Ramstein junior Christian McHugh eyes up his put on the 13th hole at Woodlawn Golf Course during the second round of the DODEA European golf championships on Oct. 13, 2023, on Ramstein Air Base, Germany. McHugh rallied to win the boys individual crown, while the Royals won their third straight team title. (Matt Wagner/Stars and Stripes)

RAMSTEIN AIR BASE, Germany – Christian McHugh doesn’t deviate from his routine before every swing.

Normally, the Ramstein junior brings out the range finder to size up his shot. Then, he takes a couple of practice swings, just to make sure his form is correct. Then, McHugh takes his club and creates a line from the ball to the hole in the air to recheck his intended path. Lastly, he practices a half-swing one more time before hammering the ball.

“The key is to do it every time,” McHugh said. “It’s like a laboratory setup. You conduct an experiment in the same conditions, you get the same results.”

After two rounds at the DODEA European golf championships at Woodlawn Golf Course on Ramstein Air Base, Germany, you can’t argue with the results.

McHugh dazzled during the final round Friday, totaling 39 points on the Modified Stableford scoring system to win the individual European crown with a total of 65. The junior’s performance also played a role in the Royals winning the team title with 215 points over second-place Wiesbaden (137).

Friday’s score was McHugh’s best of the season by five points and it was an improvement of 12.4 points over his season average, which had him entering the championship tournament with the fifth seed.

It also showcased the impressive trajectory for McHugh, who began the season with two scores in the teens before finding his rhythm.

“Partway through the golf season, I was rock bottom,” McHugh said. “I worked hard, tried to work on my mental state, and ultimately all that work paid off, culminating today (in winning the title).

“I was here to play golf, not necessarily to win. I was going into this not expecting any sort of position on the podium. I was just coming in to enjoy playing golf.”

That enjoyment was evident Friday.

McHugh entered the day tied for third with teammate David Obermuller on 26 points, trailing Vilseck’s Finneas Horgan, the first-round leader, by five. The Ramstein junior erased that deficit after just eight holes thanks to a start of two pars and a birdie over the first four.

Not even almost getting hit by a shot from his teammate in the group behind at the No. 8 hole slowed him down. He bogeyed the ninth hole to take the lead and never looked back, equaling his first day total of 26 points after 12 holes.

Even when things seemed to go wrong, McHugh managed to get out of trouble. If he hit into the woods, it took him one shot to get back onto the fairway and to keep going.

“He was positive all day long,” Ramstein coach Kent Enyeart said of McHugh. “When he lets go of the space between the ears, he does great. So, I was happy for him.”

Ramstein's David Obermuller follows his drive off the 18th tee during the second round of the DODEA European golf championships on Oct. 13, 2023, at Woodlawn Golf Course on Ramstein Air Base, Germany. The Royal junior took second place in the tournament. (Matt Wagner/Stars and Stripes)

Ramstein's Christian McHugh drives off the 12th tee on Oct. 13, 2023, during the second day of the DODEA European golf championships at Woodlawn Golf Course on Ramstein Air Base, Germany. Watching, at left, is Royal teammate Tyler Hacker. (Matt Wagner/Stars and Stripes)

McHugh wasn’t the only Royal to make a second-day surge.

Obermuller began the day in the same position as his McHugh. The junior had 14 points through the first eight holes but exploded across the back-nine to leapfrog Horgan and Ramstein sophomore Tyler Hacker into second place with 33 points.

He finished with 59 points.

Six of Obermuller’s second-round tally came on an eagle on the par-5 16th hole. He chipped in his third shot to pull within five points of McHugh heading into the final two holes.

“I did a lot better than last year,” Obermuller said of his performance. “There’s still a lot I can improve on, but all round, good round.”

Other big movers on the last day included Spangdahlem’s Jackson McDevitt and Wiesbaden’s Brian Grieve, whose 30-point rounds produced fifth- and sixth-place finishes, respectively.

McHugh and Obermuller aided the Royals’ quest for a third consecutive team title. Hacker finished in fourth with a total of 51 points.

Ramstein accomplished the feat without three golfers who finished in the top 10 in 2022. Even better for the Royals is none of their five European qualifiers this fall are seniors.

“We started over,” Enyeart said. “We only had a few kids this year that had any experience, and they really stepped up.”

Spangdahlem's Jackson McDevitt hits on the No. 1 fairway during the second round of the DODEA European golf championships on Oct. 13, 2023, at Woodlawn Golf Course on Ramstein Air Base, Germany. (Matt Wagner/Stars and Stripes)

Lakenheath's Micah Rothas putts on the first green of Woodlawn Golf Course on Ramstein Air Base, Germany, during the second day of the DODEA European golf championships on Oct. 13, 2023. (Matt Wagner/Stars and Stripes)

DODEA European championships

Second Round

Friday at Ramstein Air Base

Ramstein 215, Wiesbaden 137, Vilseck 124, Spangdahlem 120, Lakenheath 114, Naples 92

1. Christian McHugh (Ram) 26-39_65, 2. David Obermuller (Ram) 26-33_59, 3. Finneas Horgan (Vil) 31-24_55, 4. Tyler Hacker (Ram) 28-23_51, 5. Jackson McDevitt 19-30_49, 6. Brian Grieve (Wies) 18-30_48, 7. Lex Cashel (Wies) 23-24_47, 8. Aidan Dearing (Spang) 22-24_46, 9. Micah Rothas (Lake) 22-23_45, 10T. Tim Rice (Wies) 18-24_42, 10T. Ethan Wright (Lake) 22-20_42, 10T. Edmund Gavina (Stut) 22-20_42, 13. Jeramiah Ramirez (Ram) 23-17_40, 14. Jacob Hwang (Vil) 16-22_38, 15T. Joshua Myrick (Nap) 11-20_31, T15. Noah Kaper (Nap) 14-17_31, T15. Logan Snyder (Vil) 17-14_31, 18. David Manus (Nap) 18-12_30, 19. Noah Carson (Kais) 25-3_28, 20. Jordan Chacon del Bosque (Lake) 12-15_27, 21. Kaniela Lyman (Stut) 14-12_26, 22. Mason Dearing (Spang) 13-12_25, T23. Tyler Green (Avi) 10-14_24, T23, Ryan Izaguirre (Ram) 16-8_24, 25. Logan Mitchell (Kais) 11-5_16, 26. Sam Crooks (BFA) 10-5_15.