Right at Home at Olympic Hills, Greve Shoots 66 to Lead MGA Amateur

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  EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn. – Home-course advantage during a state championship can be both a blessing and a curse. There’s the obvious aspect of comfort and familiarity, but it can also bring the added expectation to perform well.

The latter was a non-issue for two-time Minnesota State Open champion Ben Greve Monday, shooting a 6-under 66 at Olympic Hills Golf Club to take a four-stroke lead over Carson Herron and Matt Armstrong after the first round of the 119th Minnesota Golf Association Amateur Championship.

“I’m 41 now and playing in fewer of these events, so I don’t really feel the pressure,” Greve said following his round Monday. “I’ve never won [a State Amateur], so it’d be fun to win here and it would mean a lot. It helps to have an advantage here—there’s a lot of tough greens and tough spots that can get people.

“I had good control today. I drove the ball well and my iron play was really good—I missed two greens. My first nine, I missed a few makable putts, but had a solid back nine.”

Prior to 2014, when Jesse Bull won on his home course at Golden Valley Country Club, no player had won the Amateur Championship at home since Charles Sawyer won at Interlachen Country Club in 1948.

Beginning his round on the 10th tee Monday, Greve started the scoring by sinking a 12-footer for birdie at the 11th.

Getting up-and-down from the edge of the 14th green, Greve moved to 2-under before taking a step back with bogey at the 16th. He rebounded by chipping in for eagle at the par-5 18th to turn in 3-under.

Quickly climbing the leaderboard with back-to-back birdies at the second and third, Greve carded his second bogey of the round with a three-putt at the fourth. Sinking a 10-footer for birdie at the 10th would give Greve the clubhouse lead at 6-under 66 after the first round of play.

“I hit it in a lot of good places today so I could be aggressive with my putts,” He said.

A member of the 2002 University of Minnesota national championship team, Greve won the 2016 Minnesota State Open at Bunker Hills Golf Club and successfully defended his title the following season at StoneRidge Golf Club for his most recent state victory.

At the State Open earlier this month, Greve posted rounds of 72 and 76, respectively, to miss the cut by two shots at Bunker Hills.

“I was close,” he said. “Kind of silly, but I had a different driver in play that went further and I hit very few fairways, which is tough to do at Bunker Hills. The rest of the game felt good.

“I’ve played well at a couple of national events and I’ve just been playing country club golf lately. I went back to my normal driver the last few weeks and everything feels good."

Near misses at multiple state events over the past three seasons, Greve has claimed five top-10 finishes since 2017.

Following a runner-up to Sammy Schmitz at the 2018 MGA Players’ Championship at The Jewel Golf Club, Greve was denied a third Minnesota State Open title last season at Chaska Town Course, falling to Cecil Belisle in a playoff.

Herron, a soon-to-be sophomore at the University of New Mexico, played his first eight holes in 1-under to begin the championship Monday before finding his rhythm mid-round.

Carding a birdie at his ninth hole, Herron would then roll in a 12-footer for eagle at his 10th and birdie his 11th to jump ahead of the field at 5-under for the round.

But three bogeys sprinkled over his final seven put the former Minnetonka High School star in a share of second with his round of 2-under 70.

“I played pretty solid and started putting really well,” Herron said following his round Monday. “Poor finish—it started getting pretty windy and I didn’t hit some good shots coming in.

“I hit it in some interesting spots, but I could escape if I was in a tough situation. I need to have a little more patience and keep giving myself a lot of looks because the course is playing tough for everyone.”

Herron put himself in early contention to earn his first state victory since the Minnesota Junior PGA Match Play Championship two seasons ago at Cragun’s Legacy Courses.

Armstrong, a University of St. Thomas junior, carded a pair of early bogeys during his front nine Monday before drawing even with birdies at the ninth and 11th holes.

A bogey at the 13th put him back to 1-over for the round, but he would eagle the 14th to quickly move to 1-under.

Armstrong took a step back with bogey at the 17th, but finished with a flurry by carding his second eagle of the round to finish in a share of second at 2-under 70.

University of San Diego assistant coach and former Edina High School standout Sam Foust posted a 1-under 71 Monday to finish the opening round tied for fourth with the University of Iowa’s Ian Meyer, former University of Kansas golfer Ben Sigel and Bethel University’s Conor Schubring.

The second round of the 119th MGA Amateur Championship is scheduled to begin at 7:30 a.m. at Olympic Hills Golf Club.