Jerry Gruidl enjoyed a competitive golf career that spanned five decades, beginning with his qualifying for the 1960 U.S. Junior Amateur Championship, where he advanced to the third round of match play, to his fifth and final MGA Senior Amateur Four-Ball Championship title in 2007. In between, he would qualify for a dozen USGA amateur championships, including four U.S. Amateur and U.S. Mid-Amateur championships, two U.S. Senior Amateur championships, a U.S. Amateur Public Links and a U.S. Senior Open Championship. His first individual state championship came in 1972 at the Minnesota State Public Links Championship, and a shared victory at the 1977 MGA Amateur Four-Ball Championship. Yet Gruidl would leave his mark in the competitive senior ranks by winning the inaugural Trans-Mississippi Senior Championship in 2000, defeating Bill Heldmar at White Bear Yacht Club, the 2000 and 2002 MGA Senior Amateur championships, three MGA Senior Players’ (match play) championships, in 2001, 2002 and 2004, and earning the MGA Senior Player of the Year honors three times in 1999, 2000 and 2002.
