BY TIM IRVING
Gabi Ruffels is 21 years old and done and seen more than most people twice her age.
She was born in Orlando but moved to California a year later and most of her extended family still lives there. Both of her parents were World ranked tennis players. Her father, Ray Ruffels, played for Australia in four Davis Cups in the late 70s and early 80s.
At nine years old, her family moved to Australia but kept a home in California and Gabi followed in their footsteps, becoming Australia’s top ranked junior tennis player by the age of 12.
“So, I was taking it pretty seriously and playing International tournaments and it was a pretty intense at a young age. Honestly, I just got burned out on the sport,” she said while preparing for the Danielle Downey Credit Union Classic this week in Gates. “I was getting bored with it, so my mom said, let’s go to the driving range.”
Her older brother, Ryan, also switched to golf and at 15 years old, Gabi set out down a different path.
After a year in the sport, she finished ninth in the Australian Women’s Amateur and after her second year of golf, she came back to the United States when then-USC head coach Andrea Gaston made a genius move.
“She took a chance on me, I was ranked like 800 in the World at the time and I guess she saw how quickly I was progressing so, I owe it all to her.”
The Trojans made the NCAA Championships in both 2018 and 2019. After her sophomore year, Ruffels got on to everyone’s radar by winning the North-South Championship and then the 119th U.S. Women’s Amateur title. By the time the COVID pandemic ended her junior year, Ruffels had become the fifth ranked amateur player…in the World.
It was time to turn pro.
“I never thought about turning pro, especially when I first got there (to USC),” Ruffels says. “I got to see the best players in the World compete week in and week out (including reigning Downey Champion Patty Tavatanakit at rival UCLA) and that made me want to improve.”
Now, Ruffels is in a bit of no-woman’s land. Her Amateur title has gained her entry into five LPGA majors but to earn full-time status on the Symetra Tour, she is relying on Sponsor’s Exemptions, including this week at Brook Lea. In May, she played at the Symetra Classic in Davidson, NC, where she finished tied for 17th. She and her mom stayed with Dan and Karen Jansen, developing a friendship that has carried into this week, as Downey Classic Tournament Chair Mike Vidala contacted the Olympic gold medalist and his top-ranked teaching pro wife to be a part of the tournament.
“It’s really cool to see a female pro like she is,” Gabi said. “I always tell her, if I was growing up and wanting to play golf, I’d want to have a teacher like her, it’s really cool for girls to see her and she’s a great person too,”
“Every player on this tour needs a little help and that’s easy, ” said Dan Jansen. “But, we really love it. We had a great week with Gabi and her mom and now we have a friend for life.”
Ruffels is scheduled to tee off at 2:21 off the first tee in the first round on Thursday.
Click here for Thursday’s Danielle Downey Credit Union Classic tee times
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