My name is Bence Somogyi from Budapest, Hungary and I have been playing golf since the age of 5. I felt in the very first moment when I grabbed a club in my hands that this sport will be everything for me and I will dedicate my life for it. My goal is to play on a good competitive level in a team and get a degree in a good college. In the very first years I played in some local junior tournaments in Hungary, but the real achievements started to come when I went to foreign countries. For example, I played in the U.S. Kids local tour in Slovakia. I won the tour in my category (U10, 2015) which was a 4-series-event. This gave me the opportunity to attend the 2016 U.S. Kids World Championship. I went to Pinehurst with my family which was a huge step forward in my career. I finished 48th out of 150 competitors in the U10 category. There I got feedback from golf where I was positioned in the world which I found very encouraging.
The same month, I traveled back to Europe with my parents to attend the 2016 U.S. Kids Venice Open event where I ended up finishing in the 3rd place, so I felt like the work that I was putting in was worth it. The following year I went back to Italy and took the 1st place.
Along with the international success, I must mention that in 2018 when I was just 13 years old, I played in the leader flight of the Hungarian Men’s championship where I finished in tied 4th place. All the experience I gained has contributed to strengthening my mental focus. My winning spirit is one of the most important part of my game to this date.
As a result of all these achievements I was invited to play in the Hungarian junior national team as an active member as the youngest player ever. I have been solid member of the Hungarian national golf team (both junior and adult) more then 60 times representing Hungary at major events such as The European Boys’ Team Championship, European Young Masters, Team Shield Championship, and the European Olympic Hopes Trophy.
In 2021 I joined the Munchener Golf Club junior team and in the same year we came in 2nd place in the AK18 German team championship. Based on my performance in the junior team I was invited to join the Men’s Bundesliga 1 team in 2022.
This gave me further confidence and with the help of my coach Arne Dickel (Munchener GC) and my Dad I started to improve more and more. As a result of this in 2022 I managed to win the Hungarian men’s championship and I finished 2nd in the open category which helped me to enter the WAGR ranking and opened a new chapter in my golf career. In the same year I became a Hungarian junior champion as well. From that point I started to focus on my physical strength and swing speed. In 2023 I became a 2-time Hungarian Men’s champion and in a 3 men play-off I managed to win the Open category as well.
After this amazing experience I went back to Zala Springs two weeks later to play the 4th Hungarian Tour. I played my personal best (66(-6)) on the 2nd day of the tournament which gave me a huge advantage. I played overall 9 under and took a back-to-back win with me to Budapest. I played the Hungarian Junior Open this year as well where we were playing from 6400 meters. After a competitive 4 rounds of quality golf, I finished 1st in the Hungarian Junior championship (U18) and finished tied 3rd in the Open (U21) category. With every tournament I managed to make a progress on the WAGR, and my best ranking was 579th place. My current hcp is +3.8 (under zero). To this date my strengths are mental focus, consistency with irons and driver balanced with good putting. I love to play in team and I do my best to secure the winning position for my team.