By Mike Lehman, TTU Sports Information

COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – For the second time in four years, a former Tennessee Tech men's golfer has reached a major milestone while representing the program at the USGA level as Ryan Greer qualified for the 2019 U.S. Mid-Amateur.

A member of the Golden Eagle squad and former teammate of current Tech head coach Polk Brown, Greer posted an even-par 72 to force a playoff for the fourth and final qualifying position while competing at River Run Country Club in Davidson, N.C. Greer outlasted Austin King in two playoff holes to qualify for September's main event.

The former Golden Eagle qualified for the U.S. Mid-Amateur after firing a qualifier-low 66 to earn one of four available spots in the mid-September tournament. The event is scheduled from Sept. 14-19 at Colorado Golf Club in Parker, Colo. with some stroke play to occur at CommonGround Golf Course in Aurora, Colo.

The field will consist of 264 qualifiers and feature 18 hole rounds of stroke play on each of the first two days. The top 64 golfers will then take part in match play on Sept. 16 to trim the field in half. Two more match play rounds will sheer the participants down to just eight on Sept. 17 while the quarterfinal and semifinal match play rounds will take place on Sept. 18. Thursday, Sept. 19 will serve as the championship match, featuring 36 holes of match play.

Greer joins Lee Maxwell among former Golden Eagles to qualify for the event in the past four years. Maxwell, who partnered with his father, Gary, to win the Pepsi Bobby Nichols Golden Eagle Scramble this past summer, qualified for the U.S. Mid-Amateur back in 2016.

He also represents one of four former Golden Eagles to make the cut in a USGA events in the past decade. In 2015, Lee Whitehead competed in the U.S. Amateur at Olympia Fields in Chicago. Braxton Hunter also represented the purple and gold in 2005, participating in the U.S. Amateur at Merion Golf Club in Merion Station, Pa.

Photo by TTU Sports Information