EAST LANSING – Cameron Ruge took a trip to Las Vegas with his mother last weekend and saw the Eagles in concert, then came to Eagle Eye Golf Club and won the Michigan PGA Section Match Play Championship presented by the PGA Tour.
“It’s funny, I’ve actually been in a funk with my game for a couple of months, so I took a four-day vacation to Vegas, and we flew back Monday,” the 26-year-old teaching professional and PGA Associate at Bay Meadows Family Golf Course in Traverse City said.
The vacation and concert clearly didn’t hamper his golf game because the Coldwater native beat Jim Deiters, the head golf professional at Midland Country Club, 3 and 2, in the championship match Wednesday afternoon.
“I didn’t know what to expect coming in Tuesday, but I came out and my ball-striking was just solid for two days. I surprised myself, but Tuesday night I thought if I get my putter going, I have a chance.”
His putter and ball-striking combined for four match wins over the two days and his first individual tournament win since his senior year on the Trine University golf team in Angola, Ind.
“My game was just in the right place,” said Ruge who won five collegiate tournaments and played in a NCAA Division III national championship. “I just kept the ball in play for the most part all week. And, you know, I had a couple of penalty strokes, but it was really smooth sailing, all four rounds to be honest.”
Ruge, who was in the Match Play’s final 16 as a winner from the Northen Chapter, earned his spot in the championship match with a 4 and 2 semifinal win over Western Chapter finalist Michael Prior of the Golf Performance Academy of Southwest Michigan in Portage.
That pitted him against the 61-year-old Deiters, who came out of the Michigan PGA’s Senior Organization, for the championship. Deiters turned back the Eastern Chapter’s Ryan Lenahan of Walnut Creek Country Club 1-up with a dramatic tap-in conceded birdie on No. 18 in the other semifinal.
Ruge had an early 2-up lead after a birdie at the par 5 fourth hole, but Deiters tied the match with back-to-back birdies at Nos. 6 and 7. It remained that way until No. 11 when Ruge hit his approach shot to inside three feet for a birdie to go 1-up. He went 2-up at No. 12, the long par 3, with a par as Deiters made bogey. Then he birdied No. 13 with a shot to about five feet to go 3-up and wrapped up the match with a par at 16.
Deiters, who had previously made the Match Play semifinals three times, played in his first final. He said he tweaked his chronic back during the win over Lenahan, and that it bothered him most when chipping and putting.
“I was fighting it,” he said. “(Cameron) is a good player. He hit some great shots on the back nine. Going two rounds in one day is tough for me, especially in the heat. I played great against (Lenahan) this morning but couldn’t keep it up.”
Ruge, who earned $3,000 for the win, has been at Bay Meadows since his Golf Management counselor at Trine found him the job opportunity four years ago. He said teaching has helped him become a better player than he was in college.
“Especially working with the two other (PGA teaching professionals) we have up there, Scott Wilson and Ed Laprade,” he said. “Those guys are great teachers.”
RESULTS: Michigan PGA Section Match Play Event :: Tournament Results