| Midwest Golf House | Contact: Casey Richards |
| 11855 Archer Avenue | (630) 685-2324 |
| Lemont, IL 60439 | crichards@cdga.org |
| Contact: Tim Merrick | |
| (630) 685-2302 | |
| tmerrick@cdga.org | |
| Contact: Jacob Bomeli | |
| (630) 685-2345 | |
| jbomeli@cdga.org |
| For Immediate Release | June 26, 2025 |
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| GRIEVE ACCOMPLISHES HISTORIC DOUBLE, BACKING STATE AM TITLE WITH CDGA AM GLORY | |
| Thursday, June 26, 2025 - DEERFIELD, Ill. – Down by two holes at the halfway point of the 36-hole Final Match in the 105th CDGA Amateur Championship at Briarwood Country Club Thursday, Pierce Grieve (Lake Forest / Chicago District GC) felt “backed into a corner.” His way out? Lunch. “First of all, lunch was great,” Grieve said of his grilled chicken sandwich with avocado on grilled bread. “That definitely put a little bit more of a smile on my face.” Belly full, Grieve asserted control of the title tilt against Alexander Creamean (Winnetka / CDGA Member’s Club) by winning the first two holes of the second 18 and never looked back, surging to a historic 4-and-3 triumph. Grieve added the Joseph G. Davis Trophy to the Louis L. Emmerson Trophy he earned by winning last year’s Illinois State Amateur Championship. He becomes just the 12th person to win both events and the first since the legendary Joel Hirsch achieved the feat in 1988. “It feels great,” the lanky lefty said. “I feel like this and the State Am are the two majors of Illinois golf. To get both of those trophies and put my name on both of them is super special. Not only that, to do it within 11 months is even cooler. I think it speaks on just where my game's at.” The 21-year-old West Virginia graduate played solid golf on the first 18, only to be outdone by Creamean, who notched five birdies and no bogeys in the morning. Rather than be discouraged by the deficit, Grieve’s championship mindset kicked in as he teed off on Briarwood’s first hole for the seventh time of the marathon event. “I might have been trailing a little bit, but if anything, that just gave me a little bit more of an edge and kind of added to that competitiveness that I've got inside me,” Grieve said. “I got after it this afternoon.” Two holes into the afternoon, the match was tied, as Creamean carded bogeys on Nos. 1 and 2. Two pars on No. 3 set the stage for the par-3 fourth, where Grieve curled in a cross-green 45-footer for birdie and the lead. “The putt I made on No. 4, I hit it in a very similar spot this morning,” Grieve explained. “This morning, I hit a really good putt, and I turned to my caddie Will [Webb], and I was like, ‘I hit that a little softer, that's in.’ I hit it pretty much in the same spot. Will and I were walking up, and I was like, ‘A little bit softer pace, and this thing's bottoms up.’ I executed that and it felt good to see that one curl in.” Creamean responded with a birdie on No. 5 before Grieve again relied on the flatstick to surge ahead. “That was not one I was expecting to make,” Grieve admitted when referring to another 40-footer he drained for birdie on No. 6. “I hit it in the left rough and the ball was sitting down. I was just praying to get it on the green. We were kind of back and forth on the read, but I trusted Will's line and hooped it.” Yet another birdie on No. 7, which included a brief 15-minute weather delay between his approach and putt, gave Grieve a 2-up advantage and feeling of relative comfort that he had yet to experience all week. “That was massive,” Grieve said. “I don't think I'd had a 2-up lead until I got to 14 or 15 at all this week. To be on the front nine, which is a nine I struggled with this week, and holding a lead felt good.” Grieve’s lead remained 2 up stepping to the tee of the drivable par-4 14th. After putting two tee shots out of bounds in the morning round, Grieve flushed his drive to just short of the green. He two-putted for a birdie to go 3 up with four holes to play. “If I've got a drivable par 4 like that with my length, I might as well take advantage of it,” Grieve explained. “The three matches before today, I'd put it on the green, so that was my game plan. Obviously, with shot dispersions, you're going to have one that doesn't go so well, or maybe two, but I'm happy I could hit a good one this afternoon. It's kind of a hard putt, but I gave it some good pace and then made the little tester coming back.” Grieve almost clinched the match in remarkable fashion, putting his tee shot on the par-3 15th to within a foot. Creamean conceded and missed his birdie bid, cementing Grieve’s 4-and-3 triumph. “That was a cool walk-off for sure,” Grieve said. Grieve will not be back to defend his Illinois State Amateur Championship as he sets his sights on professional golf. “Professional golf is on the horizon for me,” Grieve said. “I’m not sure when that'll be, but definitely in the near future. Regardless, I'm happy to see my amateur career close with the State Amateur victory and the CDGA Amateur victory.” The Grieve-less State Amateur is next on the CDGA’s 2025 championship slate, as Illinois’ best will converge upon Stonebridge Country Club in Aurora for the event’s 94th iteration July 15-17. | |
| Chicago District Golf Association The Chicago District Golf Association (CDGA) is authorized by the United States Golf Association (USGA) as the governing body for amateur golf in our region. The CDGA is a membership organization consisting of more than 112,000 individual golfers and 400 clubs in Illinois and parts of Indiana, Michigan and Wisconsin. Golfers receive member offers, a Handicap Index® from the USGA® and competitive playing opportunities, while clubs receive Course Rating™ and Slope Rating™ measuring services, turfgrass diagnostics and educational seminars. The CDGA also creates opportunities for everyone to experience the benefits of the game through adaptive, therapeutic and youth Sunshine Programs, with an emphasis on serving disabled and veteran communities. | |
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