Walking off the green following his 75th hole of the 93rd Illinois State Amateur Championship Thursday at Atkins Golf Club at the University of Illinois, Pierce Grieve had just one word for his parents.

“Finally!” he proclaimed.

While that single-word release may have in part been a reference to the marathon-like week the Illinois State Am always represents, it was the opportunity he gave himself to hoist the Louis L. Emmerson Trophy that was such a relief to the rising senior at West Virginia University.

“It felt great,” Grieve said. “I haven’t put myself in a position to win in a pretty long time. Sleeping last night on the lead felt pretty foreign to me, but it kind of reminded me of my junior golf days and high school golf days. It was definitely nice to feel those first tee jitters again and everything that goes along with that, so it’s definitely kind of a monkey off my back after not winning in a while. It feels good to be back in the winner’s circle.”

Grieve’s journey to the proverbial winner’s circle didn’t come easy, as his rounds of 70 and 69 on Thursday earned him a spot in a three-hole aggregate playoff with Marcus Smith following Smith’s fourth-round 65, the lowest round of the tournament. Three pars at holes No. 7, 8, and 9 secured Grieve’s victory.

Prior to Thursday, the 6-foot-6 lefty opened the Championship with a pair of 2-under 70s. He carded eight birdies to just four bogeys to obtain a one-shot lead over five competitors ahead of Thursday’s double-loop day. His back-nine 37 in the second round ended up being the lone over-par side of his championship run.

Mindset unchanged, Grieve returned to the course Thursday morning, ready for more.

“It really was just to try to extend [the lead],” Grieve said. “One shot isn’t really a whole lot out here, especially when you’re waking up and know you have to play 36 holes. I knew No. 1 was a par-5 and I was thrilled to take advantage of that early on my first hole. I really just tried to expand that lead as much as possible.”

Following that opening birdie, Grieve carded two more at Nos. 4 and 5, along with bogeys on each subsequent hole, to turn at 35 and 5-under overall. An opening bogey on the par-4 No. 10 briefly brought the eventual champion back to even par on the day before red figures on No. 14 and 15 pushed the tally back under par. Grieve headed to a brief lunch break with a familiar 2-under 70 on the card for his third round.

Grieve’s ball-striking clinic continued early on in Thursday afternoon’s final round. Three birdies and a bogey on the outward nine turned him in red figures for the fourth time this week. The magnetic force his golf ball and the greens seemed to share was far from worry, as he posted two final birdies at Nos. 11 and 12 to bring his score to 10-under.

With a gruesome finishing stretch awaiting, Grieve continued the steady form that he had shown throughout the week. He walked up to the lengthy par-3 17th off the heels of four consecutive pars. With that winner’s circle awaiting, Grieve’s golf ball decided to go for a spin of its own first, as it oscillated around the cup on his par attempt, leading to his second bogey of the round. A closing two-putt par at the par-4 18th brought Grieve to the clubhouse with a final score of 9-under for the Championship.

“I was hitting it pretty good all week,” Grieve said after the final round. “I never really found myself in a situation where I didn’t think I could make par and that definitely saved a lot of the stress throughout the week. I’d say [my ball striking] was definitely a big help.”

Much of the time, a three-under-par round with a four-shot lead would get the job done with ease.

Smith had plans of making the win just a bit more difficult. While Grieve was out carding his fourth under-par round of the Championship, Smith was lighting up the scoreboard two groups ahead of him. He utilized birdies at Nos. 1, 3 and 9, along with an eagle at the par-5 sixth, to go out in 31 and trim his four-shot deficit to just one at the turn.
Twenty-five feet between him and a second eagle of the round, Smith found the bottom of the cup once again at the par-5 11th to take the lead by one. It pushed him to -7 on the round at the time.

Smith crossed over Stone Creek Boulevard one last time to card yet another birdie at No. 14 to reach 8-under par for the final round and 10 under on the Championship. His lone bogey of the final 18 came at No. 17 to send him to the scoring table to await his fate at -9 overall.

“I kept myself pretty well informed with how he was playing,” Grieve said of Smith’s charge with a chuckle. “It’s tough to see that ahead of you and know you have to match it. Especially seeing your lead slip away as you’re still making birdies, it’s a tough pill to swallow, but I knew there was a lot of golf left … Those last few are pretty treacherous.”

With the two both in at 9-under par, the Illinois State Amateur Championship turned to a three-hole aggregate playoff for the first time since 2021.

Keeping with the script, Grieve didn’t falter watching Smith gain a one-shot lead with a lengthy birdie make at the first playoff hole, Atkins’ par-4 seventh. Two more pars at Nos. 8 and 9 bested Smith, as the latter ran out of steam and carded two double bogeys coming in.

Finally, he got it done.

With the win, Grieve earned a trip to the 2024 U.S. Amateur Championship, Aug. 12-18, at Hazeltine National Golf Club in Minnesota – a state he’s much looking forward to returning to.

“I’m thrilled,” he said of his upcoming trip to the Land of 10,000 Lakes. “Everyone on my dad’s side lives up there, he grew up there and my grandparents are from there, so this is one I wanted to make it to. I told all of my buddies, ‘This is the week where I’m going to get it done,’ and I’m just thrilled to make that happen.”

Calling his shot, he has now etched his name next to a bevy of worthy champions.

Joining Grieve and Smith in the top five and ties were T.J. Barger (Bloomington) and Jake Wiktor (River Forest), both T3 at 2 under, and Bradley Goldstein (Highland Park), Justin Schwab (Beach Park) and Parker Wisdom (Bloomington), who closed in a tie for fifth at 1-under par.

While Grieve is off competing in a national championship, the CDGA will turn to the 9th CDGA Amateur Four-Ball Championship, Aug. 12-14, at The Mauh-Nah-Tee-See Club in Rockford.

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