Gabriela Ruffels impresses at US Women’s Am

Gabriela Ruffels – courtesy of USGA

Australia’s Gabriela Ruffels has blasted her way into the quarter-finals of the US Women’s Amateur at the Old Waverly Golf Club in Mississippi following impressive wins in her Round of 32 and Round of 16 matches today.

Ruffels, who finished 6th in the stroke-play qualifying earlier in the week, easily accounted for American, Haylin Harris, in her morning encounter and her afternoon match was an even more comfortable affair, winning over well-credentialed, Californian Brooke Seay, by a massive 6&4 margin.

19-year old Ruffels had won her opening round match yesterday with an easy 5&4 victory and in tomorrow’s quarter-finals she will play Korean Min A Yoon.

Other Australians to have made the match-play phase of women amateur golf’s most significant championship, Doey Choi and Stephanie Kyriacou, were bundled out in round one.

An Australian has yet to win the US Women’s Amateur Championship, Tasmania’s, Lindy Goggin, and South Australian, Anne Marie Knight, having finished runner-up in earlier years.

Ruffles, the daughter of former Australian tennis star Ray, is also the brother of another young golfing talent Ryan.

Both of her parents, Ray Ruffels and Anna-Maria Fernandez, played tennis professionally. Ray was a mixed doubles finalist in the 1978 US Open and Wimbledon with Hall of Famer Billie Jean King, and was a three-time singles semifinalist at the Australian Open.