Austin Greaser was close to capturing the Western Amateur title last year.
He made a run into the semifinals, losing to eventual champion Michael Thorbjornsen, but Greaser wanted more. He shot a 6-under 278 total in stroke play, at one point thinking he missed out on the 16-player field for match play. A couple of late bogeys helped push him into the 7-for-2 playoffs to get into the match-play portion. He got the 15th seed, and it didn’t stop there.
Greaser, from Vandalia, Ohio, and playing collegiately at North Carolina, came from behind in the championship match, winning four straight holes on the back side to win 1 up and capture the 120th Western Amateur at Exmoor Country Club in Highland Park, Illinois. Greaser was 2 down with eight to play against Mateo Fernandez de Oliveira, a senior at Arkansas, but he proceeded to win four straight holes with birdies and captured the match with a clutch up and down on the 18th.
He’s the fourth Tar Heel to win the Western Amateur, the first since Greg Parker in 1986.
“Just a lot of hard work. Just to see it come to fruition, it means a lot,” Greaser said. ”
Greaser’s victory came after three grueling days of golf. It started with 36 holes of stroke play plus the playoff on Thursday, then two match play rounds Friday and Saturday.
He was named honorable mention on Golfweek‘s All-America team following his junior season at North Carolina. He won twice, including the NCAA Yale Regional. He was an All-ACC selection, as well.
A week from Monday, Greaser will return to the U.S. Amateur stage at The Ridgewood Country Club in Paramus, New Jersey. Last year at Oakmont, he made the 36-hole match play final last year, falling to James Piot.
