Reigning U.S. Women’s Am champ Gabi Ruffels to play men’s event in Florida
Gabriela Ruffels is set to make history next month.
The reigning U.S. Woman’s Amateur champion and rising USC senior, Ruffels told GolfChannel.com that she plans to compete in the Jacksonville Amateur Championship, becoming the first woman to play the event in its 59-year history.
The championship will take place July 23-25 at Jacksonville Beach Golf Club in Jacksonville Beach, Florida, two weeks before Ruffels will defend her Women’s Amateur title Aug. 3-9 at Woodmont Country Club in Rockville, Maryland.
“I thought it was a great opportunity to test my game before the Women’s Am,” Ruffels said. “The women’s amateur schedule has been very restricted with everything that’s going on, so has been tough to find women’s am events.”
Ruffels, a second-team All-American as a sophomore and currently the 11th-ranked player in the Women’s World Amateur Golf Ranking, will play from the same tees as the men, from 6,700 yards.
Her older brother, Ryan Ruffels, is a professional golfer who plays on the Korn Ferry Tour.