Ryan Benton's dream came true last November.
The Providence Christian senior from Dothan signed with the No. 4 Auburn men's golf team Nov. 9 after an impressive junior year and a lifetime of practice.
"I played since I could physically swing a club," Benton said. "My dad played, and I just wanted to do whatever he did. I really don't remember not playing golf."
Ashley Benton, Ryan's sister and junior in physical activity and health, recalls some of his beginnings.
"I remember when he was 2 or 3 years old getting golf clubs for Christmas," Benton said. "We always went to play putt-putt with our parents when we were younger, and on hole 18 he knew the ball was never going to come back and he would always cry. It was a love-at-first-sight kind of thing."
Ryan Benton didn't waste any time in turning this love into a career.
When he was 7 Benton started golfing competitively and qualified for the U.S. Kids World Championship the next year.
"That was a pretty big deal for an 8-year-old," he said. "I remember going to Williamsburg, Va., and being really scared because everyone was really good, and this was a really big tournament.
"I had to qualify for the tournament, and the qualifier was my first tournament."
As Benton matured, golf's place in his life did the same, and in junior high he came to a turning point.
"I played baseball and golf, and I was pretty good at both," Benton said. "I had to decide which one I had a future in. In seventh grade I decided to go all golf. That's pretty much when I decided ... that playing in college was the goal, and I was going to do whatever it took to get to that point."
Over the next few years, Benton participated in tournaments across the country. Closer to home, he was the co-champion of the Class 1A-2A Alabama High School Athletic Association state tournament his freshman year and runner-up as a junior.
He began his career with the Southeastern Junior Golf Tour in 2007 and accumulated nine wins and eight top-10 finishes.
By her brother's sophomore year, Ashley Benton began to realize what the future had in store for him.
"That's when he really started to shine," Benton said. "When he was the No. 20 recruit his freshman and sophomore year, I was like, 'Holy cow, he's a really good golfer.'"
He went on to place fifth in the Future Masters in Dothan, fourth in the Greystone Invitational in Birmingham and advanced to the quarterfinals in the U.S. Junior Amateur Tournament in Seattle last July after winning the qualifier by 11 shots.
It didn't take long for the college offers to start pouring in.
"I probably had over 30 letters of interest sent to me," Benton said. "It was really special because Auburn was the first one I got, so that pumped me up pretty good."
Though he had always dreamed of playing for Auburn, the decision proved to be tougher than Benton had expected.
"I laid out all the schools, and I narrowed it down to four--Auburn, Alabama, Troy and Florida State--this past summer," he said.
"As the recruiting process went on, there was no doubt that Auburn was the best school for me with the coaches and how good the campus and the facilities are. Everything was just way better than anything else I went to look at."
Auburn men's golf coach Nick Clinard has a similar confidence in Benton's choice.
"I've recruited him the last few years, and I've been watching him develop as a player and a young man," Clinard said. "He was the right fit for us at Auburn academically and athletically.
"He just continually gets better. He's a hard worker; he's a very positive guy; he's a team guy. As a player he's very talented. He's very powerful when it comes to the game of golf ... He'll hopefully come in and compete to earn some playing time as a freshman," Clinard added.
But it wasn't just Benton's ability on the greens that caught Clinard's attention--it was his character.
"He's very much into his faith and his family," Clinard said.
"That really stuck out to us in the recruiting process. We thought he was a very good fit for the program at Auburn and what we, as coaches, believe in as well. He's got a great mental and physical game, and obviously the spiritual aspect."
Senior golfer Blayne Barber said quality character is part of being on the team.
"Anytime you can add a player to the team with Ryan's ability, it is nothing but a positive," Barber said. "Being an Auburn golfer is just as much, if not more, about who you are and how you carry yourself off the golf course as you do on it.
"Based on what I know about Ryan, he will definitely carry on the legacy of Auburn golf well."
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