The last time Will Ruth played at Cherokee National Golf Club in Gaffney an unreliable putting game cost him a chance to win a tournament.

A few months later and with a lot of work on the putting green, this time it was his putting that earned him the victory at the Henry Transou Memorial played at the same course in Gaffney.

Ruth had a share of the first round lead with Anderson’s Bennett Scaletta. Both golfers opened the 36-hole tournament with 3-under par rounds of 69.

In the second round Scaletta fell off the pace while Ruth took the lead by himself until his Dorman High School teammate Casey Kosney caught him with a birdie on the third hole.

Kosney playing in the group in front of Ruth got to 5-under par and stayed tied with Ruth until the 17th hole.

The two golfers separated themselves from the field and went toe to toe for the rest of the final round.

Ruth‘s tee shot on the par 3 hole rolled within 12 feet of the cup giving the Cavalier golfer a look at a birdie and the lead.

“I practiced my putting a lot, ever since the match play out here,” he said. “I missed a bunch of crucial putts in that tournament and I knew if I was going to win this tournament I was going to need to putt really well,” said Ruth.

The birdie on 17 required Ruth to negotiate a late break near the hole to card the birdie to go ahead of Kosney.

Playing the 18th hole, Kosney put himself in position to tie Ruth. He needed to make a 20 foot birdie putt on the par 5 finishing hole and when his putt found the middle of the cup he was once again tied with Ruth, this time at 6-under par.

Ruth was trying not to know what Kosney did, but some of his friends told him Kosney had high-fived his caddie so he knew a birdie would be needed for the win.

“I knew 18 was a hard birdie hole, it also is a hard par hole, I learned that a few months ago,
he joked about the hole that cost him the match play championship. “I thought lets just end it birdie birdie,” he added.

With Kosney in with a 6-under par 138 total, Ruth put himself in position for a winning birdie when his second shot ended up hole-high just off the final green.

His chip rolled within about five-feet of the pin and his putt wrapped up a big win.

“This was the first tournament I went under par both days (69-68-137) and I was glad to do it out here. My putting made the difference. I gained four-shots the first day putting,” said the winner.

Kosney finished a shot behind Ruth with Tyler Tabor finishing in third at 4 under par and first round co-leader Scaletta finishing in fourth.

After a bunch of second place finishes getting his first win showed Ruth he can win.

“I think I now have the feeling of winning and I think I can win more. This give me a lot more energy and I cant wait to see what my future is going to be like,” concluded the Transou champion.

In the boys 13-15 year old division Hank Johnson finished a shot in front of Owen Atkinson for the division championship.

In the Pee Wee Championship AK Milner from Spartanburg shot a two day total of even par 72 to win the championship.

Scores from the 12th Henry Transou Memorial can be found at https://bgtmb.bluegolf.com/bluegolfw/bgtmbhtmgt23/event/bgtmbhtmgt231/contest/45/leaderboard.htm