Grand Canyon Golfer Ruelas Wins Women’s State Title

Amy Ruelas was the MVP of Foothill High in 2012 and 2013 and then took her talents to Grand Canyon University, where she will embark on her senior season this fall. This week, she shot 71-74–145 to finish at 1-over par at Las Vegas Paiute Golf Resort to win the championship division of the Nevada State Women’s Golf Association State Amateur tournament. Hyun Lee won the net division. — By Brian Hurlburt.

Ruelas defeated local high school standout and UNLV Rebels commit Veronica Joels by five shots. Connie Isler was third.

“My last big win was back in the summer of 2014, which was The Las Vegas City Junior Championship so this is my first win as an adult,” Ruelas said. “One thing I did very well this week was course management. On shorter holes, I wouldn’t take driver off the tee but 3 iron or 3 wood instead. As a long hitter, this kept me safe and kept me out of trouble. I recently made a change in my pre-shot routine and that also changed my mental game in a big way and helped me to the victory.”

Ruelas played in 11 tournaments for the Lopes last season with a scoring average of 78.85.

“All of my hard work and preparation has paid off,” Ruelas said. “Every day after having to work 7-8 hour shifts at the courses I’m working at I would stay the extra 3-4 hours to get my practice in for the day. I made sure no matter what, I was practicing with a purpose and keeping my goal in mind.”

For net winner Lee, a member at Bear’s Best Las Vegas, the win was her biggest moment in golf.

“I wasn’t thinking of winning the tournament but it was the most exciting feeling I ever have had in golf,” Lee said. “Just the day before the tournament, I played terribly. But on tournament day, I decided to relax and enjoy the game. I didn’t know I was winning. Now I am so happy.”