Greer Grinds To Another Tennessee Mid-Amateur Title In Playoff

As Ryan Greer stood over his tee shot on the first hole of a playoff on Wednesday in the 38^th Tennessee Mid-Amateur Championship, he did not allow his mind to wander back to a few minutes earlier when he last stood at that very spot.

Greer had arrived at the par-3 17^th hole at Tennessee National owning a one-shot lead over hard-charging Tucker Jenkins of Nashville, who was two groups ahead. However, his tee ball from 161 yards failed to clear the water hazard fronting the green, and Greer managed to get up-and-down for a gutsy bogey to retain a share of the lead.

After Jenkins and Greer missed birdie attempts on the final hole, it was back to the 17^th to commence the playoff. Undaunted by his earlier misfire, and with Jenkins safely on the green with 20 feet for birdie, Greer seize his opportunity for redemption.

The 43-year-old Knoxville resident stuck his approach to two feet, a dagger that never left the pin as it landed inches from the cup. After Jenkins burned the edge with his birdie try, Greer calmly tapped in his winning birdie to add to his 2014 title earned at The Honors Course.

“Considering I had just hit it in the water on 17, I would say that's as clutch of a shot as I’ve ever had,” Greer said. “The only other one that would compare is when I won in 2014 at The Honors. I remember hitting a 5-iron on hole 17 with Tim Jackson in my group, and making birdie to eventually win in a playoff. That was memorable, but I would say today’s shot is right up there.”

Greer’s victory – his fourth Tennessee Golf Association title after winning a pair of Tennessee Four-Balls with partner Jack Smith – seemed to be a foregone conclusion a couple of hours earlier. He entered the day owning a three-stroke advantage, and birdies on his first two holes moved him to 11-under and four clear of his closest challengers.

But those would prove to be Greer’s last birdies until the playoff. Suddenly, putts stopped dropping and he parred the next eight holes while still maintaining his four-shot cushion.

“I was giving myself great looks at birdie, but nothing was falling,” Greer said. “I just felt like at some point one of those had to go in because I knew I couldn’t start playing defensively.”

Back-to-back bogeys at 11 and 12 dropped Greer to 9-under, and a birdie from Jenkins on 14 sliced the margin to two shots with Smith lurking another shot back.

Neither Jenkins or Smith could force the issue with pars over their last four holes that included near misses for birdie at 18. Meanwhile, another bogey by Greer at 15 followed by his mishap at 17 suddenly brought Jenkins back into contention.

“Frankly, I knew I was in the middle of a dog fight, and I just had to grind,” Greer said. “I couldn't think of what was going on. I kept telling myself, ‘I can do this. I can pull this off.’ Thankfully after a poor swing on the 17th, I was able to rally and make a good putt. That was a great bogey considering the circumstances.”

Greer found the green on 18, leaving himself a curling 12-footer for the win that missed by inches, sending the competitors back to 17 for Greer’s moment of vindication.

“I told my caddie earlier that the 17th hole is an absolute perfect 7-iron for me - 161 yards into a wind. I felt like I needed to hit it about 165 to 167 and just made a really, really good swing. Tucker is a great player and a close friend, and I’m glad to be able to pull it off.”

After Greer posted a 74 on his final round and Jenkins carded a 69, they closed with totals of 7-under 209. Smith was third at 6-under 210, while four golfers tied for fourth at 4-under 212 that included Knoxville’s Brad Burling, Scotty Hudson of Franklin, Tanner Owens of Milton and Harrison’s Richard Spangler.

Cleveland’s Drew Linkous, Nashville’s Grant Milling and Brentwood’s Ryan Terry made up a trio at 3-under 213 to tie for 8^th.

The victory provided a sense of validation for Greer, having to earn his way into the tournament through qualifying after his ten-year exemption window expired last year.

“This is the first year that I played in a TGA qualifier since 2014,” Greer said. “The crazy part is I played at Willow Creek in 2014 and shot 67 in the qualifier, and this year I played at Willow Creek and shot 67. Frankly, I just wanted to be able to have some exemption. That's what I was really after.”

After winning the club championship at his home course, Cherokee Country Club, two weeks ago, Greer was hopeful to continue his recent success despite a setback last weekend.

“It's funny, I showed up 10 minutes before my tee time the first day, and felt absolutely horrible about my game,” Greer said. “I played poorly this past weekend in the Honors Club championship, coming off the Cherokee Club championship, where I played fantastic. But once I got started here, I hit a few decent shots, made a few putts, and then felt pretty good. Golf is such a humbling game, you just never know from week to week.”

With Greer serving on the TGA executive board and with a future term as the organization’s president, returning to the winner’s circle was important on many levels.

“I'd wanted to win another individual state championship just to prove to myself that maybe I am still as good as some of these other guys,” Greer said. “Considering what the TGA means to me, and considering now I have a son getting into golf, I wanted to prove to him that you can do it if you just work your tail off and you grind. I feel like that's my biggest asset as a golfer. I'm just a grinder. I may not be the best out here, but I can grind as good as anybody. And then to have my dad here today to get to see this one more time, it just means the world. I honestly didn't think I could win a Cherokee Club championship again, and I sure didn't think I could win a state title. To win them two weeks apart is pretty surreal.”

For complete results, go to Tennessee Mid-Amateur.

Paul Payne can be emailed at paulpayne6249@gmail.com