Texas freshman golfer Daniel Bennett’s path to the Forty Acres was not easy.
He didn’t initially play golf or grow up with an expensive country club membership and while living in Victoria, British Columbia in 2020 experienced a house fire.
“We were driving home, and I saw a fire truck driving on one of the roads nearby the house,” Bennett said. “I don’t know why I said this, but I was like, ‘I hope that’s not us.’ Just joking around. We came around a corner, and (there were) police cars and fire trucks all over the place.”
Nobody was home, but the Bennett family was left traumatized, having lost everything from their home of four years due to the blaze.
While Bennett grew up playing cricket in Botswana, British Columbia’s temperate climate was where he fell in love with golf and developed his game. Now, all of that was in jeopardy.
After the fire, Bennett’s family returned to Africa, this time to South Africa, where his father is a citizen. Despite the stress of recovering from a tragedy while having modest financial means, Bennett says his parents never wavered in their financial support, which he now looks to repay.
Bennett largely excelled playing in South African youth tournaments, where he met former professional Nico van Rensburg, who coaches many of the country’s best young golfers, including Texas junior Christiaan Maas. Van Rensburg not only helps Bennett refine his swing, but also brokers brand deals as his manager.
“I can pay for my flights, and I can pay for the tournament entry fee,” Bennett said. “I don’t have the stress of trying to perform well because we might not be able to go to the next tournament because we don’t have money.”
This October, Bennett hit the ground running in his collegiate debut with a 54-hole total of 5-under 205 (65-69-71), tying for third in the individual standings of the Ben Hogan Invitational at Colonial Country Club in Fort Worth, Texas. Since his Texas debut, in which head coach John Fields walked all 18 holes with him, Bennett’s teammates have joked that Fields will stay with him for every hole.
“I’m stuck with the big man for a little while, which is good,” Bennett said. “I enjoy his company.”
Fields, now in his 28th season at Texas, still enjoys every second out on the course and loves working with the resilient Bennett.
“Not everything goes great in life, and not everything goes great on the golf course, but you’ve got to be resilient,” Fields said. “He doesn’t worry about a lot of things. When that last shot was hit, he’s not worried about that. He’s worried about the next one and how he’s going to approach that.”
Despite everything Bennett has faced, from the moment he picked up a club, he never considered doing anything else.
“I didn’t think there were any other options, which is a good mindset to have,” Bennett said. “There was no other option. So I just had to find a way to get through it.”
