Falls Church resident, 20, wins the Amateur at International
Moving from his home in Falls Church and enrolling in a golf academy in South Carolina when he was shooting scores in the high 90s took a major leap of faith for Ben Lasso. It was an even bigger commitment for his parents, who provided the funds for his expensive golf education.
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But five years later, Lasso has proved that big dreams are attainable. Sunday when he won the 18th Amateur at International, Lasso claimed a tournament that draws the top amateurs from the Washington area and beyond.
Coming from eight strokes back in the final round, Lasso (71-76-68 – 215) tied the area’s premier amateur, Pat Tallent (71-68-76 – 215), then won the first title of his career with a birdie on the first playoff hole.
“If you really want to make golf your career, you have to win tournaments,” said Lasso, 20. “This is huge for me. It shows the hard work is paying off.”
Lasso, a junior at Queens University of Charlotte (N.C.), did it with a final-round surge, making three birdies on the final four holes to catch Tallent.
When they went to the first playoff hole, the 6-foot-3, 220-pound Tallent, 55, a former basketball star at The George Washington University and former Virginia State Golf Association Player of the Year, overshadowed Lasso (5-7, 135) literally and figuratively.
“We said two or three words to each other. I didn’t know what to say,” said Lasso of their cart ride up the fairway on the first playoff hole. “It was a tense moment. I didn’t have much experience in that situation.”
On the green, as Lasso tried to set his ball along the intended line of his putt, he couldn’t do it. His hand was shaking too much. But once over his putt, he drained the 4-footer for the winning birdie.
Lasso’s success on the playoff hole, No. 1, a 471-yard, par-5, was no surprise. In three rounds plus the playoff, he played the hole in 6-under-par. In the opening round, Lasso hit a 5-wood to within 3 feet for an eagle. In the third round, he made a 15-footer for another eagle.
For Lasso, it’s a long way from his first year at the Hilton Head-based International Junior Golf Academy, made famous by the Golf Channel reality show “School of Golf,” featuring Tiger Woods’ swing coach Hank Haney.
During a three-week instructional course at the academy the summer after his freshman year at George Mason High, Lasso became hooked on the sport even though he wasn’t very good at it. He convinced his parents to send him there for a semester.
The semester turned into three years as Lasso showed dramatic improvement. Playing most days from 3 p.m. to dark, Lasso broke 80 for the first time early in his junior year. Later the same school year, he broke 70.
“I’m so lucky to have parents who have encouraged me and my brother to pursue our passion,” said Lasso. “Yeah, it seemed like a stretch when I first went to the academy. But I wanted it badly enough and believed it was something I could accomplish if I worked hard enough.”
