t played in a U.S. Open yet, but the 18-year-old SMU commitment from The John Cooper School has ascended to become the top-ranked junior golfer nationally according to the American Junior Golf Association.
“It’s been a big goal of mine since I started playing junior golf, and just seeing that No. 1 by my name is really special,” said Wong, who last summer, along with Frankie Capan, won the U.S. Amateur Four-Ball Championship in Pinehurst, N.C., as well as the Junior Players Championship at TPC Sawgrass. Bragging rights
Wong’s confidence as a player skyrocketed, as did other junior golfers in the Houston area when Hammer, a Houstonian, had a breakout 36 holes in sectional qualifying at the Northwood Club in Dallas to earn a spot in the 2015 U.S. Open at Chambers Bay (Wash.).
“(Hammer) is a really talented player, and he’s going to be something special,” said Wong, who has been going head to head with Hammer since they were 12-year-olds. “He’s going to be great in the future. Being ahead of him now, I kind of have the bragging rights. I’m proud of myself.”
On Saturday, the first day of the three-day 54-hole CB&I Simplify Boys Championship at The Club at Carlton Woods conducted by the AJGA, Wong opened with a 1-under-par 71 for a share of 12th place. Wong, who was born in Hong Kong and moved to Beijing at age 6 before settling in The Woodlands, made birdie putts of 35 and 70 feet respectively on holes No. 1 and 3 on Saturday.
“He’s confident and pretty much free swings about everything,” said Hammer, who opened the invitational with a 1-over 73 for a share of 33rd. “He doesn’t see a hazard and is like, ‘Oh don’t go there.’ He’s like, ‘Oh fun, I get to hit it here.’ He’s got it all going for him.”
Joe Highsmith (Lakewood, Wash.) and Logan McAllister (Oklahoma City) share the top spot. Both shot 5-under 67 on the Fazio Course.
Wong, who plays out of The Club at Carlton Woods, finished second by a shot to Noah Goodwin at this event last year. Goodwin ironically completed the group in that junior tournament three years ago, when Hammer first burst on the national golf scene. Peer motivation
Hammer’s U.S. Open qualifying performance not only lit a fire under Wong, who won the Shell Houston Junior Open by 12 shots in 2015, but other area talented golfers as well.
“It was crazy,” said Matthew Riedel, a 17-year-old junior and Vanderbilt commit from Stratford. “I was actually playing my first AJGA event when I heard that and was up at Traditions in College Station, and we were at the banquet players’ meeting and word went around and everybody was in awe.
“It’s an amazing achievement at such a young age and it gave all of us hope to try to do it later on.”
“It really kind of motivated us to try fill his shoes a little and get into the U.S. Open,” said Travis Vick, a 17-year-old junior and multi-sport star at Second Baptist, who homered for the first time on the high school level in Friday’s 5-4 win over St. Pius X. Vick’s 3 under earned him a share of fourth place.
While Hammer is a precision golfer with an outstanding iron game who hits a tight draw, Wong is the opposite in some ways. Wong hits it far. But similar to Hammer, Wong knows how to manage his game and is consistently near the top of the leader board.