2025 Ferris State vs. Eastern Kentucky PGA Golf Management Ryder Cup Highlights

This video is far overdue to commemorate this amazing event I got the chance to participate in. I hope what I lack in timeliness I make up in video quality. The Ryder Cup this past weekend for team USA was a mess, so hopefully this contains some more action than that disappointing showing. Ladies and gentlemen, the 2025 Ferris State-Eastern Kentucky Ryder Cup highlights are here! We held this event between our PGA Golf Management Programs on April 26-27th at Hillcrest Country Club in Indianapolis. We had a very solid team heading into this event with a lot of new faces as five of our twelve players including myself were rookies including three freshmen. We won last year by a total of 11.5 to 6.5, and if we were to win this weekend, it would be the first time in the 8-year history of the FSU-EKU Ryder Cup where a team wins back to back years.

Eastern Kentucky won’t make it easy, but we don’t need easy. We just need possible. Here we go. 👍⚔️🔥

#golf #golfvlog #tournamenthighlights #rydercup2025 #indianapolis

NBC’s Golf Channel presents the College Showcase hosted by Jordan Savaras. [Music] Good afternoon everybody. I am your host Jordan Sabaricus and we’ll be bringing you all of the exciting action of the eighth alltime edition of the Kentucky Cup hosted at the beautiful Hillrest Country Club in Indianapolis, Indiana between the Fris State Bulldogs and the Eastern Kentucky Colonels. Fris State is looking to become the first team all time in the Michigan Cup matches to hold back-to back titles as last year they beat Eastern Kentucky by a score of 11 12 to 6 and a half. They absolutely dusted them. However, Eastern Kentucky has a strong team with very much depth. A lot of juniors and seniors on this team, three of which have scratch handicaps or below. Those being Chad Holman of Knoxville, Tennessee, Chris Miller of Morgantown, West Virginia, and Zachary Howser of Louisville, Kentucky. Ferris State, on the other hand, has a lot of new faces, a lot of new energy, exciting new players that are looking to etch their names into the history books of the Fair State PGA golf management majors forever. Five of the 12 players on Fris State’s team are rookies, three of which freshman, Tyler Simpson, Ian Chzick, and Isaac Freniti. The two other rookies are juniors Jake McGee and none other than the fan favorite Bennett Lewis, host of the Buffalo Ben 15 Golf YouTube channel, which has created quite the buzz around the program in Big Rapids. Bennett Lewis is our featured player for these matches this week, April 26th through the 27th. He has had an outstanding season, finishing fourth on the PGA Rder Cup qualifying point series where in all seven tournaments he finished no worse than tied for 13th with five top 10s and three top fives highlighted by a solo third place finish with a 71 in week four of the simulator series. Bennett Lewis is going to be partnering with me on his YouTube channel to be bringing you guys all of the action on his end, his interviews, his takes on the course, everything you might think of. And without further ado, let’s get right into the action. There will be two days of this Ferris State versus Eastern Kentucky Cup. The first of the two days will be a 2v2 baseball where six teams from each school will go up against each other. And Sunday is the allimp important finale where all 12 players will be going up against one another to claim the Kentucky Cup and help their team to victory. Bennett Lewis, our featured player, is playing with Chase Meyer, an Indiana resident who knows this course very well and has played in all three of the Fair State PGA Golf Management Majors in prior seasons, the Michigan Cup, the Penn State Rider Cup, as well as the University Championship held in Mississippi in fall of 2023. I have no doubt that Chase Meyer will help Bennett Lewis out on this course. Let’s head down to the 10th Tox. They’re starting on the back nine today where Chase Meyer and Bennett Lewis will be the final match out of the six matches out there today going up against Zachary Hower and Andrew Gubala. All right, here we go. Bennett Lewis’s first T- shot. Chase just hit one down the left side. Looking for that JB Holmes cut as he likes to say. Put this in the fairway. That was a little too much there. Great recovery shot though with a fivewood from the 16th fairway. Being able to scale all of those trees. Just has himself a 3/4 wedge in here. 78 yds. Looking pretty good. And that is oh all over it. What a shot there. So Bennett Lewis now with a six-foot birdie putt right to left. Never a doubt. So Bennett Lewis and Chase Meyer won that hole with uh Bennett’s birdie there. Chase was able to get on the green and three as well and he two putted on hole 11. Second hole of the day. Bennett Lewis and Chase Meyer would take another win thanks to Bennett Lewis’s 7 foot putt that he hold on the green there after a solid T-OT. And so now here we are at the uh 12th hole. This is a nine iron here for Lewis. Get there hunting that flag stick. Little bit short but safely on board. And so Bennett and Chase would tie that hole thanks to Bennett’s very nice T- shot. Get himself a 10-ft birdie putt. Easy two putt conversion there. Hower and Gubala made bogey. So two up through three holes. Bennett and Chase on cruise control. Leaking but it’s 13th T box here. leaking this one a little bit right but a whole lot better than his first T- shot. He’ll have a shot at the green. This is a five iron kind of three quarter punch shot. This Indiana rough even in April. It’s trying to very thick still. Everything growing a little bit more fullterm as of right now compared to Michigan where these guys are from. That’ll be definitely something that could easily throw these fair state players off. But Bennett Lewis able to properly respond to that. Got himself a pretty straightforward bump and run. Got it to about 10 ft. Was able to make the putt. Both Meyer and Lewis par this hole and one once again. Three up through four. Bennett’s eating up. He’s got that jacket off here. Four iron on the way. 14th T. That’s a good shot. A lot of kids who tried to hit straight down the mayor’s office. Got to love that. Pass the bunker. Chase can really have a crack at getting past that bunker now, which he did. Just had a little partial wedge in. Bennett Lewis with kind of a saw off pitching wedge there. Come on, win. Bring it as he likes to say. Tries to It is trying keep that head down, get those shoulders active like one of his favorite players, Chad Ramy. really worked out really well there. And so Chase would actually go on to birdie this hole after hitting a wonderful drive only 60 yards out. Able to convert there. Another win for the pair. Hole 15. Meer and Lewis tied this one. Chase hitting a beautiful little bump and run chip shot to about a foot. Hole 16. This was their first loss of hole during this match. Retreating back to three up with uh birdie by Zachary Hower there from about 30 ft. So heading in now to the allimportant 17th hole. Fivewood off the te 221 out. asking for it to stop turning. Just kind of hung out there on the right. Didn’t quite come back. Chase in a much better spot. Just short of the green. Not short-sided. All over it. Another wonderful chip shot by Chase Meyer. These two are feeding off each other. All right. Bennett now with a tough short-sided chip. Got to make sure to carry this one the right distance. And he does gives himself a 10-ft right to left putt. This is his bread and butter. Chase in for par. But this is a big moral victory here for Bennett Lewis. If he were to make this, he would stay even par on the day. On its way just a little bit high. Still a well-played hole by both of them as you see there. Just a little bit shortsided there for Bennett. Chase put himself in a much better spot short of the green. It’s never a good feeling to be short, but sometimes it helps you out. This hole, thanks to a heroic second shot by Bennett Lewis. They would tie it. Eight iron. Big draw around the trees. Got himself just greenside. Chipped to about a foot. And so they were able to tie that one. 36 front nine for Bennett Lewis. 37 front nine for Chase Meyer. Three up in the match. These guys are in command on cruise control. Chase already hit his fivewood down the middle of the fairway. Bennett Lewis is looking to pound this one as hard as he can and just doesn’t get above that tree. Pretty bad break there. Did save a nice bogey though after a uh poor third shot as well. got up and down from the bunker, but they would lose this hole as well as Andrew Gubala of Eastern Kentucky made birdie. So now heading into the 11th hole of the day, hole two, par4, 310 yards. Now only two up. Bennett Lewis going first off this tee. Best one of the And he absolutely pounds one. of the day down the left side. Just have a short wedge in. Beautiful shot. 127 to go now. Pin on that left side. That bunker definitely guarding it quite well. As much as he likes to fade these partial wedges, he tries to here. This one just doesn’t come back. But he would make a beautiful chip shot to about a foot once again. Chase got on the green in regulation and they would win that hole. So back to three up. Bennett going first once again on this third T. He’s got his four iron out. A club he has been working on so much throughout the years on his channel. Turned into a real strength for him and it shows right there right in the middle of the fairway. Now Meyer with his hybrid out hits a beautiful shot. That beautiful draw of his down the middle. They would go on to both make bogey. Meyer thinned his approach. Lewis pulled his and Gubala and Hower would make a par. And that was no match for Meer and Lewis there. Heading into the par three now. Both players hit decent enough T-shots on the front of the green. Both have an uphill putt. Lewis going first. Seeing if he can cozy this one up tight so Chase can take a run at it. Not an awful effort. Still a little bit of meat left, but with how good Bennett’s putting is, Chase is definitely going to give this one a rattle. Is it enough? This looks really good. Just stops a couple rotations short, but they would go on to tie that hole. Still at two up with five to play. Not too much can go wrong now. 431 yardd par4. Longest on the front nine, hardest hole in the course. Lewis leaks his T-shot a little bit to the right. He’ll be obscured a little bit by those trees. As you see, he aimed left of the green, just couldn’t turn it back. Didn’t get any spin out of the rough. But Chase played that hole absolutely perfectly. Fairway green two putt. They were able to tie it. Two up with four to go into the par five. This is a big corner you can cut. Lewis hits his T-shot on the way. Looks pretty good. Just goes a little bit too far though. He’s going to be in that fairway bunker. Hit a really nice seven iron out of the fairway bunker just to give himself 107 yards in. Interesting club selection here. I would have expected the gap wedge. Get there. Tries to hit the sand wedge thinking adrenaline could get it there and it doesn’t. However, Chase would save the pair as he hit two beautiful three-woods in succession just short of the green. Able to make the birdie. Hower and Gubala also made birdie. Still two up, three to play. They were able to tie this one as Chase made another birdie. He’s really been heating up on this back nine. Fairway Green one put and then hole eight. Bennett Lewis was the star of the show on this one. Dropped kicked his T-shot nearly when OB was only about 5 feet away from the stakes. Had to curve it around a big tree with a four iron. Landed it about 30 yards short of the green. Ran it all the way up and was able to win the match. And with Chase Meyer and Bennett Loose’s victory, they would tie it up 33 after day one. Blake Ward and Tyler Simpson taking the initial match, followed by Eastern Kentucky rattling off three straight victories in the next three forsomes, but then Richie and Isaac Ferniti and Chase Meyer and Bennett Lewis would beat their opponents, both two and one, giving Ferris the momentum heading into Sunday morning. So that concludes day one of the 2025 Cup matches. Chase Meyer and Bennett Lewis with a massive point to end the night, tying the Cup series up three to three. It is a entirely new game going into Sunday. Could you script it any better? I’m here with Bennett Lewis once again via phone and just going to gather some of his thoughts from today. Uh, Bennett, obviously you shot six over for 17 holes out there today on this challenging par 71 layout. You got to be proud of how you played today. No. Hey, thank you, Jordan. Absolutely. It was an absolutely fantastic showing for me today. Uh, me and Chase were a dynamic duo right from the start. Got us going early with that birdie. He kind of helped out a little bit more on the back nine. Uh but um we were just uh trading punches. Basically one of us would get a birdie on a hole or a par on a really hard hole and uh we just kind of alternated that pattern. So u it turned out to be a really nice matchup. Uh we played really well together. We’re pretty good friends and um yeah, it was great to uh contribute today with a point to tie up the series here. Well, that all sounds fantastic. Bennett, take me into a little bit of what exactly was your team captain and PGA program director Joseph Hatch thinking when he put you two guys together? Was he thinking just uh same graduating class sort of chemistry? Was he thinking that, you know, as a veteran he might be able to help out a rookie since Chase has played this course before and you haven’t? What what do you think? A little bit of both. Oh, definitely. Uh Mr. Hatch was thinking of um a little bit of both. You know, having that same graduating class, having that chemistry, but also being able to pair myself as a rookie with him as a veteran. Um that was definitely a calculated move. You know, these weren’t blind draw matches. Uh Sunday will be, but these were uh premeditated teams and Mr. Hatch did a fantastic job of putting all those together and uh absolutely having that uh kind of home state advantage uh with Chase. He’s from a town called Gan Indiana outside of South Bend, but he has played Hillrest a few times before and he really did uh teach me some of the ins and outs, some of the pitfalls that a lot of new golfers at this course will see and uh it definitely assisted me a lot for sure. Sounds like a very wise decision by your program director, Mr. Hatch. What a fantastic gentleman that is. I’ve met him and I’m good friends with him. Absolutely agree 100% with what you just said. Take us inside a little bit on your thoughts on this course this week. Is it a course that’s kind of similar to a course you used to play growing up back home in Metro Detroit? Do you like the idea that it’s a new course that you’ve never played? What do you think? You know, um I think a lot of your fans are number one interested to see you play a new course on your channel. That’s number one. I think is very good for your your YouTube channel, your algorithm ratings and all those sorts of things. Uh but uh what are your thoughts on that? Is it a course that suit your eye? Is are there a few things about it that make you a little shaky? What do you think? I think Hillrest is easily one of the nicest courses I’ve ever played. It’s always a treat to play a private course that you’d never thought you’d get a chance to play. I would say this course is uh very nice on my eye. It’s a classic kind of Parkland style layout. My home course growing up, Silven Glenn, that’s been featured on my channel before. Most definitely. A lot of holes reminded me of that, especially um number uh 13 on the back. Just um similar to a very straight par4 third hole at Silven Glenn. Uh the par threes um some of them had some serious length to them like 17. That’s nothing new to me. I’m used to being able to hit four irons and five woods into par 3s and doing okay with it. like um even though I wasn’t on the green and then was in a tough spot uh my proximity the hole there was really good and um yeah for sure uh the best thing I can say about this course is the greens the greens were fantastic and uh as my dad always tells me as I have definitely uh confirmed myself across the years of doing my spring break trips to uh some very nice courses uh like Grand Bear and Sauier Mississippi and Legacy Links in Aberdine, North Carolina. Good greens bring out the best in your putting, and putting is a big strength of mine. It’s a skill that I’ve survived on. I definitely made uh quite a bit of putts from range uh to start out the day. I mean, that little kind of mid-ranger, very nervy to start off to try to start off with a birdie, try to get your team on the right foot, which I did, uh that was definitely nice. And then 11 I made one about the same length. 13 I made about that 10-footer after I bumped and run it with a 9 iron. And uh you know there were quite a few others across the day that I made from range. Um number one comes to mind which was my 10th hole of the day. Big swinger right to left 15 ft downhill. Uh but uh the putter definitely got I I got the carry I needed with the putter today and um all props go to uh the Hillrest Country Club superintendent as well as the head pro Ryan Mayor just um running a fantastic bangup job. Tight ship and uh it really did help. This course is definitely one I enjoy playing for sure. For sure. For sure. Absolutely. that shot on the 17th hole of the day, number eight, that par4 where you nearly went out of bounds and took yourself out of that hole where you and Chase were struggling a little bit on that back nine. You guys were up four at one point through five holes and then Zach and Andrew were coming after you guys a little bit on that back nine for sure. They got a couple birdies on that back nine that definitely pushed you guys into the realm of uncertainty heading into those final few holes and that shot sealed the deal which is unbelievable showing that you are a certain contender even though you are a rookie in this series. Absolutely. That was an exclamation point that all of us were thrilled to see. Well, what are your thoughts going into your match tomorrow against one of Eastern Kucky’s best players, Chris Miller? Yeah. Uh, thank you Jordan for bringing up that uh shot on that 17th hole of the day. Number eight. That was um one of the best four irons I’ve ever hit. You know, to seal that deal there. We had him dormied uh two up with two to play. And uh me hitting that on the green and getting a pretty easy two putt. It was a right to left putt. But I did want to end the day in style with a birdie. Book end the day with birdies would have been nice. But um still though, absolutely fantastic shot. But uh back to your point, uh Chris is a very very tough challenge. It’s going to be for sure. Um he won his match uh today in the 2v2 best one up and um so uh winner versus winner going into tomorrow. And um I think um we’re definitely going to use how well we played the both of us uh today as energy for tomorrow. We’re definitely going to feed off each other. We’re going to be trading punches. You know, me and uh Chase uh we kind of were keeping track of our own sort of match. And uh we ended up actually tying it. I believe either that or one up. It would have depended on if he made his birdie pup, but I was already in for par, so he just got to pick up uh on number eight. But um you know, Chase is a very solid golfer, a uh one handicap, and uh Chris is a 2. So um I feel like if I can play to the level that I did with Chase today, I feel like I’ve got the uh stuff that it takes to beat Chris. Absolutely. um you know just uh speaking with him a little bit uh this past evening uh just u you know catching up with him a little bit getting to know him. He’s a very nice guy meant a few words. Um it’s definitely hard for me to be pretty quiet during a match but uh it’s it’s all business tomorrow and uh I’m very confident that uh I can give our team another point and go 2 and 0 this week and Lord willing uh win the cup uh for back-to-back years. Absolutely. I feel pretty good going into it. He is certainly a formidable player as he and his teammate won their match today. But uh so did you. Winner against winner, guys who have already contributed going head-to-head tomorrow. It should be absolutely thrilling to watch. What are your thoughts on playing a little bit earlier this uh upcoming Sunday morning playing with Ian Chzlick in his match against Josh Cockersburgger? Are are you a fan of now having a rookie play with you since you’ve seen the course before and kind of were uh mentored a little bit by Chase, a seasoned veteran of this team. Uh would you prefer to be playing with another veteran, someone who’s played in one of the fair state cup or major championships before? Uh what are your thoughts on that? Do you think that it’ll help you or hurt you that you’re playing with a rookie? Oh yeah, definitely. Ian’s a good dude. He sure is. Um you know, he’s another Metro Detroit guy. Uh he’s from Plymouth, so definitely some team chemistry there. And I think that’s what’s going to carry us more than anything else is just team chemistry. Absolutely. Uh in a cutthroat match tomorrow and uh Josh is a tough opponent too from Eastern Kentucky. Uh won his uh 2v2 best baseball match as well. But um I definitely think that I’ll help Ian be more confident tomorrow because he lost a pretty close one. It went all the way to 18. And you know I definitely uh bet that he is um a little bit disappointed in how it ended. But, uh, I’m going to do my best to encourage him every step of the way. Um, I definitely do wish that I was playing with someone like Chase who had some more experience. Uh, but I do love being around the freshman. You know, we got to keep that uh, cohort as big as we can keep it at Fair State PGM. And he’s definitely a guy who I think is going to make it all the way no problem through this program. He’s a great guy and we’re pretty good friends. Our birthdays are actually three days apart. I’m at April 23rd. He’s April 20th. So, uh last week uh we were hanging out a little bit and just uh you know doing some uh team bonding. We were out at the range giving each other some advice uh up at Cat Key and Big Rapids. So, um I think I’m going to play pretty good with him. I definitely do wish I was playing with Chase again, though, just cuz we played so well uh today, you know, but this isn’t no uh fun beer league outing where, you know, you can pair yourself with any team you want. This is tournament golf. You’re going to have those challenges that you wouldn’t normally have. Uh but, uh aside from Chase, I think Ian is the next best guy to play with on this team to be honest with you. I I really do enjoy being around him. He’s a great guy and um you know team chemistry above anything else uh I think is going to take us there. A very wise answer as always from Bennett Lewis. Team chemistry putting it first. Despite all of the bells and whistles, despite all the hype surrounded by his YouTube channel, he is determined to make this an enjoyable experience for his teammate. Got to love to hear it. Well, that does it for Saturday. Now, it’s time to head into Sunday. Without further ado, Bennett Lewis versus Chris Miller. Enjoy this one, everybody. It’s going to be exciting. All right, here we go everybody. It’s party time. Fourth group out. Bennett Lewis and Ian Ches for Ferris. Josh Cockersburgger and Chris Miller for Eastern Kentucky. Bennett Lewis going with a fivewood off the tee this time and to much success just on the extreme right portion of the fairway just just in the first cut. I’m sorry, but uh actually probably pretty advantageous position though. This green has a hard false front and the pins in the back. So getting some release on this one isn’t the worst thing. Has a pitching wedge out. That’s good from 119 yds. And it’s a good one. Puts it to about 15 ft for birdie. This is left to right though. That looks like a pretty good stroke. Nearly drops. Just hangs on the edge just high. But uh overall not a bad start for Bennett Lewis as he ties Chris Miller. Both players went fairway green two putt. So even through one level on the match heading into a hole that he played very well yesterday. Another T-shot on the way. Another driver asking for it to hang on on the right and it does. right side of the fairway here with just 139 yards left. This is a nine iron pin on the front right looking ball walking after it. He likes it and he sure should. Nice shot. Another 15 ft putt that he would convert and he would take the lead in the match as Miller pull his T-shot a little bit. went into the bunker on his second. Hit a decent bunker shot to 10 ft. But then that was a bogey cuz he two putted. So Bennett Lewis up early in this match. One up through two. This is another hole that he hit a great T- shot on yesterday. Number three. And that’s kind of not long but down the middle. Four iron the T. But he does not have a great angle into this green. He has got a sixiron out from 186 yards. 175. That’s a little bit surprising, but uh of a yardage, but he is in a small divot here in the fairway. Pretty bad break. Thinking maybe that little extra loft will try to help it out of there. It’s not bad. And he picks this one perfectly out of that sand divot. Just doesn’t have quite enough meat to reach. So, he’s got a tough uphill chip here. Choosing to go high with it. He’s got a lob wedge out. Definitely this early in the morning with the dew. A bump and run could get spoiled by that extra friction. He hits a good one, but he was not able to make the putt. And uh Chris Miller after just going long a little bit with his second shot hit a beautiful chip to about 2 feet and was able to even the match up. Heading into hole four. Both players hit fine T- shots. Chris Miller about 8 ft away from the pin. Bennett Lewis about 12 ft away from the pin on this front left pin. Both two putted. Match still level. Heading into hole five. Bennett Lewis once again went to the right, basically the same spot he was on Saturday for a second to a back right pin. He chipped it to about 15 ft. Miller did about the same low of the hole. They both bogeied. It’s tied. Heading into hole six now. And this is where Chris Miller took the first lead of the day for him with a beautiful 3-wood down the middle of the fairway followed by another 3-wood just short of the green. While Bennett Lewis had some serious trouble off the tee, sending it way right then hitting a tree on his second shot. Only made a bogey thanks to a 15 foot putt he made up on the green, but it was far and away the better hole for Chris Miller. It was decided much before that putt. Heading into the seventh hole, hit a great T- shot down the middle. 78 yd wedge in. He’s pulled this a touch a little bit longer and he would go on to three putt from there. only his second three putt of the week so far as Chris went down the left side but put himself in a good position on his second shot just below the hole 10 ft two putted and then Bennett Lewis would get one back after losing two straight holes that was big he got himself on the fairway in regulation green in regulation three putted though it was from 55 ft out. But Chris Miller had some trouble around the green. But Lewis would falter once again with a bogey on the drivable par4 ninth. He he hit a fivewood off the tee, but he went long on his second and Chris Miller hit a beautiful wedge from far left, far below the green and got it done with a birdie. Bennett Lewis would then lose his second straight hole for the second time in the match on number 10. Heading to 11 now. Bennett Lewis played this hole very unconventionally, but he did make par thanks to a great up and down from the bunker. Chris Miller went fairway green two putt and the match stays at three up for Chris Miller. Bennett Lewis now with a putt on 12. to pull to within two holes as he makes par to Chris Miller’s bogey as he went long of the green and his chip rolled just a little bit over the back. Chipped it to about a foot, but it was no match for Bennett Lewis’s deft touch with the putter there. Putt about the same length here. This was to tie the hole on number 13 for Bogey. And that is a very uncharacteristic stroke there for Bennett. Very long and just uncommitted there. He struggled on this hole. He was up the right side the entire time. Hit a pretty bad T-OT and then his sixiron punch just didn’t make it all the way up. Chris was able to get down and two from the green after a good bunker shot. And then Bennett Lewis was able to save a par here as he went right again off the tee. went into the bunker on his second, but got up and down from 15 feet with his putt. But then Chris Miller made a 12-footer for birdie. A crushing loss there after Lewis said, “Make him earn it in the moment.” And then heading into this 15th hole, Chris Miller was in for bogey after going in the bunker on his second. Bennett Lewis was in the bunker on his second as well. This was for par and he just left it on the high side. Chris Miller wins the match four and three to tie the match. Let’s head over to Ian Chzick now on the 18th. Needs to make this one down with one to play. And he nearly does. Oh my goodness. How does that stay out? That was beautiful. Oh, that was robbery off the pin. And it would prove to be very costly those two match losses for Ferris as Eastern Kentucky won seven of the 12 matches making them the winners of the 2025 Cup. As you see Josh Cockersburgger, Brett Paglo, Chris Miller, and Chad Homeman winning both their matches Saturday and Sunday going two and 0 on the week. Two Fah State players went 2 and 0 this week. Indiana’s own Chase Meyer with a 2 and 0 showing did very well in his home state as well as rookie Isaac Freniti, but it was not enough to fend off Eastern Kentucky this time. Well, that concludes day two of the 2025 Michigan Cup. Farah State winning five of their 12 matches. Eastern Kentucky winning seven of their 12 matches. Eastern Kentucky takes the title back 10 to8. A very close fight by Ferris. Alas, Eastern Kentucky has denied Ferris their back-to-back title bid. Bennett Lewis, our featured player, definitely an off day, losing four and three, being 10 over through 15 holes that he played. Definitely not his best performance. I have Bennett Lewis here again via phone. Bennett, can you just tell us a little bit what went wrong? Was it more uh just intimidation by Chris as well as seeing Josh win against u Ian there to go two and 0 for the week? U was it a combination of both? Was it was it just some fundamentals that were off? What are your thoughts? Definitely. Uh there were a lot of things off about today, Jordan. Um did not have uh the usual carry that I do with my putter. I uh did make one pretty big one on 14, but then Chris shut the door on me and made birdie on that hole. He played that hole absolutely beautifully. Uh you know, what can you do when that happens? You know, I felt like at the start of it, I kind of picked up right where I left off. Uh you know, I took an early lead on two, making a good par on that hole. I par it both times. I played it. It’s one of the harder holes out here, so I was very proud of that. And you know, we traded punches on two and three. He won hole three and then uh we tied four and five. Once I got that um bogey on six, it was a solid bogey. That was probably the one big putt I made other than 14 all day. But other than that, uh you know, that whole other than that putt was just terrible. Made a terrible decision to try to go for it with 3-wood out of the rough. I was just thinking to myself, I don’t want to go down. And I don’t want to go down. I should have just tried to take the sherpar and, you know, cross my fingers that he wouldn’t make birdie there. That was definitely the wrong thing to do. But, uh, with how badly I sliced that T-shot right after that, the driver really went away from me. You know, uh, number 13 and 14 were just awful drives where I sliced it into the uh, other fairway. And then 15 wasn’t a great drive either. I kind of got away with it, but uh the T-shots were definitely not there today. Uh the putter overall was subpar for me. Uh iron striking was okay, but um and the bunker shots I did hit two out of three up and downs from the bunker, so that was great on that. That was about where the positives ended though today. So definitely an off day. Chris is was very intimidating and seeing Josh go two and 0. Uh watching Ian on that final hole try to chip in to uh possibly tie the match and then seeing him lose another close one on 18 that was definitely deflating, you know. But um he kept his match close. I was just thinking I just got to win one more. Just got to win one more to get level footing, you know, cuz I got that one on number 12 to get to two down. And then uh I was just thinking to myself, okay, if I can par this 13th, I’m in business. I’m still in this, you know, but I just couldn’t get that one more. I couldn’t get those two whole wins in a row at any point today, which is what carried me and chased a victory uh the day prior to this one, but uh unfortunately didn’t have any of that today. And uh without that um your chances aren’t very good. So, you know, definitely a mix of pretty much all three. Absolutely. The big shots were definitely still there from time to time for you. Absolutely. That putt you made on hole 14 to force Chris to hole his putt to win the hole. Unfortunately, he did make it. Absolutely outstanding birdie by Chris. Perfectly played hole. Sometimes that’s what you just got to do. You just got to smile and say job well done and applaud your opponent. And you certainly did. I honestly uh and a lot of your fans were very proud to see how well you took this loss. You didn’t uh storm off the green. You shook his hand. You know, didn’t make a face at him or whatever it was. I think your program director, Mr. Hash, was very proud to see that. And you know, that’s how character is built. You know, it’s through it’s through failure. It’s through coming up short of your goals that you’ve been working towards and being able to come back and the next day and say, you know what, I’m going to keep go out there. I’m going to keep grinding. I’m going to keep trying to get better. And you certainly did exemplify that and certainly did also exemplify the spirit of the game today. We’re all very proud of you in that regard. and uh your playing companion Ian Chzlick. Uh you had a little bit of a rules skirmish there on the uh seventh hole where um I I and no one no one at all thinks that you did it intentionally. I’m sure you didn’t, but just having basically a reciprocal putt of Ian and just kind of uh advising him on the break and how far to play it. It ended up being um an adjustment penalty there where Ian actually lost that hole where he should have won it. And uh as a result, Josh actually won two up against him. And uh if not for that penalty, it would have been a tied match. And that would have made Tyler Cunningham shot into 18 a lot more pivotal and he certainly did hit a great shot, but needed to win the match to um theoretically uh go nine and nine where Ferris would retain the cup. uh you know um did you receive a lot of uh a a lot of uh you know hard for me to phrase this right? It’s uh did you receive a lot of um admonition, a lot of you know kind of rude comments from your teammates after you did that? Or were they pretty cool to you about it? Honestly, all my teammates completely forgive me for it. Uh, you know, those things happen sometimes, you know, especially with two rookies playing together. And, uh, with how good Chris and Josh are from Eastern Kentucky, I highly doubt that this was their first rodeo with the Kentucky Cup. But, um, I’m telling you what, uh, you know, it was just a coach in me. you know, it’s just uh me always being a uh cordial and polite playing partner with um whoever I play with. You know, this specific, like I said, tournament golf, you’re going to face challenges you don’t normally face in just regular rounds. When you’re trying to break 80, trying to get the sub 40 average for the year, which I’ve been trying to do, and I’m doing really well with that. I’m sitting at a 39.79 right now. But um you know, all my teammates uh they were pretty cool about it. They knew for a fact that I didn’t do it on purpose. You know, I wasn’t trying to pull a fast one on Eastern Kentucky there. Absolutely not. You know, the officiating was absolutely fine. You know, uh I have no problem with it at all. It is what it is. It’s a rule I should have known and uh absolutely it’ll be something I I look for a little bit more uh should I play in another one of these major championship teams. you know, everyone on this team from top to bottom, rookies to season veterans, we’re all a big family and we really we we fought to the end and we and we lost as a team and uh we fought as a family and uh we were all gentlemen about it and uh no hard feelings whatsoever. We all make mistakes, Bennett. Nothing against you at all. You played overall pretty well this week. Definitely a little bit below I think what you wanted, but you showed up, you contributed, you got that point on the first day, played really well. Uh to avoid going 0 and2 in your rookie campaign. That’s definitely got to build some confidence for future events you may be able to qualify for. No, absolutely 100%. It builds some confidence, you know, uh to shoot six overpar for 17 holes and the one hole I had left was a 285 yard par4. I was probably going to par that. So, you know, chalk it up to breaking 80 on that first day. And of course, I never seen in tournament conditions. I absolutely that is a confidence builder and uh I definitely am looking forward to the next uh opportunity I have to play for one of Ferris’s uh three uh PGA management major championship teams. Uh my main goal um that I’m going to be working toward for the next year or so is getting myself in position with my final semester of the program to make the University Championship team. My goal is to finish top 10 in that university championship. I’ve got a long way to go, but this is definitely a start. Funny how that works, doesn’t it, Bennett? You preach how much team chemistry and just camaraderie and friendly fire um matters in these matches, even when people are getting emotional and uh you know, saying things they may not normally say, but it sounds like you and your team uh from Fair State really did a good job as a team. You guys understand you win as a team, you lose as a team. Uh, no hard feelings against anyone. And that’s why we love watching your channel so much, man. That’s why we love the Fair State PGA golf management program here at Golf Central. It is absolutely just an outstanding program with very, very nice young gentlemen. Absolutely. Well, Bennett, it’s been a pleasure working with you on this broadcast. Uh, and, uh, the way you’ve been playing, I have no doubt in my mind that you will be back at it again come 2026, uh, Penn State Rider Cup, which is the next event you will be able to qualify for. I wish you the best of luck. The road’s definitely going to be tough, Jordan. But, uh, you know, I feel like luck is on my side right now. I mean, if you want to say I make my own luck, that is. You know, this was the final chance I had to uh be able to qualify for the Eastern Kentucky Rider Cup as uh I will not be back for another spring semester at Ferris, but uh to be able to uh make it on my last chance and not only make it, but make a statement while doing it by finishing fourth on the uh scoring average and the uh RDER Cup qualifier points list. I definitely do think I have what it takes to make that Penn State Rder Cup team as well as that University Championship I was talking about. Uh Jordan, you put a you did a fantastic job putting all this together. I wish you the best of luck as well. It’s been a pleasure working with you as well. You bet. Take care, Bennett. Go Sabres. Well, everyone, that concludes the 2025 Cup Eastern Kentucky. Once again, your final. There are the winners 10-8 over Fris State leading the all-time Cup titles 5-3. But Fris State will be back with a vengeance come 2026. As always, I am your host Jordan Savaras, host of Golf Central and PGA Tour Live. And that’s all for now, folks. Have a wonderful night and we’ll see you real soon. Heat.