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Seaholm Sophomore Falls Just Short of First in State Golf Finals

Francesco Ruffino's 2-under-par 70 nearly put him in the playoff for the state title Saturday at Katke-Cousins.

ROCHESTER — Francesco Ruffino, a sophomore from , shot a 2-under-par 70 Saturday to finish in third place at the Division 1 state golf finals.

The Seaholm sophomore finished the tournament with a score of 145, just  one stroke behind North Farmington’s Max Kollin and Davison’s Kyle Kenkel. Kollin played Kenkel in a playoff and won it on hole No. 1 with a birdie.

Ruffino was disappointed that he didn't get to tee off in the playoff battle.

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“It’s very difficult, especially with last year coming in second place,” Ruffino said. “I definitely wanted to win. It wasn’t my time right now; maybe next year.”

Seaholm was in Division 2 last season, and Ruffino finished four strokes behind leader Joey Garber from Petoskey (146 to 142). This year, he was even closer to the lead.

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Ruffino rebounded from a slightly disappointing performance Friday with the second-best round of the entire tournament. 

“Yesterday after the round, I went over to the range and found my rhythm,” Ruffino said. “I started off a little shaky — first tee shot was way left — but I was able to make par there. That got me going. I had three birdies, one bogey and a bunch of pars today.” 

The biggest improvement he made from Friday to Saturday was on the green. He eliminated a lot of the mistakes evident on the tournament’s first day and birdied two of his last six holes to make a push for the win. 

“I cleaned up the three-putts,” Ruffino said. “I really didn’t make any outstanding putts; I missed a lot of makeable putts. But I only had one three-putt today compared to four yesterday, so there was three strokes right there.”

The third-place finish won’t end Ruffino’s season, though. The sophomore has a summer filled with national junior events that will keep him busy. He plays in an amateur qualifier Monday and later this summer will go to Oregon for the American Junior Golf Association's Rolex Tournament.

“That’s one of the bigger junior events you can play during the year,” Ruffino said.

It's not a stretch to say that Ruffino will be back at the state finals next year. His tournament schedule for the summer will only make the young golfer better. 

“I definitely have self-determination right now. I have a big summer coming up with a lot of big events," Ruffino said. "And I’ll use this as something to get my game where it needs to be. Competition I play over the summer definitely prepares me for high school golf, and vice versa, too. This really prepares me and gets me warmed up for my summer.”

Division I Team Scores

Place Team Day 1 Day 2 Total 1 Grand Rapids Forest Hills Central 297 296 593 2 Davison 312 284 596 3 Pinckney 310 295 605 4 Brother Rice 305 308 613 5 Muskegon Mona Shores 311 305 616 6 Detroit Catholic Central 304 313 617 7 Traverse City Central 309 324 633 8 Plymouth 316 317 633 9 Battle Creek Lakeview 315 318 633 10 Oxford 319 317 636 11 Warren DeLaSalle 321 323 644 12 Saline 320 326 646 13 Ann Arbor Huron 324 320 654 14 Troy 324 335 659 15 Utica Ford 331 338 669

Division I Individual Finishers

Place Golfer School Day 1 Day 2 Total 1 * Max Kollin North Farmington 73 71 144 2 Kyle Kenkel Davison 74 70 144 3 Francesco Ruffino Seaholm 75 70 145 4 Max Rispler GR Forest Hills Central 71 75 146 5 Otto Black Pinckney 71 75 146 6 Nick Dennis Brother Rice 72 74 146 7 Patrick Colburn Traverse City Central 74 73 147

*Max Kollin came in first after facing Kyle Kenkel in a playoff.

Correction: Francesco Ruffino came in third place in the Division 1 state golf finals.

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