On a day when bumpy greens and challenging pin placements made putting difficult, Ramie Sprinkling found a way to make several key putts down the stretch, helping the former Rio Mesa High standout win the 2007 Oxnard City Golf Championships played at River Ridge Golf Course.

Sprinkling holed crucial par putts on holes 15, 16, and 17 that allowed him to maintain his lead, and then sealed the victory with a 60-foot eagle putt on the final hole.

The eagle left Sprinkling at 1-under 71 for the round and 1-over 145 for the tournament. Jake Curtier finished second at 147, followed by Michael Flynn at 148.

Amazingly, Sprinkling made a long eagle putt on the final hole of the 2006 Oxnard City Golf Championships to help him finish third.

This time around he made the eagle putt using a recently purchased long putter.

"I borrowed a long putter from a friend in May and went out and won a tournament with it three days later," Sprinkling said. "So I decided to go out and buy my own, and so far I really like it.

"It's really great on short putts. Anything from 10 feet and it's like stealing, because it's so easy. I'm still getting a feel for it on long putts, but it worked OK on that last putt."

Sprinkling started the day a stroke behind three golfers, but thanks to birdies on holes 7 and 8, he was able to make the turn with a two-shot lead.

That lead started to evaporate after he made a bogey on No. 10, but Sprinkling refused to panic.

"The last thing I wrote in my golf journal was to stay patient,' " said Sprinkling, who is about to start his junior season on the UC Davis golf team. "I felt like I did a pretty good job of that during the two days.

"Today, I tried not to worry about what the other players were doing. I just tried to play my own game."

It wasn't easy to ignore a late-round charge by Flynn because he was playing in the same group as Sprinkling.

Flynn, who just graduated from Oxnard High and will play at Cal State Bakersfield in the fall, made birdies on 11 and 15 to climb to within a stroke of Sprinkling with three holes to play.

After his birdie on 15, Flynn stuck his approach shot on 16 10-feet from the pin, but his birdie putt just missed. It was one of several near-misses Flynn had during the round.

"I thought I had that putt, but it hit a divot and kicked right," Flynn said. "After messing up 14, (he made bogey) I had to get more aggressive over the last four holes.

"I had some chances, but I just couldn't get any putts to drop."

On 18, Flynn's drive came to rest on the lip of a bunker on the left side of the fairway, but he somehow managed to hit his 4-iron shot just short of the green, giving himself a shot at eagle.

His chip came up a bit short, and then after seeing Sprinkling make his eagle putt and end his chance at winning, a disappointed Flynn missed his short birdie putt, dropping him from second to third.

"I've played against Ramie before; he's a great player," Flynn said. "I am happy with how I hung in there today. I got some bad breaks early but I held things together and gave myself a chance at the end."

In the A flight, Chris Prendergast won the title with a net 149. Vince Jimenez was second at 154 and Bryan Reed was third at 156.

Mark Salazar won the B flight with a 155. Manuel Manzano was second at 160 and Michael Bagocus was third at 164.

Salazar credited a putting lesson he got from River Ridge head professional Susan Sipes with helping him win the title.

"Susan helped me with my setup and it really helped," Salazar said. "I played really well on Saturday to get the lead.

"I struggled early in the round today because of nerves, but around the eighth hole my putting came around and that made the difference the rest of the round."

In the C flight, Eddie Williams was first at 166, one stroke better than Dave Brooks. Williams lives in Fresno, but he makes the drive down to play in the event each year.

"It's a fun tournament," he said.

Bob Magee won the D flight at 169, followed by Donald Yee at 178 and Fred Nunes 179.

Jack Rector won the Championship flight of the Senior Division, firing a 144. Patrick Hanley was second at 149.

Mike Bowers won the Senior A flight with a 138, Binom Galloway was second at 141 and Wayson Juarez was third at 142.

Dave Shelburne captured the Senior B flight with a 141. Ron Kaplan and Wes Barrows tied for second at 143.

In the Senior C flight, John Taylor was first at 136, followed by Jim Helms at 139 and Thomas Ford at 142.