Reed Greyserman (New Jersey State Golf Association Photo)
Reed Greyserman of Short Hills captured the 123rd New Jersey Amateur Championship presented by Provident Bank on July 10 at Forest Hill Field Club. Greyserman,19, earned the victory by three strokes, winning wire-to-wire. With the win, he earned an exemption into the 124th U.S. Amateur Championship at Hazeltine National Golf Club.
“It's amazing,” Greyserman said following his win. “It's a great feeling going wire-to-wire. I played quite well all week. I struggled a little bit today, but got it done.”
The win is Greyserman’s first NJSGA title. His brothers Max (29) and Dean (20) have also both won NJSGA championships. His brother Max, who is now full-time on the PGA TOUR, won the Amateur in 2015 at Morris County Golf Club. Reed and Max are the first set of brothers to win the Amateur in NJSGA history.
“I didn’t know that we were the first set of brothers to win and that’s an awesome feeling.” Greyserman added. “I am following his footsteps a little bit.”
In the morning third round, Greyserman remained poised, carding a 3-under par 68. His round was highlighted by birdies on the first four holes on his back nine.
"The morning went well, but a little slow start,” claimed Greyserman.
After a short break following the third round, Greyserman got off to another solid start. He birdied two of his first four holes. He faced a setback on No. 6 before making the turn at 16-under par overall. Greyserman found himself in trouble on the back nine, bogeying three of the first four holes.
"On 13, I went left off the tee and lost that ball,” Greyserman mentioned. “Going back to that tee was a little rough, but I stayed calm.”
Greyserman displayed some late heroics to cement his win on 15 and 16. The Princeton University bound golfer drove the green on 15, a 387-yard par 4 and two-putted for birdie. He went on to birdie the ensuing hole, with a six-foot birdie putt to ultimately clinch the Edwin M. Wild Trophy.
"I have a lot of confidence going into the fall season,” Greyserman said of heading to Princeton. “I’ve been preparing for it for a while, and I’ll try to get it done for the team soon.”
Several notable NJSGA competitors made a late run, but Greyserman was too much for the remainder of the field.
Liam Pasternak of Morristown was a threat throughout the third and fourth rounds. In the morning, he had a blemish-free scorecard, highlighted by three birdies on 11, 12 and 14, which matched Greyserman’s 68. In the final round, Pasternak started off with a birdie on No. 2 to get within four strokes of Greyserman, but a triple bogey on No. 3, a 501-yard par 5 dropped the 17-year-old further from the lead.
The incoming high school senior battled through the remainder of the round, tallying five birdies the rest of the way. For the tournament, Pasternak finished behind Greyserman at 11-under par.
Jeremy Wall and Mark Costanza both finished in third place. The duo also made a run at the title, carding birdies down the stretch, just one group ahead of Greyserman.
Greyserman’s 270 total strokes marked the lowest winning 72-hole score. Dawson Jones finished at 273 in 2019 at Neshanic Valley Golf Course.
The top three finishers (and ties) receive an exemption into the 2025 final stage of U.S. Amateur qualifying.
Eric LeFante, 2021 New Jersey Mid-Amateur Champion, matched the round of the week on Wednesday morning, shooting a 6-under par 65 in the third round.
Thomas O’Neill logged a hole-in-one on the No. 5, a 165-yard par 3 – the only one of the week.
ABOUT THE
New Jersey State Amateur
Open to male amateurs who have qualified through
one of three qualifying sites or have met the
exemption criteria. Format is 72 holes of stroke play
with a cut to the low 40 scores after the second
round.
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