Butler grad earns first collegiate golf victory with 168-yard shot

Austin Greaser continues strong play that included runner-up finish at U.S. Amateur
Austin Greaser tees off the ninth hole during the semifinals of the U.S. Amateur golf tournament Saturday, Aug. 14, 2021, at Oakmont Country Club in Oakmont, Pa. (Matt Freed/Pittsburgh Post-Gazette via AP)

Credit: Matt Freed

Credit: Matt Freed

Austin Greaser tees off the ninth hole during the semifinals of the U.S. Amateur golf tournament Saturday, Aug. 14, 2021, at Oakmont Country Club in Oakmont, Pa. (Matt Freed/Pittsburgh Post-Gazette via AP)

Vandalia native Austin Greaser made a 168-yard shot for birdie on the final hole to win the Olympia Fields/Fighting Illini Invitational on Sunday at the Olympia Fields North Course in Illinois.

Video of the shot shows Greaser, a Butler High School graduate, see his University of North Carolina teammates reacting on the green. When he realizes the shot went in the hole, he jumps up and down in the middle of the fairway.

It was the first collegiate victory for Greaser, a junior at the University of North Carolina, and he helped lead the Tar Heels to a three-shot victory in a 15-team field.

“Austin has played tremendous golf for a long time now,” said North Carolina coach Andrew DiBitetto on the school’s website. “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.”

In addition to holing out on the final hole Sunday, Greaser made his first career hole in one Saturday on the 168-yard 13th hole.

Greaser shot 4-under (69-68-69—206) to win by two shots in the three-day tournament. He was the only golfer to shoot under par in each round.

Greaser reached the finals of the U.S. Amateur in August, earning a spot in the 2022 U.S. Open and likely an invitation to the 2022 Masters. That followed an eight-shot victory at the 2020 Ohio Amateur.

Prior to this victory, his college career included a second-place finish in 2019 at the Turning Stone Tiger Invitational and seven other top-10 finishes.

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