Men's Golf, Austin Greaser Champs at Olympia Fields

Sunday, September 19

Olympia Fields, Ill. (Olympia Fields C.C.)

All Day

North Carolina

Olympia Fields/Fighting Illini Invitational Day Three

September 19, 2021 | Men's Golf

Olympia Fields Rd 3

Second Straight Week Men's Golf Has Double Winners

By: Steve Kirschner

Austin Greaser holed out from 168 yards for a birdie on the final hole to clinch medalist honors and lead the University of North Carolina men's golf team to a three-shot victory at the Olympia Fields/Fighting Illini Invitational Sunday at the Olympia Fields North Course.

The win was the first of Greaser's college career and gave Carolina a first-time individual champion and team title for the second Sunday in a row. Last week, fifth-year senior Ryan Gerard was the individual winner and UNC won the team championship at Duke in the Rod Myers Invitational.

Greaser's birdie was only the 10th on the 18th hole in the three-day tournament.

This is the first time UNC has won back-to-back tournaments since the Bridgestone Collegiate in Greensboro in October 2014 and the Sea Best Invitational in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla., in February 2015. It's the first time since the fall 1996 UNC won its first two tournaments.

It's the first time two Tar Heels were medalists in consecutive tournaments since fall 2014 when freshmen Ben Griffin won the Tar Heel intercollegiate in Chapel Hill and William Register won the Primland Collegiate Invitational in Meadows of Dan, Va.

Carolina came into Sunday's final round with a three-shot lead over Arizona State. The Tar Heels shot 1-over 281 today, which matched the Sun Devils for the second-best score of the round (Stanford was 1-under 279). Overall, the Tar Heels shot 283-278-281 to win at 2-over-par 842.

UNC led by four strokes midway through today's round, but managed only one birdie (by Peter Fountain) on a four-hole stretch from 10-13, when Arizona State pulled within a shot. However, the Tar Heels counted six birdies over the final five holes – two each by Gerard, freshman David Ford and Greaser (Dougie Ergood also made two birdies over his final three holes).

UNC came into the tournament ranked No. 4 in the Bushnell/Golfweek Coaches Poll. Defending NCAA champion and No. 1-ranked Pepperdine tied for eighth at 22 over par, No. 2 Oklahoma State was third at 11 over, No. 3 Arizona State was second at 5 over, No. 5 Texas was seventh at 18 over and No. 10 Illinois, the host school, was 11th at 25 over.

"Coach (Matt) Clark and I are thrilled for our guys," says head coach Andrew DiBitetto. "This was a big-time win because of the field, but also because it's a very demanding and difficult major championship golf course. Every shot requires full focus and attention, especially under pressure and especially the final few holes, which are incredibly difficult. Just like last weekend, our guys remained composed and confident throughout the final round and under pressure."

For the second day in a row three Tar Heels shot under par in the 60s on Sunday. Gerard led with a 68 to finish tied for seventh place (73-69-68, even-par 210), Greaser shot 69 and sophomore Peter Fountain also shot 69 to tie for 24th (73-73-69, 5-over 215).

Greaser, a junior from Vandalia, Ohio, was the only competitor in the 81-player field to shoot under par in all three rounds. The 2021 U.S. Amateur finalist previously had finished second in fall 2019 at the Turning Stone Tiger Invitational in Verona, N.Y., in his first collegiate start and had seven other top-10 finishes in his collegiate career. He shot 69-68-69 to finish 4-under 206, two strokes ahead of Alabama's JP Cave and Arizona State's David Puig and Cameron Sisk.

Greaser began the day one off the lead, but was even par on his round with a one-shot lead heading to the final hole, which easily played as the hardest on Sunday, almost half a shot over par. He missed the fairway with his drive and had to chip sideways back into play, but hit a knockdown 7-iron into the wind that rolled into the cup for a birdie 3 and the two-shot margin of victory.

"Austin has played tremendous golf for a long time now," says DiBitetto. "All of us are excited for him to get his first collegiate win and to do so in such dramatic fashion by holing out on 18 and to do it on a golf course where he plans on competing in major championships in the future."

Ford tied for 10th place at 1-over 211 (68-68-75). UNC was the only team in the field to have three players in the top 10 and four in the top 25.

Greaser and Gerard both made 12 birdies, one off the tournament high (Ergood was next with 11). Greaser tied the tournament lead in par 4 scoring at 2 under and was 2 under on the par 3 holes.

The Tar Heels return to action October 4-6 at the Blessings Collegiate Invitational in Johnson, Ark.

"Our guys do things the right way," says DiBitetto. "They work really hard and they work hard on the appropriate things for each one of them individually. As coaches, it's great to see all of them be rewarded for their commitment and diligence so far this season. However, we also know it's a long season and we still have plenty of ways we can improve."

The victory was Carolina's ninth in DiBitetto's five seasons as head coach.