This week’s #TeamTaylorMadeCA spotlights PGA of Canada member and Symetra Tour member Rebecca Lee-Bentham.
By now, you’ve probably heard Lee-Bentham’s golf story: A former Canadian Junior Girls and Women’s Amateur winner; Team Canada alumni; University of Texas standout; LPGA Tour player. And then, just as many felt she was coming into her own, she shut it all down in the summer of 2016.
It happened for a myriad of reasons—nagging injuries, living out of a suitcase, the constant grind to stay sharp.
“It was a good time for Rebecca to recharge and refocus,” Team Canada coach Derek Ingram told Golf Canada’s David Li. “The grind of playing was getting to her and she was over working—which is not a great combination.”
But anyone who was ever walked away from golf also knows the game has a way of pulling you back in.
Lee-Bentham joined the PGA of Canada, started teaching and teaching, and fell back in love with the game that only months earlier she wanted nothing to do with.
“Becoming a teacher and coach has been the best thing for my golf career,” Lee-Bentham says.
“It’s definitely given me a different perspective and has helped me appreciate what golf has to offer and even more so, I find it so rewarding helping people—especially juniors—and watching them grow in their golf journey.”
Like her students, Lee-Bentham’s golf journey continues.
She started playing competitively again last year, winning the PGA Women’s Championship of Canada after a final round 9-under-par 63 at The Ladies’ Golf Club of Toronto. Then in the fall, she secured status on the Symetra Tour for 2020. But her comeback season has been put on hold for the time being after the COVID-19 pandemic suspended play on the Symetra Tour after the Florida Natural Charity Classic (where she finished T13).
Even with the uncertain times, she remains #golftimistic.
“My goal is to be back playing full time Symetra Tour season next year and finishing in the top 10 on the money list to make my way back on the LPGA Tour for 2022,” she said in a recent lwos.life article.
There’s no reason to believe she won’t make her back to the LPGA Tour when it’s time. And, this time she has another tool: she’s a #TeamTaylorMadeCA athlete.
“TaylorMade is known to be a leader in golf equipment innovation,” she says. “So that gives me the confidence that I’m playing with the best tools in golf, which will only help me play my best.”
Featuring TaylorMade clubs throughout her bag, she says switching to the Spider X putter and TP5 pix has made a marked improvement to her game.
“My putting has drastically improved after I put the Spider X in the bag—it’s given me much more consistency and confidence on the greens,” Lee-Bentham says. “And the TP5 px ball I really like the look of when I’m lining up my putts.”
Like all of us here at TaylorMade Golf Canada, Lee-Bentham is a bag fan of the #TeamTaylorMade stable of athletes. When you’ve got Tiger, Rory, DJ, Rahmbo and Matt Wolfe all flying the flag, it’s hard to pick just one favourite, though.
“I’ve got to say my favourite #TeamTaylorMade athlete is the GOAT, Tiger Woods,” she says. “But I can walk Rory’s swing on loop all day, every day.”
Lee-Bentham is a #TeamTaylorMadeCA athlete and you can follow her on Instagram at @rleebentham.
