Two weeks at the PGA Tour’s John Deere Classic, three former champs of the GCRO were in the field. Two of them were in contention for the title most of the way and one of them went on to win it. Cedar Rapids’ own Zach Johnson emerged the winner and on his way to the title told a local sportswriter that the GCRO was a “mini-tour major.”

We’ll take that moniker.

But a young gentleman from Illinois who will tee it up Friday at Hunters Ridge in the 14th edition of the GCRO has already played in two “major” majors. And he made the cut in one.

Brad Benjamin of Rockford has already played in the Masters and the U.S. Open. He earned an invitation to the 2010 Masters as a 23-year-old after by winning the 2009 U.S. Amateur Public Links championship.

The Conference USA Scholar Athlete of the Year in both 2008 and 2009 for the University of Memphis, Benjamin beat Nick Taylor of Canada 7 and 6 in the 36-hole final of the Public Links in Norman, Okla. A total of 3,342 golfers entered the Public Links in 2009.

At Augusta National in the Masters, Benjamin shot a 1-over-par 73 and a second-round 5-over 77. The amateur missed the cut, but his 6-over total was still better than a few notables like Rory McIlroy, David Duval, Louie Oosthuizen, Vijay Singh and Jim Furyk, to name a few.

Benjamin advanced through Sectional qualifying to earn a spot in the 2011 U.S Open at Congressional Country Club in Bethesda, Md. The lefty, who attended Rockford Guilford High School, was pretty impressive in his first two rounds, firing a 1-over-par 72 and a 2-over 73 to make the cut, one of only three amateurs to do so. While McIlroy tore apart Congressional on his way to a historic win, Benjamin got to play the weekend too. He ended up posting rounds of 80-80 and finished 72nd, but some notables who missed the cut that year included Rickie Fowler, Hunter Mahan, Justin Rose, Ernie Els and Adam Scott.

Benjamin also has the 2009 Illinois Open title on his resume, winning that as an amateur. Last year he made it to the final stage of PGA qualifying school.

While some competitors at the GCRO dislike the PGA’s move to end qualifying school as it is right now, Benjamin is not opposed to it. “Read more.”

Don Wojciechowski resides in the Hunters Ridge Golf Course community and plays the course on a regular basis. He’s a former sports editor for a suburban Chicago daily newspaper and an avid golf fan.