Tag: Austin Greaser

Armando Bacot and Vance Honeycutt highlight recipients of UNC’s top athletic honor

UNC’s athletic accomplishments in the 2023-2024 sports calendar were highlighted by four of its student-athletes winning the same award.

The North Carolina Tar Heels, across all sports, enjoyed a successful 2023-2024 sports calendar.

UNC’s fencing, women’s tennis, men’s golf and men’s track and field teams all won ACC championships, but the most successful program was field hockey, which won a thrilling shootout against Northwestern to capture its 11th National Championship (most all-time).

North Carolina enjoyed a much-needed bounce-back season in men’s basketball, going from missing the NCAA Tournament last year to a Sweet 16 run this year. Armando Bacot became the program’s all-time leader in rebounds and double-doubles.

Most recently, Vance Honeycutt led the Diamond Heels to their first College World Series since 2018. He hit multiple walk-offs in the NCAA Tournament, including UNC’s CWS opener against ACC rival Virginia, while winning his second-straight ACC Defensive Player of the Year award.

Fiona Crawley, who spent most of tennis season as North Carolina’s top singles player, won 14 of the 19 matches she played in. Austin Greaser will go down as one of the best golfers to come through Chapel Hill, with his 71.04 stroke average third in program history.

Due to last year’s combined success between Bacot, Honeycutt, Crawley and Greaser, each student-athlete received the Patterson Medal – UNC’s top athletic honor.

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Each of the above Tar Heels enjoyed amazing careers. Though Honeycutt is the only one who could return, his status as a projected first-round pick in the 2024 MLB Draft means his time in Chapel Hill is likely over.

Follow us @TarHeelsWire on X and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of North Carolina Tar Heels news, notes and opinions.

Hole in one? UNC golfers are ready to play at Finley Golf Coure

The UNC men’s and women’s golf teams will soon get to call Finley Golf Course home again, with renovations nearing completion.

Finley Golf Course, home to the UNC men’s and women’s golf programs, is one of the country’s premier collegiate golf courses.

It rests just off NC-54 – near the Finley practice fields that Tar Heel lacrosse teams frequently hone their skills – and not too far from campus.

Carolina golfers had to play all their matches on the road last year, however, as Finley Golf Course underwent renovations to improve match-day experience.

There’s some good news coming to these Tar Heel golfers – their home course is almost complete.

On Friday, Sept. 29, longtime UNC journalist Lee Pace announced that Finley renovations were in their final stages.

While the course isn’t open for match play yet, Carolina golfers have been able to venture out there and practice their shots. They enjoy the new-look course.

“I was amazed,” UNC graduate student golfer Austin Greaser told GoHeels.com. “It’s a completely different golf course now. One of the cool parts is it’s actually pretty hard now for the top players. It can play significantly longer than before. We’re hitting more 7, 8 and 9 irons into greens now, where before we played a lot of wedges. It’s now a really good test of our game rather than being a course where you could wake up and shoot 3, 4, or 5 under no matter what.”

The coaches like the new look, too.

“The golf course is outstanding, Davis and his team did a great job,” UNC head women’s golf coach Aimee Neff told GoHeels.com. “It’s a more demanding golf course. The green complexes are much more challenging because there is so much more undulation. They’re big in size, but that can be misleading. Just being on the green doesn’t mean you have an easy two-putt. Before, the greens were pretty soft. Now approach shots and recovery shots are going to require a lot more skill.”

UNC’s women’s golf team, which is looking to grow even further in Year Three under Ness, unfortunately does not play at Finley this year. The Tar Heels host the Ruth’s Chris Tar Heel Invitational on Monday, Oct. 8 and Tuesday, Oct. 9, but that will take place at the Governor’s Club on the south side of town.

The UNC men’s golf squad, which placed third at last year’s NCAA championships, will get to host match play at the brand new Finley Golf Course. Carolina will host a three-day, NCAA Regional next year from Monday, May 13 to Wednesday, May 15.

Next season, though, both the men’s and women’s programs will get to enjoys seasons full of matches at Finley.

Follow us @TarHeelsWire on Twitter and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of North Carolina Tar Heels news, notes and opinions.

Meet the 10 members of the 2023 United States Walker Cup team

Here’s who will represent the United States at St. Andrews.

CHERRY HILLS VILLAGE, Colo. — The roster for the United States Walker Cup team is set.

Following the conclusion of the 123rd U.S. Amateur on Sunday, the United States Golf Association’s International Team Selection working group and coach Mike McCoy announced the final selections to represent the American team in the 49th Walker Cup at the Old Course at St. Andrews from Sept. 2-3.

The Walker Cup is a 10-man amateur team competition between the U.S. and Great Britain and Ireland. The Old Course has hosted eight previous Walker Cups, more than any other venue, most recently in 1975, when the USA defeated GB&I, 15½-8½.

Rising Stanford senior Michael Thorbjornsen, second in the World Amateur Golf Ranking, would’ve represented the United States but withdrew from the competition, as well as the U.S. Amateur, because of a back injury.

Meet the 10 members of the 2023 United States Walker Cup team.

Haskins Award: First spring watch list for 2022-23 men’s college golf Player of the Year

Check out who’s in the running for men’s college golfer of the year.

With every passing week, the men’s college golf season creeps closer to the NCAA Championship at Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, Arizona.

The Haskins Award announced Friday its first spring watch list, featuring 15 of the best men’s college golfers this season. Gordon Sargent, a sophomore at Vanderbilt who has risen to No. 2 in the World Amateur Golf Ranking, is having a stellar season, but there are plenty of other big names in contention.

The Haskins Award honors the player of the year in college men’s golf, as selected by college golfers, coaches and members of the college golf media. The players are listed alphabetically. Players on the Haskins Award Watch List were selected by a panel of Golfweek and Golf Channel reporters.

Golfweek/Sagarin Rankings: Men’s team | Men’s individual

Players to watch: Predicting 10 first-time PGA Tour winners in 2023

Keep an eye on this mix of veterans and rising stars in 2023.

After taking a nearly two-month holiday hiatus, the PGA Tour will return to action the first week of January with the 2023 Sentry Tournament of Champions in Hawaii.

The last time we saw the boys in action, Adam Svensson earned his first win on Tour at the RSM Classic in November. Tom Kim earned his second career win a month before at the Shriners Children’s Open.

There were 12 first-time winners on Tour in 2022. Golfweek predicted two of them, while four won on other tours. So who do we have our eyes on for next year? From veterans to rising stars from the amateur ranks, here are 10 players who we predict will hoist a trophy on Tour for the first time in 2023.

Italy captures men’s World Amateur Team Championship, beats Sweden by one stroke for first medal ever

Italy made history Saturday.

Italy made history Saturday.

Teenager Marco Florioli shot a bogey-free 6-under 66, and a 3-under 68 from Pietro Bovari led Italy to the Eisenhower Trophy in the men’s World Amateur Team Championship on Saturday at Le Golf National in Paris, France. It was the country’s first medal in 32 WATC appearances. Italy beat Sweden by one stroke, and the United States finished in third, four strokes behind Italy.

“The key point today is that I have seen our players winning without thinking about the results,” Italian captain Matteo Delpodio said. “They were winners on the golf course. When you see players playing this way with this attitude, the results do not matter. What matters is that they played like champions.”

2022 World Amateur Team Championship
Gordon Sargent of United States of America plays his second shot at the 10th hole during the final round at the 2022 Eisenhower Trophy at Le Golf National in Paris, France on Saturday, Sept. 3, 2022 (Copyright USGA/Steven Gibbons)

The World Amateur Team Championship is four rounds of stroke play with the two lowest individual scores from each team counting every day.

The par-5 14th hole was pivotal down the stretch. Florioli was the first Italian player out and holed a chip, then Bovari followed with an eagle for a three-stroke gain on Sweden.

“I was feeling that I was going to make a birdie on that chip, and I made it,” said Florioli.

Although there is no official recognition, Sweden’s Tobias Jonsson was the low individual with a score of 17-under 269.

The winning World Amateur Team from Italy during the closing ceremony at the 2022 Eisenhower Trophy at Le Golf National in Paris, France on Saturday, Sept. 3, 2022 (Copyright USGA/Steven Gibbons)

Austin Greaser played well for the U.S., shooting in the 60s all four days. Norway finished in fourth place, its highest finish ever.

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PGA Tour University announces numerous changes ahead of 2022-23 season

The path for elite men’s college golfers to get to the PGA Tour is being upgraded.

The path for elite men’s college golfers to get to the PGA Tour is being upgraded.

PGA Tour University announced Wednesday enhanced performance benefits to the top college seniors before the start of the 2022-23 season.

Entering its third year, PGA Tour U will increase the number of graduates who earn tour membership. It also reaffirmed those players will receive exemptions into a new PGA Tour Q-School, and it will also be more advantageous for players who take PGA Tour exemptions the summer after graduation.

There are now 20 total graduating spots, up from 15 in the first two years. The grads will also be split into three groups, earning benefits based on their final position in the standings.

The first team, which is spots 1-5, will be exempt on the Korn Ferry Tour for its current season and exempt on an international tour the following season. For the second team, spots 6-10, they also earn conditional KFT cards. They will play out of the PGA Tour U category and get into tournaments through one of those allotted slots if any of the top players decide not to play. The sixth in the rankings would have first priority, and so on. The players could also earn more status through the points list. Nos. 6-10 are also exempt for that summer’s Canada season and the following Latinoamerica season. The third team, the remaining 10, receive full Canada status for the current season and full Latinoamerica status the following season.

There are also changes coming to PGA Tour Q school, where Nos. 1-5 will be exempt into the final stage of Q school. Nos. 6-20 will be exempt into the second stage.

Additionally, the top-20 finishers will compete against each other for future eligibility. The three players with the highest combined point total in events played on the then-current PGA Tour and KFT seasons will be exempt on the Korn Ferry Tour for the following season.

Florida’s Fred Biondi is the top-ranked player in the PGA Tour U rankings to begin the season. Texas Tech’s Ludvig Aberg is second, Texas A&M’s Sam Bennett, the U.S. Amateur champion, is third, with North Carolina’s Austin Greaser and Texas’ Travis Vick rounding out the top five.

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Austin Greaser captures 120th Western Amateur with come-from-behind victory

Greaser trailed by two with eight holes to play.

Austin Greaser was close to capturing the Western Amateur title last year.

He made a run into the semifinals, losing to eventual champion Michael Thorbjornsen, but Greaser wanted more. He shot a 6-under 278 total in stroke play, at one point thinking he missed out on the 16-player field for match play. A couple of late bogeys helped push him into the 7-for-2 playoffs to get into the match-play portion. He got the 15th seed, and it didn’t stop there.

Greaser, from Vandalia, Ohio, and playing collegiately at North Carolina, came from behind in the championship match, winning four straight holes on the back side to win 1 up and capture the 120th Western Amateur at Exmoor Country Club in Highland Park, Illinois. Greaser was 2 down with eight to play against Mateo Fernandez de Oliveira, a senior at Arkansas, but he proceeded to win four straight holes with birdies and captured the match with a clutch up and down on the 18th.

He’s the fourth Tar Heel to win the Western Amateur, the first since Greg Parker in 1986.

“Just a lot of hard work. Just to see it come to fruition, it means a lot,” Greaser said. ”

Greaser’s victory came after three grueling days of golf. It started with 36 holes of stroke play plus the playoff on Thursday, then two match play rounds Friday and Saturday.

He was named honorable mention on Golfweek‘s All-America team following his junior season at North Carolina. He won twice, including the NCAA Yale Regional. He was an All-ACC selection, as well.

A week from Monday, Greaser will return to the U.S. Amateur stage at The Ridgewood Country Club in Paramus, New Jersey. Last year at Oakmont, he made the 36-hole match play final last year, falling to James Piot.

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Four amateurs made the cut at the 122nd U.S Open: Here’s where they finished

Of the 15 amateurs who teed it up this week in Brookline, four made the weekend.

BROOKLINE, Mass. — One of the many great things about the U.S. Open, if you’re good enough, is that you can earn your way into the field. In total, 15 amateurs earned their way to the tee Thursday at The Country Club, with four of them making the weekend. It’s the first time in three years any amateurs made the cut.

Travis Vick, Sam Bennett, Austin Greaser, and Stewart Hagestad did what several of the biggest names in golf couldn’t: earn Saturday and Sunday tee times.

In total, five amateurs have won the U.S. Open, with the last coming in 1933 (John Goodman, North Shore Country Club).

Here’s where the four amateurs who made the weekend in Brookline finished.

Five things we learned at the 2021 U.S. Amateur at Oakmont

There was a lot to learn from the week at Oakmont.

OAKMONT, Pa. — After two rounds of stroke play and six rounds of match play, a national champion has been crowned.

Down three holes with just nine to play, Michigan State’s James Piot mounted an incredible comeback to flip the marathon 36-hole final match at the 121st U.S. Amateur and defeat North Carolina’s Austin Greaser 2-and-1.

“It’s the greatest feeling in the world. I mean, as an amateur it’s the best thing you can do,” Piot said of the win. “It feels phenomenal. Shows the hard work I’ve done is paying off.”

Outside of Piot’s impressive performance, there was more to take away from the week at Oakmont Country Club outside Pittsburgh. Here’s what we learned from the U.S. Amateur.

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Dreams come true

Just look at what the win meant to Piot.

Defending home turf

Americans have played well in the U.S Amateur in recent years, winning nine of the last 15, including the last three. And the guys they beat? Thirteen of the last 15 runners-up have been from the U.S.

Oakmont is a perfect test for amateurs

Earlier in the week players were able to take slight advantage of the famed track just outside Pittsburgh thanks to 2.5 inches of rain over three days, causing four lengthy weather delays. But on Saturday and Sunday the sun came out, the winds began to whip and the greens grew firm.

“I think it firmed up a lot,” Greaser said after losing in the final. “As this place gets firmer Oakmont starts to show its teeth more and more.”

More: USGA declares Oakmont a second anchor site

Oakmont has deep ties to amateur golf. In addition to its record nine U.S. Opens, the club now has hosted six U.S. Amateurs, which ties it with Merion Golf Club and The Country Club for the most. The club will host the U.S. Open in 2025, but we’ll have to wait until the 2033 Walker Cup and 2046 U.S. Women’s Amateur until we see this level of amateur golf played there again.

Throw out the rankings in match play

Rankings are important and have their place in amateur golf, but they’re no indication of who will win the U.S. Amateur. Over the last 10 years, only four players ranked inside the top 10 of the World Amateur Golf Ranking have won: No. 2 Matt Fitzpatrick in 2013, No. 7 Bryson DeChambeau in 2015, No. 7 Curtis Luck in 2016 and No. 5 Viktor Hovland in 2018. And the other six? Piot was ranked 86th entering this last week. Last year’s champion at Bandon Dunes, Tyler Strafaci, was ranked No. 56 and his Georgia Tech teammate, Andy Ogletree, was 120th in 2019. Then there was No. 70 Doc Redman in 2017, Gunn Yang in 2014, who was No. 776 and Steven Fox in 2012 at 127th.

This year, only nine players who advanced to the Round of 16 were in the WAGR top 100: No. 5 Ricky Castillo, No. 26 Jacon Bridgeman, No. 28 Nick Gabrelcik, No. 44 Hugo Townsend, No. 45 Travis Vick, No. 47 Devon Bling, No. 82 Greaser, No. 86 Piot and No. 98 Ross Steelman.

NIL is h-e-r-e

A few players in the field this week were taking advantage of the new name, image and likeness rules, including three from Oklahoma State. KOCO anchor Carson Cunningham shared before the championship that Aman Gupta, Bo Jin and Brian Stark would wear a local Cadillac dealership’s gear for the week. Smart move by Wilson Cadillac, seeing as all three made match play, with Stark making a run to the quarterfinals.

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