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Sports

Benell Verbally Commits to Play Golf at Texas A&M

The Harvard-Westlake High junior chooses the Aggies over other prominent Division I schools.

Palisadian Charlie Benell, a 17-year-old on the Harvard-Westlake High golf team, has verbally committed to Texas A&M and is eager to make it official with the Aggies on national signing day in November.

A three-year varsity golfer, Benell has placed in the top 10 in the Mission League since he was a freshman and has qualified for the CIF playoffs each season. The junior has shot 3-under-par at Harding Golf Course in Griffith Park this spring and finished 12th in a field of 227 players at the Champions Invitational in Palm Springs in April.

“I’m really excited because Texas A&M is a favorite to win every year,” Benell told The Chronicle, Harvard-Westlake's student newspaper. “It is a great school with unbelievable coaches and after making many visits to different schools, this seemed like a perfect fit for me.”

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When he's not playing for his high school, Benell is competing in national events. He is ranked 700th in the nation for high school boys according to the American Junior Golf Association’s Polo Golf Rankings and scoring average in high school competition is about 77, or five-over par, on regulation courses.

"I travel a lot," Benell told The Chronicle. "During the school year I travel once or twice a month for tournaments but during the summer I am on the road almost every week to places like Texas, Florida, Georgia, Arizona and Nevada."

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Currently No. 356 in Golfweek’s Junior Rankings, Benell took unofficial college visits to several Division I programs during spring break, including Stanford, Notre Dame, Kansas, Michigan, Texas and Oklahoma.

Benell recently finished fourth and fifth, respectively, at two events on the Future Collegians World Tour, a national junior golf organization for kids ages 11-18. He also finished fourth individually at the Mission League Tournament in Griffith Park earlier this month and advanced to the CIF Regionals.

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