July 20, 2023
Tenth Set of Keys Donated to Retired U.S. Air Force Staff Sergeant Zachary Ruttman
Larkspur, Colo. - The annual Colorado PGA REACH Invitational was held on Tuesday, July 18th at Bear Dance Golf Club to raise critical funds to support youth, military and diverse programming and initiatives run by PGA Professionals across the Colorado PGA Section.
At this year's REACH Invitational, the Inaugural Game Changer Award was announced. This will be an award given to an individual or corporation annually at this event to recognize an individual or individuals that have gone above and beyond to ensure PGA REACH Colorado can execute its mission of Positively Impact Lives Through the Game of Golf. The inaugural recipient of the award was Stuart Bruening, PGA. Mr. Bruening was the catalyst behind moving the Colorado PGA Headquarters to The Golf Club at Bear Dance in the early 2000's. This helped to raise the brand of the organization and save them significant dollars on overhead annually. Stuart also assisted in bringing in both Jack Daniels and Titos as Foundation supporters. Both companies to this day are still one of the larger supporters of the mission, and ensure a mortgage-free home can be sponsored to a military warrior each year.
Thanks to the partnership of Military Warriors Support Foundation, PGA REACH Colorado was able to donate it's tenth set of keys to a mortgage free home to Retired U.S. Air Force Staff Sergeant Zachary Ruttman. With the help of our partners, Wilson Golf, Mr. Ruttman not only went home with the keys to a new home, but a new set of Wilson golf clubs. But the generosity from our partners did not end there. Thanks to Maggie Bruening and Igor Vainshtein of SkyTrak and Joe Assell, PGA of GOLFTEC, Zachary's home will include a SkyTrak golf simulator and indoor hitting bay!
Congratulations to the winning team of the tournament, Emich Automotive! The team fired 25 under par and was comprised of Ben Honamon, PGA of Lakewood Country Club, Mike Jendreas, Darrell Weakland and Karl Ritz. Click here to view the full leaderboard.
We want to say thank you again to our 2023 Partners, UMB Bank, Jack Daniels, Tito's Vodka, Corona Premier, Mizuno, SkyTrack, GOLFTEC, Military Warriors Support Foundation, The Golf Club at Bear Dance, Plum Creek Golf Club, Colorado National Golf Club, Emich Automotive, El Pomar Foundation, AHEAD, Lagunas Coffee, BioSteel, Colorado Golf Association, Maui Jim, Colorado Avid Golfer, Colorado Golf Association, BirdieBox, The Swing Bays, Alpine Wine and Spirits, John and Sandi Andrew, and Zachary Ledvina for their continued support.
