Golf: Josh Geary still aims at top echelon

Josh Geary is holding a fundraising tournament on Friday at the Fairview Golf Club. Photo/File

Teeing it up at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro has become a burning ambition for Tauranga golf professional Josh Geary.

The 28-year-old has had an up-and-down career as a tournament professional, but his talent has never been in question - nor his determination to be a world-class player.

Early on as a pro he decided to take on the toughest golf environment on earth in the US where the rewards are huge but so are the numbers of young pros looking to qualify for the big stage of the PGA Tour.

After years of struggling, Geary is in a good space mentally and with his game, and has reset his goals to look ahead to the Olympics.

To help with achieving vital steps along that path, he needs financial assistance so has come up with a novel way of doing so.

Geary will host a fundraising Stableford tournament this Friday at the picturesque Fairview Golf club near Katikati that is open to all comers and all golfing abilities.

There are $7500 worth of prizes up for grabs and a barbecue on course, plus food platters, auctions and raffles in the club after golf.

"The reason I'm holding the event is to help with travel, coaching, physio, physical training and all the other costs involved with playing professional golf over the next two years, so I can get overseas to play more and raise my ranking high enough to make the Olympic team in 2016," Geary said.

"That's the goal I have in mind. I am currently ranked number nine in the country. I would have to be in the top two for a chance, but the gap between nine and two isn't that much and would only take a good few weeks to catch."

Geary has learnt much from the disappointments so far in his career, particularly in 2012 when he missed a good opportunity to get more starts in the US on the second-tier web.com tour.

"The low point in my career would have to be early 2012 after getting three starts on the web.com tour and needing to make at least one cut to get a higher re-ranking and therefore more starts for the season.

"Plagued with injury and a recent swing adjustment, saw me play some of my worst golf in years and miss all three cuts by a good margin, therefore leaving me nowhere to play in 2012.

"It was a lonely depressing and expensive place I found myself in for a few months, but through sheer hard work and determination I managed to slowly claw myself out of that hole and basically bring me to where I am today."

Late last year he broke through with perhaps his most important tournament victory.

"One of my biggest career highs was my five-shot victory at the Western Australian Open at the end of 2013.

"It was probably the biggest victory of my career and I really proved to myself that all the hard work I had put in and the things that I had been experimenting with were working."

Geary has full status on the Oneasia tour and Australasian tour this season but with both having a limited number of events he will need to play a few pro-ams and Charles Tour events in New Zealand to fill his schedule up. On the plus side he is looking forward to spending more time at home in Tauranga.

"My goal for the end of 2014 is to go back to the web.com tour school in America and gain status for 2015 with the intent of having one full season out there and gaining PGA tour status for 2016," he said.

"With a good finish to 2013, picking up three wins late in the season, I feel my physical and mental game are both in the best shape of my life.

"So I am looking forward to the next phase in my career which is already underway."For Friday's entry details: phone Fairview Golf Shop, 549-3412.