Did he ever.
Cors blew away his modest expectations with the same force as the two thunderstorms that blew through Windy Knoll Golf Club on Sunday afternoon and twice delayed the final round. Cors, playing in his first Metro, won by two strokes with a tournament record score of 23-under par. His second-round score of 62 set the course competition record.
Cors didn’t ponder the numbers it would take to win. He had never shot a 9-under competitive round like the 62 he shot, so why should he have expected that this week. And he said he never imagined 23-under would be the winning score. If he had made goals of such numbers, it might have been paralyzing.
To some degree, Cors’ recent success allowed him to avoid pressurized thoughts and focus on one shot at a time. Cors won the Atlantic 10 individual title in April to cap his senior season at Dayton.
Cors also earned a spot in the 125th U.S. Amateur at The Olympic Club in San Francisco on August 11-17 and the 2026 Ohio Amateur. This is the first time the Metro winner has been awarded a place in the U.S. Amateur.
“Playing against the best guys in the country I’m really excited for that.” Cors said.
And on par for the day, Cors gave the U.S. Amateur as little thought as possible.
“Until they told me after this round it’s out in California, I had no idea where it was,” he said. “I tried to stay process focused and not results oriented.”
Cors built a six-shot lead after two rounds. But a third-round 70 opened the door for others.
If not for the delays, Cors wouldn’t have had much idea what was happening outside his group of T.J. Kreusch and Luke Metzger. Cors began the day tied with Kreusch, a 2025 Alter grad who will play at UD, at 18-under. Metzger was one stroke behind.
To relax during the delays, Cors went to his car where it was quiet. During the second one he drove to a nearby Panda Express for some nourishment. Rested and fed, he checked the scores, saw where his pursuers stood, and was motivated to beat his pre-tournament expectations.
Cors remained focus on his process, but he knew he was pulling away from Kreusch and Metzger on the back nine. They finished three strokes back at 20-under, shooting 69 and 68, respectively. But Brody Simms, an Alter grad with one more college season at Cleveland State, got hot on the back nine.
Simms birdied 10, then birdied 12 through 15 to get to 22-under. When Simms birdied 14 on a long putt to get to 21-under, he briefly tied Cors. Then Cors birdied 14 to regain the lead. The pattern repeated when both made birdie on 15. But Simms bogeyed 16, Cors birdied it and the lead was three shots.
“I gave an effort, but it’s hard to beat 23-under,” Simms said. “I bogeyed 16, parred 17 and that’s what kind of did it for me. But congrats to Ben. He’s gonna have some fun out there in California.”
That sudden three-shot cushion allowed Cors to play it safe on 18, a par-3 with an elevated green, water on the right and a hillside on the left. Cors hit the ball into the hill, avoiding possible disaster that lies in the water, chipped onto the green and two-putted for a harmless bogey.
“I saw I had a three-shot lead, and if I didn’t hit in the water, I was winning the golf tournament,” Cors said.
Simms, Kreusch, Metzger and Wright State’s Ian Asch, who shot 63 Sunday to finish in a three-way tie for third at 20-under, earned spots in a final qualifying event, bypassing local qualifying, for the next summer’s U.S. Amateur.
When Cors returns from San Francisco, he will build on his finance degree by beginning an MBA program at UD. He will also work with golf team as a graduate assistant coach. He will still be at Dayton, a place he said has given him a great four-year college experience, but he will need a new ballcap for golf season.
The one he wore at the Metro displays a clearly visible red UD logo. But whatever shade of blue the hat used to be has faded. The cap, surprisingly, was new in the spring.
“This is my favorite hat, and my goal this summer was to get it as sun beat as I possibly could.” he said. “Yeah, I’m doing a pretty good job of it.”
And a pretty good job of winning.
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