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Turlock’s Benjamin swings to college career at Providence Christian
Reece Benjamin signing
Reece Benjamin signs her National Letter of Intent alongside her parents on Wednesday in a special ceremony at the Turlock High campus (CHRISTOPHER CORREA/The Journal).

Like clockwork, the Turlock High girls golf program has produced yet another college-level talent.

On Wednesday, Reece Benjamin signed her National Letter of Intent to continue her academic and playing career at Providence Christian College in Pasadena next fall. Her signing makes her the fourth girls golfer of five seniors over the last two years to sign to play collegiately.

Benjamin’s search for her future school and team began as a junior, as she began uploading her statistics and academic honors on the NCSA (Next College Student Athlete) College Recruiting national database. After dozens of interviews and conversations with different colleges, she narrowed her options down to private, Christian colleges. Then, she received a phone call and started a dialogue with Coach Marc Lengtat at Providence Christian College.

“We had a great discussion about golf, faith and my goals for school,” Benjamin said. “We visited the campus and met Coach Marc in early November. Everything felt so meant to be… It’s such an amazing feeling to be here.”

The star golfer plans to study in the school’s BEE program (business, economics and entrepreneurship).

Over her four years as a Bulldog, Benjamin rose from sixth position on the roster to being a first-team partner with fellow senior Savannah Van Gaalen, who signed to play at Southern Mississippi two weeks ago. She helped the team win four straight Central California Athletic League titles, including the 2022 Sac-Joaquin Section Division 2 team championship. The last two years, she served as one of the team’s captains and proceeded to win first-team All-CCAL honors.

Off the course, Benjamin achieved a 4.0 GPA in the classroom each semester, earned Principal’s Honor Roll all four years, and was a CCAL All-Academic honoree for all four seasons.

“It’s quite the accomplishment for this young lady, who came into the program as a freshman, wide-eyed, big smile, a little fearful, around a lot of good golfers. And she just started working on her game. Working, working, working,” said longtime head coach Mary Krupka, who will be retiring this year after helping build the program into a dynasty over more than two decades.