Jim Cruse Makes It Three Straight
Ray Browning Memorial Titles

9 September 2007 - Willoughby, OH - Jim Cruse has not played much this season on the Northern Putting Tour. He has not forgotten how to win or defend a title, however, as he claimed the Ray Browning Memorial for the third straight year in Willoughby, Ohio. The tourney honored PPA Hall of Famer and two-time national champion Ray Browning, who died in a car crash in 1982. Players were able to view a portrait of Browning and a scrapbook of articles and pictures kept by Jim and Bonnie White.

Action began on the Lake Course near the shores of Lake Erie after an hour-long rain delay, and carpets remained wet for the balance of the tourney. That did not bother Cruse, who has produced dominant performances in many of his state tour wins. He was in at 81 after three rounds of the four-round tourney, good for a three-stroke lead over John Bambling. Cruse, in the first group on the course, kept firing with an 11 on the tough front nine in the last round. He finished with a 27 and a six-stroke win over Bambling, who carded a 30. The only thing that kept Cruse from an even bigger margin of victory was a 5 on the 17th hole of the final round after he tried to lay up for a 3 and failed.

In the amateur division, Scott Copeland shook off recent near-misses and pulled out a one-stroke win over Willoughby local Jeff Brown. Copeland was coming off solid performances at the PPA national events in Columbus, Ind., losing a playoff in the Northern Open and finishing a stroke out at the Tournament Players Championship. In the previous day's action in Warren, Copeland had finished two strokes out at first in both the regular tourney and the doubles event. He made up for it in the Browning Memorial, as Copeland, two strokes behind Brown entering the final round, shot a 29 for a 118. Brown carded a 32 and finished in second at 119.