Rudosky wins Colo

Rudosky wins Colo. RGA Player of the Year

Nov 10, 2001

BY JIM THOMAS
Journal Sports Editor

Those golfers thinking about taking lessons to sharpen their game can certainly learn from the best professional golfer in Colorado. Micah Rudosky, head pro at Conquistador Golf Course, earned Colorado Professional Golf Association Section Player of the Year honors.

After just missing that honor by one point (thousands of points are awarded during the season) a couple years ago behind Mike Northern, Rudosky nailed down the honor by winning the suspended Colorado Section PGA Championships. He finished ahead of 2001 Player of the Year Bill Loeffler in the points standings.

The tournament opened on Sept. 10 at Eisenhower Golf Course in Colorado Springs. Rudosky shot a 3-over-par 75 the first round and was some seven shots out of the lead behind leader John Ogden who had carded a 68.

"We all know what happened on Sept. 11 (terrorist attack on New York City’s twin towers at the World Trade Center and Washington, D.C.’s Pentagon) so they postponed the tournament. They decided to finish the tournament in mid-October at River Dell Dunes in Brighton for the final two rounds. I liked that course and I have played it before. I knew that I could probably do well, but I still didn’t think I could catch anybody (a lot of golfers between him and those ahead of him on the leaderboard)," Rudosky reported.

"I felt I was playing pretty good after the second round. I shot a (6-under) 66 and I made up a little ground . But I was still five strokes behind the leader (Mike Zaremba of Walking Stick Golf Course) going into the last round. When you have that many guys in between, it’s hard to make up," he said.

He played well the third round. During the final round a cold wind was blowing. Rudosky, though, shot a 67. That put him in a tie with Ron Vlosich of Green Gables Golf Country Club. After 54 holes of regulation play, Rudosky and Vlosich were tied at 208. Zaremba shot himself out of the tournament and finished with 211. Rudosky caught Vlosich on the 18th hole of the final round with a birdie while Vlosich posted a par.

The two golfers were tied after the first hole of sudden-death. Rudosky snaked in a 20-footer for a birdie on the second hole while Vlosich’s birdie putt rimmed out and he settled for a par.

"It was fun. That was a nice finish to the tournament and the season," Rudosky said.

For his effort, he took home a check for $4,500 plus a nice trophy cup. Vlosich pocketed $3,850. Scott Hart, Mike Zaremba and Zane Zaremba all took home $2,656.67. Chris Johnson finished at 212 and took home $1,540. Mark Armistead and Stacey Hart both fired 213 and grabbed checks for $1,135. Ken Krieger, Gregg Jones, Northern, and Loeffler finished at 215 and each won $810. Matt Schalk shot 217 and pocketed $670. Craig Stephens shot 218 and left with $640. Mike McCutheon and Brad Delman shot 219 and earned $580. Dave Arbuckle and Heikke Nielsen carded 220 and finished with $490. Erroll Miller, Perry Holmes, and Chris Clark checked in at 221 for $380. Doug Wherry, Don Hurter, Tom Noeswicz shot 223 and won $263.33 and Jeff Hanson shot 224 and took home $200.

"That win vaulted me to the Player of the Year award. I really wasn’t playing very well until the latter part of the year. I played well in the Colorado Open (fifth) in Vail which gave me a lot of points. I also won some other smaller tournaments in the area which added to my point total," he noted.

Rudosky won the Apprentice Player of the Year back in 1996. Only Loeffler and Tom Woodard are the only other players beside Rudosky to win both the section’s Player of the Year and Apprentice of the Year honors.

Unfortunately, because the tournament was postponed for a month, he missed playing in the second stage of the PGA Tournament and missed qualifying for the big-time tourney.

Rudosky’s golf playing is not completely over. He will travel to Florida during December to compete in the PGA Series for Club Professionals. At those events he will also check out merchandise for sale in the pro shop at some shows.

Then it will be almost time to turn his attention back to Conquistador to get ready for the 2002 season which begins in mid-February or early-March, depending on weather.