ELON, N.C. – Last summer, Garrett Risner was in too much pain to practice let alone compete. The struggles from then have made his achievements this summer even more meaningful. 

That is because Risner won the Carolinas Amateur Championship at Pine Needles Lodge and Golf Club in July and backed it up by winning the North Carolina Match Play in August, becoming just the second player ever to win both prestigious tournaments in the same year. For Risner, the incredible summer stems from a period of adversity and uncertainty. 

When Risner returned home in 2022 following the spring semester at Elon, he suffered a herniated disc in his back. As he spent the whole summer rehabbing the injury, all he could do was practice his putting. 

"I'd be lying to you if it wasn't one of the hardest things I've had to go through," Risner said. 

Before Elon began its 2022 fall season, the team had a training trip at Eagle Point Golf Club. Risner said he could barely walk the course and was uncertain if he would be able to tee it up in Elon's first event at VCU in September. 

Since the injury, Risner has adjusted his swing to alleviate the pressure being put on the disc with the help of his swing coach and Elon sports performance coach Cameron Ringstead. Not only did he appear in Elon's first fall tournament at VCU, he played in 12 events, racking up a win at the Phoenix Invitational and All-CAA honors. 

Following his stellar season with the Phoenix, Risner has enjoyed a breakout summer with the two biggest wins of his amateur career. 

"It finally clicked for me," Risner said. "I can't even describe how much it means to win the Carolinas, but to win the Match Play right after was kind of surreal." 

The Carolinas Amateur is considered the flagship amateur golf event in the Carolinas and has been played since 1909. The tournament is 72 holes of stroke play for amateur golfers from North and South Carolina. 

The final group on Sunday at the Carolinas was an all-Elon affair, as Risner played with incoming Phoenix freshman Jack Wieler and former Phoenix assistant coach Kevin O'Connell. Risner went on to defeat O'Connell in a playoff after firing a final-round 68.  

"It kind of helped me early on to feel a little bit more comfortable," Risner said. "I kind of treated it like I was just out having fun with guys I know and playing a round of golf. It was really cool to be in the playoff with Kevin. It was awesome to just play golf with him and try and beat a guy that I tried to beat before when we were playing in practice. It was cool to get to beat him when it really mattered."

Although he posted nine top-20 finishes in 2022-23 at Elon, Risner said he wanted to find better consistency in his game so he could contend for more victories. He found what he was looking for over four days at the Carolinas Amateur. 

"I was just trying to figure out a way to get to that point where on the final day, I was in one of the last few groups," Risner said. "It was a big deal to be able to do that under pressure and then take it to the playoff and be able to do it then too. That was a breakthrough moment for me,"

Three weeks later, Risner hoisted another trophy at the 14th North Carolina Match Play, which was played at Cedarwood Country Club in Charlotte. With the championship match tied through 15 holes, Risner holed a 10-foot putt to win the 16th hole and iced the victory on the 18th by converting a 12-footer for birdie to win the match two-up. 

In the leadup to the Match Play, Risner was unsure if he would even play. He had another event the week after he was considering but he decided to commit to the Match Play to learn how to play better in the format. 

Risner said he was not happy with his performance in his first three matches in group play but was able to scratch out two wins and a tie to advance to the bracket stage. Then, while on the range after his third match, he said he found something in his game that he channeled for the rest of the week. 

"I was like, alright, that feels really good. Then, I went out and shot six under through 13 holes the next day and was just really feeling it," Risner said. "I got to the final day and had two matches and I kept it going at a steady pace. I was doing everything right to put pressure on  my opponent instead of myself, which was good because that's exactly what I wanted to learn." 

For Elon head coach Don Hill, it has been refreshing to see Risner have a healthy summer to showcase his abilities. 

"It's just nice to see him playing golf with freedom again. Freedom from injury, freedom from thought from a technique perspective, and getting back to just playing off instincts and guts with the opportunity to prepare the right way from a physical standpoint," Hill said. 

Risner said he added a new putter to his bag in the spring and began working with a new putting instructor this summer, which has helped him immensely. The uptick in putting has complimented his already prodigious tee-to-green skills.

"His ball striking has always been special. I'm talking professional golf, PGA Tour good," Hill said. "He absolutely can put bat-on-ball and hit a golf ball as beautifully as anybody I've ever seen in my entire life. It looks like he fell out of the crib on-plane with a square face. To be able to strike the golf ball that way and hit fairways and greens at the rate he does, it frees you up in so many ways because he doesn't feel like he has to go after every flag."

Risner's summer success built on what has been a special few months for Elon golf. It started when John Somers '14 competed at May's PGA Championship in May and June's U.S. Open. Wieler then qualified for this week's United States Amateur, the most significant event in men's amateur golf, in Colorado to cap off his stellar summer.

With so much to be proud of for the program this summer, Hill said he is trying to motivate his team to continue the momentum into the upcoming season. 

"After watching John play at the PGA championship, the first thing I did was I bought a poster, had it framed, and I put it right in the walkway so they can see that an Elon golfer competed in the PGA," Hill said. "A rising tide floats all boats and the tide of Elon golf is rising."

As Elon sets its sights on the beginning of its fall season next month, Hill said his goal is to put Risner in the right positions so he can continue his excellent run of play. 

"When somebody's playing well like that, it's a little bit like baseball. If a guy's throwing a no-hitter, you don't talk about him throwing a no-hitter," Hill said. "We'll just keep Garrett focused on what he needs to focus on. We'll keep him working hard and challenge him in ways to be competitive, but in many ways, you can over-coach. Our goal is not to over-coach him and just get him to the golf tournament, keep him healthy and keep him down the path he's on. And then let his play take care of himself."

Risner is hopeful he can carry his form from the summer into Elon's season. While he is looking to further his individual success, he is also focused on helping Elon reach new heights as a team. 

"I've taken another step in my career and I really want to take the next step, which would be to win a couple of college events and put up a lot of good numbers at Elon," Risner said. "The goal for us this year is to get to [NCAA] regionals and I hope my success can help us get there."
 

---

'Rising Phoenix' is a new student-led initiative to cover Elon Athletics. Through innovative content creation and storytelling, Elon University students will have the opportunity to highlight the moments, people and events that make an impact, leveraging the athletic department's various web and social media platforms for distribution. Interested in joining this initiative as a content creator (video, graphics, writing, storytelling, or more)? Contact Jacob Kisamore at jkisamore@elon.edu.

---