Putting separates the men from the boys in golf, though. And Grant Greazel showed nerves of steel to win a three-man playoff at the 77th annual Fort Dodge Amateur on Sunday at the Fort Dodge Country Club.

Greazel calmly rolled in a short birdie to defeat Owen Sawyer and Preston Bily for the Open Division title in the event’s first playoff since 2014. The former Marshalltown High School standout and 2024 NJCAA individual national champion was joined in the 2025 FD Am winner’s circle by Bret Taylor (Senior Division), Dave Gaer (Super Senior) and Joel Yunek (Legends).

The 21-year-old Greazel fought his way back from an inauspicious start and held firm through hot, windy conditions to eventually tie for the top spot after 54 holes with Sawyer and Bily at even-par 213. With a noticeable breeze at their backs, all three golfers cleared the trees off the tee on the par-four first hole to set up short pitches into the green.

Greazel, Sawyer and Bily all knocked their second shots within 10 feet, creating an ostensible putting contest to decide either the title or another hole of sudden death. Sawyer and Bily both missed, and Greazel — the closest to the hole of the trio — sank a four-footer to put an end to the drama almost as quickly as it began.

Submitted photo: Grant Greazel holds the 2025 Fort Dodge Amateur Open Division trophy with FD Am committee member Terry Miller of Fort Dodge.

“This obviously means a lot to me,” said Greazel, who is the stepson of 1996 Fort Dodge Senior High graduate Ryan Bennett. “It’s my first (Iowa Golf Association) win, so it will always be special because of that. But I’ve played a lot of rounds (at the FDCC), dating back to high school, and knowing I have a lot of family in the Fort Dodge area now gives it some added importance, too.

“I’ve always enjoyed playing this course, and this is a fun event with a lot of tradition. It feels great to find a way and come out on top.”

Greazel didn’t take a linear path to the crown. He was seven strokes back after Friday’s opening round, made up some ground on moving day Saturday, but double bogeyed the first hole yesterday morning and trailed by as many as six shots in the early going from the second-to-last group of the championship flight.

“I really wasn’t paying a ton of attention to how many (strokes) I needed to make up, especially after that double on 1 (to start the round on Sunday),” said Greazel, who starred for both the Bobcats and Kirkwood before joining the Ottawa University Arizona men’s golf squad in Surprise, Ariz. “I had kind of a general idea of where I was sitting, but didn’t take a peek (at the leaderboard) until 12 or 13 (when Greazel was still at plus-1 for the round and plus-3 overall).”

Greazel emerged as a legitimate contender with an eagle at 15 and a birdie at 16. He landed in the clubhouse at even par with Sawyer, Bily, Andrew Huseman and Will Simpson still on the course.

Messenger photo by Eric Pratt: Andrew Huseman hits an approach shot on the 17th hole at the FDCC during the final round of the Fort Dodge Amateur on Sunday.

Sawyer — a junior-to-be on the Iowa State men’s team from Cedar Falls — had a downhill 15-foot birdie putt to win the tournament at the 18th slide by the hole. Bily, who is from Indianola and currently plays for SIU-Edwardsville, got up and down for a par on 18 to also secure a spot in the playoff, with Huseman — the 2019, ’21 and ’22 FD Am champ — finishing one stroke back at 214.

This was the second FD Am appearance for Greazel, who graduated from Marshalltown in 2022 and became the NJCAA headliner by winning the Div. II national tournament with the Eagles 13 months ago. He was an All-American as a freshman before securing the school’s first-ever Jack Nicklaus Award as the NJCAA national player of the year in 2024 in his sophomore season.

This past spring, Greazel was 15th individually and OUAZ took 8th at the NAIA Championships.

“I think it helped me some that I’m a lower ball flight hitter,” Greazel said about the 25-40 mile per hour winds all weekend, which were flanked by temperatures in the mid-90s. “I knew when I could get aggressive off the tee because of the familiarity with the golf course. So that was a bonus.

“I think I’ve probably played (the FDCC) at least 20 times through the years. I stuck to my gameplan when it came to attacking course and the conditions with a level-headed approach. We were all in the same boat (on Sunday).”

Messenger photo by Eric Pratt: Preston Bily putts during the final round of the Fort Dodge Amateur on Sunday at the Fort Dodge Country Club.

Taylor, from Booneville, held of Norwalk’s Terry Cook — the 2020 and ’21 FD Am Senior titleist — and Bill Matzdorff of Cumming for his first FD Am Senior crown at 69-73-75 – 217. Cook and Matzdorff were both two strokes back at 219.

Gaer defended his Super Senior title with steady rounds of 72, 73 and 72. The Des Moines resident finished a comfortable seven strokes ahead of Humboldt’s Tony Malizia at 224.

Yunek, a four-time Senior winner and the 2020 Super Senior champ, earned his first Legends trophy with a 83-72-76 – 231. The Mason City resident bested defending titleist Terry Miller of Fort Dodge by two shots.

OPEN DIVISION

*1. Grant Greazel, Marshalltown 73-71-69–213

Messenger photo by Eric Pratt: Owen Sawyer hits an approach shot at the 17th hole of the Fort Dodge Country Club on Sunday during the final round of the Fort Dodge Amateur.

2. Owen Sawyer, Cedar Falls 66-77-70–213

3. Preston Bily, Indianola 67-73-73–213

4. Andrew Huseman, Ankeny 70-72-72–214

5. Will Simpson, Pella 66-75-75–216

6. Jake Weissenburger, Clive 69-75-73–217

Messenger photo by Eric Pratt: Will Simpson putts on Sunday during the final round of the Fort Dodge Amateur.

7. Tanner Dinnebier, West Des Moines 71-77-70–218

8. Sam Johnson, Bettendorf 75-74-70–219

9. Maxwell Tjoa, Cedar Falls 69-78-72–219

(*Won sudden-death playoff)

SENIOR DIVISION

1. Bret Taylor, Booneville 69-73-75–217

2. Terry Cook, Norwalk 74-72-73–219

3. Bill Matzdorff, Cumming 74-72-73–219

4. Curtis Holck, Ankeny 74-73-74–221

5. Tony Newkirk, Des Moines 73-72-76–221

SUPER SENIOR

1. Dave Gaer, Des Moines 72-73-72–217

2. Tony Malizia, Humboldt 76-77-71–224

LEGENDS

1. Joel Yunek, Mason City 83-72-76–231

2. Terry Miller, Fort Dodge 74-81-78–233

Senior champion Bret Taylor of Booneville

Super Senior champion Dave Gaer of Des Moines

Legends champion Joel Yunek of Mason City