From First Tee to Augusta National: Benjamin to represent Oklahoma in DCP Finals
By MICHAEL PETERS
Zion Benjamin started playing golf with plastic clubs in his backyard.
He eventually moved on to Mohawk Park and Page Belcher golf courses through Tulsa’s First Tee program.
On Saturday, his golfing journey took him to historic Southern Hills Country Club. His next stop: Augusta National Golf Club, home of The Masters.
Benjamin was the only Oklahoma winner on Saturday during the Drive, Chip and Putt South Central Regional Qualifier. His victory in the Boys 10-11 age division sends him to the DCP National Finals on April 4 at Augusta National, the Sunday before the start of the 2027 Masters.
Benjamin scored 70 points in the putting competition (of his 156-point total), beating out Bixby’s Palmer Rody by 13 points. Benjamin also won the driving competition with 46 points, while Rody took top honors in chipping.
“It’s pretty cool,” Benjamin said of winning a championship at Southern Hills. “We live very close to here.”
Benjamin’s success began even closer to home — his own backyard, encouraged by dad Blake who played on the Jenks High School 2008 Class 6A golf state tournament team.
“I was playing since I was 3,” Zion said. “I had these plastic clubs that my parents gave me. I was just hitting in the backyard every day. I kind of just fell into it.”
Blake credits First Tee-Tulsa executive director Janice Gibson with aiding in Zion’s success. Blake says he’s more of fisherman these days, but it will be Zion looking to reel in a big prize this spring.
“I was just watching professional golf, and I was like, I want to do that one day,” Zion said.
Although Benjamin was Oklahoma’s DCP star Saturday, there were several other state players who made an impact.
Phoebe Hardin of Wister finished third in Girls 7-9, while Dia Singh of Bixby was third in Girls 14-15.
Ava Bresnahan is a member at Southern Hills, so she got to show off for numerous friends Saturday.
“My parents said the 2027 (qualifier) was going to be here, but then the golf professional here said it was going to be 2026, so we were so excited,” Bresnahan said. “My mom was like, ‘You need to take this opportunity.’”
Bresnahan nearly did just that, finishing five points short of advancing to the national finals for the second straight year.
A year ago, she finished seventh at nationals in the Girls 7-9 age division. This year, she’s the first alternate in Girls 10-11 behind Addilyn Paige Stephens of Pearl, Miss.
Although Stephens is well aware of The Masters, she said she didn’t know about the history of Southern Hills before arriving at the course Saturday. But the return of a DCP regional qualifier to the historic Tulsa course gave Oklahomans in the field and those visiting from out of state the chance to share the same practice spaces where Tiger Woods prepared to win the PGA Championship in 2007 and Justin Thomas did the same in 2022.
“It’s really exciting,” said Brian Davis, the executive director of the South Central PGA. “We actually did this eight or nine years ago, so this is kind of Round 2 at Southern Hills.
“To be in a place that’s hosted PGA Championships and U.S. Opens, it’s great for the kids to experience something like this.”
That experience began at 1 p.m. Saturday under clear, blue skies. But the perfect skies brought more unseasonable mid-September heat, which pushed temperatures into the upper 90s for the 111 competitors in the field.
“We’ve got water stations everywhere,” Davis said. “You do the best you can (with the weather). But I’m sure people from Texas are used to it.”
Several Lone Star State golfers made Southern Hills feel a lot like northern Texas on Saturday. Of the eight national qualifiers, five came from Texas.
That included the brother-sister duo of Shirley and William Park, who hail from The Colony — north of Dallas.
Shirley Park won both the driving and chipping competitions to score 165 points and win Girls 12-13 by 33 points. She then became a cheerleader for her brother William, who scored a narrower victory in the Boys 14-15 division — 15 points. William matched his sister by also winning the driving and chipping segments.
“A lot,” said William when asked how much competition there is between he and his sister. “We argue about golf all the time.”
Who’s right?
“She’s usually right,” William said.
The importance of moving on from Southern Hills to Augusta National was demonstrated by the day’s first winner from Houston. Chloe Wang told her dad she had a bad feeling before the last competitor’s score was posted. But her score of 117 stood up for first place in the Girls 7-9 division.
Wang then shared a tearful hug with her dad before sharing more tears on a phone call with her mom, who stayed in Houston.
“When I saw the leaderboard I was really excited,” Wang said. “I was crying.”
Nakia Davis was also brought to tears Saturday. The former Vanderbilt golfer, who was the first African-American to play the sport in the Southeastern Conference when she competed for the Commodores from 1992-96, got emotional when thinking about her dad Warren.
He laid the ground work for his family’s golf tradition because of his “fearlessness” while enduring racism on courses in the 1960s. Nakia watched Saturday as her son, Carson, qualified for the DCP National Finals in Boys 7-9 with a score of 131. Older son Blake was a Boys 7-9 finalist in 2025.
“My dad grew up in the ‘60s when this wouldn’t be possible,” said Nakia, who now lives in Cypress, Texas. “We’re carrying it forward.”
Meet the Finalists
Girls 7-9
Chloe Wang was traveling to China last summer and missed the chance to compete in the Drive, Chip and Putt competition. This year, she traveled the southern United States to make her way to Augusta in the Girls 7-9 division. Wang, from Houston, went to competitions in Louisiana and Mississippi to qualify for the regional in Oklahoma, where she scored 117 points after winning the drive and chip competitions.
“Last year I was on vacation, so I just forgot about it,” Wang said. “This year, when I came back from (U.S. Kids Golf) Worlds, I went to sign up.”
Boys 7-9
Carson Ayuso of Cypress, Texas, is getting the chance to follow in his brother’s footsteps. Blake Ayuso finished fifth in Boys 7-9 division of the DCP National Finals in 2025. Carson punched his ticket to the 2027 finals with a score of 131, including an age-group best score of 55 in the chipping competition. He remembers well accompanying his brother to Augusta National.
“It’s going to be even better,” Carson said of playing in the finals. “They treat you like you’re the king of the world.”
Girls 10-11
After making the 10-hour drive from Pearl, Miss., to Tulsa, on Friday, Addilyn Paige Stephens wasn’t feeling well. The last time that happened, according to dad Randall, she woke up and won a golf tournament. That history repeated itself Saturday, as Stephens posted a score of 127 to win the Girls 10-11 division over Ava Bresnahan of Tulsa. Bresnahan competed in the DCP National Finals in 2026 at Girls 7-9.
Stephens posted a balanced victory, not scoring the most points among her age group in any of the three categories.
“I feel really good,” Stephens said after winning. “I’ve been wanting to go (to nationals) for a while.”
Boys 10-11
A product of Tulsa’s First Tee program, Zion Benjamin putted his way to a Boys 10-11 victory. Benjamin scored 70 points in the putting competition for a total of 156, narrowly beating out fellow Tulsa-area golfer Palmer Rody.
Benjamin also won the driving competition with 46 points, while Rody took top honors in chipping.
Benjamin’s dad Blake played for the Jenks High School golf team in the 2008 Oklahoma Class 6A Boys Golf State Tournament.
“We live very close to here,” Benjamin said. “It’s pretty cool. I’m excited.”
Girls 12-13
Shirley Park went from competitor to cheerleader after winning the Girls 12-13 category Saturday. Park, from The Colony, Texas, advanced to nationals with a score of 165, 33 points ahead of second place.
A couple of hours later her brother William won the Boys 14-15 division.
“Just having a strong mental game and focusing on every shot,” Shirley Park said of her keys to victory. “I think it (nationals) will be really tense, but I’ll be really excited.”
Boys 12-13
Conrad Holzman of Houston traveled nearly 500 miles to win in Boys 12-13. Despite the long distance, he found plenty of familiar faces and received loud cheers when he walked to the podium to accept his first-place trophy.
“There’s a few that I’ve really gotten to know throughout the tournaments,” said Holzman of his fellow Texans in the competition. “(I know them) just from all the tournaments I’ve played in throughout the years, just meeting them and how important they’ve been.”
Holzman said chipping is his favorite discipline because of the creativity needed. His creativity paid off Saturday when he was the division’s top chipper — and scored at least 10 more points in that category than anyone who finished in the top 5.
Girls 14-15
Emma Stein of Westlake, La., was visibly bothered while warming up on the driving range before Saturday’s competition.
“I was just pulling it really bad, and I fixed my stance,” Stein said.
The fix worked, as Stein won the Girls 14-15 division to advance to the National Finals for the first time in five tries. Stein held her own in the driving competition with 46 points, then clinched her 16-point victory with a score of 70 in the putting competition.
“I just tried to not be stressed about it,” Stein said. “I wasn’t as nervous because I wasn’t expecting anything, but now I’m more excited because I’m actually going.”
Boys 14-15
William Park of The Colony, Texas, had a tough act to follow after watching his sister Shirley win in Girls 12-13. William, however, didn’t quite see it that way.
“Not really,” said William when asked if he felt extra pressure to win after watching his sister’s victory. “I’m really excited. It’s on my bucket list.”
Now the Parks will share that bucket list together. Like his sister, William was tops in his division in both driving (71 points) and chipping (45 points). William’s overall total of 176 points was the best in all eight age groups.
“It’s really exciting, kind of unbelievable that we both get to go,” William said.