Five Tar Heel Men's Golfers In U.S. Amateur

The University of North Carolina men's golf team will be well-represented at the 2022 United States Amateur, which begins Monday, Aug. 15, in Paramus N.J.

Five Tar Heels – fifth-year senior Ryan Burnett (Lafayette, Calif.), seniors Austin Greaser (Vandalia, Ohio) and Dylan Menante (Carlsbad, Calif.), junior Peter Fountain (Raleigh, N.C.) and sophomore David Ford (Peachtree Corners, Ga.) – are playing in the 122^nd national amateur championship.

Dougie Ergood of Mount Laurel, N.J., who graduated from UNC in the spring and will be playing a fifth season at Charlotte, is also in the field.

The Ridgewood Country Club, home to the 1935 Ryder Cup and 1974 U.S. Amateur, and Arcola Country Club host stroke play on Monday and Tuesday.

A total of 7,749 players entered the tournament, which through exemptions and local qualifiers was whittled down to the 312 players who will compete in Paramus. Greaser, Menante, Fountain and Ford are among 63 exempt players; Burnett made the field by winning a 36-hole qualifier in Raleigh in late June.

The top 64 players after Tuesday's second round advance to match play, which begins Wednesday. Two rounds of matches (round of 32 and round of 16) are Thursday, the quarterfinals will be played Friday, semifinals on Saturday and 36 holes to decide the champion are set for Sunday, Aug. 21.

All five of Carolina's active players enter the U.S. Amateur in the top 75 in this week's World Amateur Golf Rankings with Greaser surging to No. 5 in the world (third among U.S. players) after winning the Western Amateur. Menante is No. 8, Ford No. 15, Fountain No. 57 and Burnett No. 73.

Greaser won the Western Amateur last Sunday in Highland Park, Ill., defeating Argentina's Mateo Fernandez de Oliveira (Arkansas) 1 up in the championship match. Greaser twice rallied from two holes down, including a back-nine stretch where he won four straight holes, to take the title.

The two-time Tar Heel All-America and 2022 NCAA Yale Regional medalist finished second at Oakmont in last year's U.S. Amateur, which earned him invitations to the Masters (tied for low amateur) and the U.S. Open at Brookline, where he made the cut.

Greaser was seeded 24^th entering match play at Oakmont but beat four higher-seeded players to advance to the championship match, where Michigan State's Jamie Piot won 2&1. Greaser's march to the finals included a 6&4 win over Clemson's Jacob Bridgeman and a 2&1 win over Texas's Travis Vick in the semifinals.

Greaser's win at the Western was the third by a Tar Heel in one of the more prominent amateur tournaments this summer. Menante won the Northeast Amateur for the second straight year, this time in record-shattering fashion at 19 under par, and Ford was medalist at the Southern Amateur.

Carolina's quintet has plenty of experience playing in the U.S. Amateur.

Burnett advanced to match play at Pebble Beach in 2018 and competed in 2019 and 2020; Ford tied for fifth in stroke play at Bandon Dunes; Fountain competed last season at Oakmont; Greaser is playing in the U.S Amateur for the fourth consecutive year; and Menante is also playing for the fourth time with previous appearances in 2018, 2020 and 2021.

Greaser is paired with No. 3-ranked Sam Bennett and Vick, who is 13th. Menante is paired with No. 7 Sam Bairstow and No. 10 David Puig.

First Round Tee Times
Monday, August 15
7:21 a.m. – Ridgewood 9^th hole – David Ford, Luke Clanton, William Mouw
8:13 a.m. – Arcola 10^th hole – Austin Greaser, Sam Bennett, Travis Vick
9:05 a.m. – Ridgewood 1^st hole – Ryan Burnett, Tyler Mistretta, Juan Yumar
1:17 p.m. – Ridgewood 1^st hole – Dylan Menante, Sam Bairstow, David Puig
1:48 p.m. – Ridgewood 1^st hole – Peter Fountain, Preston Summerhays, Frankie Capan

Television coverage of the 2022 U.S. Amateur on Peacock and the Golf Channel begins on Wednesday, Aug. 17.

Results and information on the U.S. Amateur may be found at usga.org.

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University of North Carolina Athletics

Players Mentioned

Ryan Burnett

Dougie Ergood

David Ford

Peter Fountain

Austin Greaser

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