Greaser, a member of the UNC golf team, had 18-hole scores of 65, 69, 66 and 70 and was never seriously challenged. He joined 2017 champion Austin Sipe of Centerville on the elite list of Ohio Amateur champions.
“It feels great,” Greaser said.” I’m honored to get my name on a trophy with the great names that have come out of Ohio.”
Previous Ohio Amateur champions from the Dayton area were: Bob Kepler (1931), Bob Servis (1933, 1936, 1939, 1940, 1947), Brian Fogt (1982), Michael Bernard (2010) and Sipe (2017).
Greaser said he has practiced hard at Springfield Country Club during the coronavirus pandemic and was ready to compete this week. “I never step up to the first tee thinking I don’t have a chance to win,” he said. “I knew my game was in a good place.”
The victory was Greaser’s second in the last month. He won the Northern Kentucky Amateur Championship at Lassing Pointe Golf Course.
Although he won Friday by a comfortable margin, Greaser didn’t get his hands on the trophy without some anxious moments. He had an eight-stroke lead at the first tee, but that margin had shrunk to five after only three holes because he bogeyed the second hole while one of his playing partners, Chris Williard of Blacklick, birdied holes No. 1 and No. 3.
Greaser quickly righted the ship and restored his original lead by parring five straight holes and birdieing the ninth. Meanwhile, Williard had played four holes in four over par to slide out of second position.
Moving to the back nine with a comfortable lead, Greaser put his game on cruise control. He birdied the par 5 10th hole and strung seven pars and an 18th-hole birdie to win in a breeze with a final-round 70.
Bryce Haney, the Wright State University golfer from Huber Heights, finished second with a 10-under-par score of 278 after turning in a 68 for the final round.
Garrett Wood of Clarksville shot 68 to finish third at 280 and Williard slid into a fourth-place tie with Dhaivat Pandya of Dayton at 281. Williard turned in a 73, and Pandya shot 69.
Josh Gilkison of Springboro, who has won the Miami Valley Metropolitan Championship twice, finished ninth with a 284 score, Cole Corder of Beavercreek tied for 14th. Gilkison’s younger brother, Jordan Gilkison, tied Cameron Willis of Eaton for 26th position in a field of 139.
Greaser said he is looking forward to playing in the U.S. Amateur Championship Aug. 10-16 before returning to Chapel Hill for his sophomore year.
A graduate of Vandalia-Butler High School, he was a two-time all-conference player in the Greater Western Ohio Conference and the Player of the Year. He reached the quarterfinals of the 2019 U.S. Junior Amateur Championship at Inverness in Toledo. He qualified for the 2019 U.S. Amateur by sharing medalist honors at Moraine Country Club. He advanced to the second round in qualifying for the U.S. Open in 2017 and 2019.
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