“When Tiger makes a putt or hits a good shot, it sounds like a plane just flew over,” Greaser said. “It is unbelievable the noise that his golf shots create. It’s unlike anything you’ve heard unless you’ve heard it in person.”
The past 12 months have been full of in-person and first-time golf memories for Greaser, a 2019 Vandalia Butler graduate who is entering his senior season at North Carolina.
Greaser was runner-up last August in the U.S. Amateur and earned exemptions into this year’s Masters and U.S. Open. He was medalist in the NCAA regionals and led the Tar Heels into the NCAA quarterfinals. He made the cut at the U.S. Open. This past weekend he won the prestigious Western Amateur near Chicago a year after reaching the semifinals and added his name to a list that includes Woods and Jack Nicklaus.
“It’s an honor to be a part of the list of winners that’s on that trophy,” Greaser said. “It’s pretty freaking cool, and I don’t know if words do it justice.”
On Monday, Greaser will be in Paramus, New Jersey, at Ridgewood Country Club trying to do what he did in the 120th Western Am. He battled through the 36-hole match play final in last year’s U.S. Am at Oakmont near Pittsburgh before losing on the 35th hole to James Piot. Greaser has played Ridgewood once and says it’s typical Northeast golf with tree-lined fairways, long par fours and big and fast greens similar to Oakmont.
“I really feel like next week with the U.S. Am I’ve got a really good shot,” Greaser said. “My game’s in a good spot. Maybe we can go do one better there, too.”
A year after coming up short in the semifinals, I’m honored to be the 120th Western Amateur Champion 🏆
— Austin Greaser (@AustinGreaser) August 8, 2022
Thanks everyone for the messages and support as always! pic.twitter.com/WwIEi8e5Dx
The taste of professional golf that Greaser savored this year has been a mindset changer. Through 27 holes at the Masters he was five shots off the lead until a rough back nine led to a 77 and missing the cut. In the U.S. Open at The Country Club in Brookline, Mass., Greaser opened with rounds of 72 and 70 to make the cut. When he birdied the final hole of the second round he knew he would be playing on the weekend.
“Understanding that my game can can hang with some of the best guys in the world, even professionally, gives me a big confidence boost and gives me a lot of confidence moving forward,” Greaser said. “I belong out there.”
Greaser’s game might be ready to turn pro, but he wants to finish his degree in sports administration and play his senior year for the Tar Heels. His Western Am victory earned him a spot in a Korn Ferry Tour pro event next summer. But he hopes to be playing on that developmental tour before then.
Greaser is ranked No. 4 in the preseason PGA Tour University rankings. If he finishes the college season in the top 5, he will earn exemptions into eight Korn Ferry events and be considered a full-time tour member. From there, Greaser will pursue what he hopes will be a regular spot on the PGA Tour and repeat trips to the Masters and U.S. Open.
For now, he has the memories of this year, especially the ones at Augusta. His tee times were such that on both days as he made the turn he watched Woods hit his opening tee shot and heard the Tiger roars again.
“It feels like a fantasy land really,” Greaser said. “On TV, it just looks so fake and everything perfect, and it really is. Even in person, everything’s perfect and feels like there’s not even a blade of grass out of place. It feels like heaven for a golfer.”
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