Ben Henkel is an Australian professional golfer from Victoria who competes primarily on the Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia. He is best known for winning the 2024 Gippsland Super 6 and later claiming the 2025 Teven Valley Ford NSW Open Regional Qualifying event. The supplied provider status is Inactive, although Golf NSW reported him returning to defend his Teven Valley title in July 2026.
Ben Henkel is a Victorian professional golfer from the Bellarine Peninsula. He developed his game through junior golf at 13th Beach Golf Links and Metropolitan Golf Club, later progressing through Victorian and Australian professional events. Henkel has described a long, difficult pathway into tournament golf, including working around early-morning and after-work practice commitments. His career was seriously disrupted by a 2019 car crash that caused a severe neck injury and temporarily placed his golfing ambitions in doubt. After returning to competitive golf, he produced a breakthrough victory at the 2024 Gippsland Super 6, a Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia event at Warragul Country Club. He followed that success with a 2025 Ford NSW Open Regional Qualifying victory at Teven Valley Golf Course. Henkel’s public playing record places him in Australia’s developing professional tournament pathway, with appearances in events including the Australian PGA Championship and New Zealand Open. The supplied provider record lists him as inactive as at 18 August 2026, but Golf NSW reported on 20 July 2026 that he was returning to Teven Valley in pursuit of back-to-back titles.
Henkel’s first major professional breakthrough was his wire-to-wire victory at the Gippsland Super 6 on 15 December 2024. He shot rounds of 62, 61 and 70 before winning the final-day medal-matchplay stage at Warragul Country Club for his maiden Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia title. His broader comeback story was especially notable because a 2019 car crash and severe neck injury had nearly ended his golfing ambitions.
Henkel won the 2024 Gippsland Super 6 after recording 62-61-70 in the 54-hole stroke-play phase. He was ranked 27th in the published PGA Tour of Australasia Order of Merit table with 298.07 points from 16 events in the available table. He also won the 2025 Teven Valley Ford NSW Open Regional Qualifying event after the tournament was abandoned following one completed round.
His defining moment was winning the 2024 Gippsland Super 6 after a demanding final day that required 28 holes of medal match play. He secured the title against Dylan Gardner after earlier matches against Gavin Fairfax, Jack Pountney and Corey Lamb. Another major career moment was his 2025 Teven Valley regional qualifying win, which was declared after severe weather ended the event after 18 holes.