Trio of Men's Golfers Ready for U.S. Amateur

Fifth-year senior Ryan Gerard of Raleigh, junior Austin Greaser of Vandalia, Ohio, and sophomore Peter Fountain of Raleigh will represent the University of North Carolina in the 121st United States Amateur, which begins play Monday in Pennsylvania.

Gerard and Greaser advanced to the most prestigious amateur event in the world through local qualifying, while Fountain earned one of 55 exemptions in the 312-player field by his standing in the top 50 in points in the World Amateur Rankings.

The 2021 U.S. Amateur will be contested at the Oakmont Country Club in Oakmont, Pa., and the Longue Vue Club in Verona, Pa.

Gerard and Greaser play the first round on Monday at Longue Vue, while Fountain will play round one at Oakmont.

Gerard shot a 5-under-par second-round 67 to win medalist honors at the U.S. Amateur Qualifier in Hobe Sound, Fla. The 2020 honorable mention All-America overcame a quadruple bogey 8 on the second hole of the 36-hole tournament, making four birdies and an eagle over the final 14 holes to finish at 6-under 138, two shots ahead of Nashawn Tyson.

Gerard tees off on the ninth hole at Longue Vue on Monday at 8 a.m.

Greaser, an honorable mention All-America and All-ACC selection in 2021, set a course record and shot a career-best 62 in the second round to win his qualifier at the Edgewood Country Club in Charleston, W. Va. He won the 36-hole event with a 15-under 127, six shots ahead of runner-up Christopher Zhang.

Greaser begins his U.S. Amateur at 8:40 a.m. Monday on the ninth hole at Longue Vue.

Fountain, a first-team All-America and member of the 2021 All-Nicklaus team tees off on No. 10 at Oakmont on Monday at 2:05 p.m.

The format for the tournament is 18 holes of stroke play on both August 9-10. The field will be cut to 64 players, who begin match play on Wednesday, August 11.

There are two rounds on Thursday, quarterfinals on Friday, semifinals on Saturday and the 36-hole championship round is Sunday, August 15.

The champion receives invitations to play in the 2022 U.S. Open and Open Championships and likely invitation to the 2022 Masters.

This is the sixth time Oakmont has played host to the U.S. Amateur. The historic course has also hosted three PGA Championships, a U.S. Women's Open and U.S. Opens in 1927, 1935, 1953, 1962, 1973, 1983, 1994, 2007 and 2016.

Dustin Johnson won the 2016 U.S. Open at Oakmont. Other major champions at Oakmont include Bobby Jones, Sam Snead, Ben Hogan, Jack Nicklaus, Johnny Miller and Ernie Els.

Longue Vue has hosted numerous Pennsylvania and Western Pennsylvania Golf Association amateur championships, including the 1950 WPGA won by Arnold Palmer and the 1979 WPGA won by Tar Heel All-America Frank Fuhrer.

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University of North Carolina Athletics

Players Mentioned

Peter Fountain

Ryan Gerard

Austin Greaser

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