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Home / Bay of Plenty Times

Golfer Josh Geary looking sharp for NZPGA championship in Te Puke

By Stuart Whitaker
Bay of Plenty Times·
27 Apr, 2021 09:00 PM5 mins to read

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Josh Geary is a top contender at the NZPGA at Te Puke Golf Club and will also represent Te Puke in the Rohe Trophy team competition.

Josh Geary is a top contender at the NZPGA at Te Puke Golf Club and will also represent Te Puke in the Rohe Trophy team competition.

All things being equal, chances are golf professional Josh Geary would be playing in Europe right now.

But in the Covid world, he is still in New Zealand.

Geary has been helping out at Te Puke Golf Club alongside club professional Jared Pender and being in New Zealand means Geary is in the field for the NZPGA Championship that starts at the Te Puke course tomorrow.

By his own admission, he hasn't spent much time in the pro shop recently.

''I've been playing a lot of golf for the last six or seven weeks. There's been a lot of events. There's been three Charles Tours and multiple pro-ams,'' he says.

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The latest was last week's Briscoe's Invitational Pro-Am at Taupō's Wairakei International course, where he finished second, one shot behind the in-form Ryan Fox who will also be at the NZPGA Championship.

''My game's in pretty good shape,'' says Geary, ''I've been playing some pretty nice golf going into Te Puke.''

It's given him confidence.

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''It's always nice to have a bit of game time and competitive golf to be a bit sharper.''

That confidence and his course knowledge will both be important factors in the tournament.

''The knowledge is definitely going to help, but having that playing time under my belt is probably more valuable because tournament golf is a little bit different to practice and it pays to be sharp.''

Geary was instrumental in the Te Puke club being given the chance to stage the championship.

''At one point [the New Zealand PGA] didn't have a course, they had the tournament ready to go, and didn't have a course locked in, so I suggested - 'what about Te Puke?' and they said 'would they like it?' and I said 'I'm sure they'd love it'.

''It's been a long time since there's been an event that big in the Bay of Plenty, 20 years, maybe longer, and I think the area's pretty excited about having it in the Bay so hopefully they'll get a good turnout and everyone goes out there to watch.''

Geary started working at the club in November last year.

''Jared's an old friend of mine and he just reached out and said 'what are you up to with no golf on at the moment?' and he said 'if you want some hours in the shop, let me know'. I wasn't doing a whole lot else, just practising.''

Geary now hopes to be heading to Europe next month, initially for around eight weeks.

''I probably would have already gone by now to be honest. There's a couple of events I've missed out on because I couldn't book any quarantine. Especially before the Aussie bubble opened up, there was nothing available for months.

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''I've been looking since Christmas-New Year to try and get overseas and back and it just wasn't possible.''

He has targeted May to travel to Europe and stay for eight or maybe nine weeks.

''Hopefully I'll get a good stint, but it's all an unknown really. I've spoken to Foxy [Ryan Fox] about all the protocols and how they are handling things over there and they are doing really well.

"The travel's a bit more expensive and all the different rules and you have to jump through different hoops to get into different countries, but they are doing a great job of keeping everyone pretty safe and keeping players in a bubble and regular testing and all that sort of stuff."

He says he hopes to be able to play in three European Tour tournaments and three Challenge (men's second tier) tournaments.

''I'll just see what's what when I'm over there and decide what the plan will be for the rest of the year, whether I'll come home and go back or whether I stay on a bit longer.''

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The restrictions on overseas travel has had a silver lining, with more top players in New Zealand boosting the quality of the NZPGA Championship field.

Fox has won three of the last three tournaments he has played and is currently the top ranked New Zealand player.

''He's playing some good golf so he will be tough to beat and there are quite a few other players that will make the field stronger and add a bit more depth so that will be great.

''There are plenty of other guys [who could do well]. Golf's a funny sport and there's a bunch of guys who can do well any time. Guys like Jared on his own course - he hasn't been playing a lot of golf, but he knows the place better than anyone - then there's Harry Bateman, Kieran Muir, Ben Campbell.

''It's hard to predict, you never really know who's going to come out of the pack and win."

With travel restrictions between New Zealand and Australia lifted, four Australian players will also be in the field.

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''They will add to the quality of the field as well. They are good players from the sounds and it all just adds to the competition which is great for the tournament.''

■ The NZPGA Championship starts today and finishes on Sunday.

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