Peter Williams: Don't blink or you'll miss one of our brightest stars

Seldom has a New Zealand golf course succumbed the way Hastings' Bridge Pa buckled under the assault of Josh Geary last weekend.

By finishing an astonishing 24-under par for the 72-hole National Under-23 Championship, Geary reached a level few golfers ever threaten.

He has emerged in the past nine months as the most exciting golf prospect this country has seen since Michael Campbell. He makes lots of birdies and is fun to watch. He plays quickly, too. When it's his turn to hit, don't look away otherwise you'll miss him.

Theories abound as to why and how he's transformed from a Bay of Plenty reserve to the number one amateur in the country in less than a year. Those close to him suggest two important factors - he's cut down on social activities and worked hard on his game without a coach.

Up until he started his run of outstanding results at the North Island Championship in Hamilton last April, Geary was renowned for doing well in tournaments around his home patch of Mount Maunganui but was seldom a factor out of town.

Away from home, he reputedly had a few late nights and his scores looked like it.

But about this time last year, Geary, who'd been dropped from the elite squad in the High Performance Programme, decided to knuckle down.

He harnessed his after-hours carousing and took to the practice range. He continued to live in Mount Maunganui and did the work himself.

He was a surprise winner of the North Island Championship but, after the winter break from tournament play, totally dominated the four events that doubled as final trials for the New Zealand Eisenhower Trophy team.

He was leading New Zealander at the Waikato Winter Strokeplay, won the Bay of Plenty Open, placed third in the Auckland Strokeplay and cruised to the Waikato Strokeplay title by 12 shots.

In the space of six weeks he'd gone from an outside contender to automatic selection for the three-man national team and he confirmed his class in Puerto Rico when, despite New Zealand's disastrous team result, he finished fifth in the individual standings.

It was not all goodness and light. At the Taranaki Open in September he and Eisenhower Trophy team-mate Riki Kauika got drunk after the tournament and wrecked a sponsor's tent - but at least he waited until after the tournament.

Then he was dropped from a team to play in Argentina after reportedly swearing at the inter-provincial tournament in Napier.

He says he's learned a lesson from all that stuff. If he has then his game is surely the better for it.

Perhaps the most intriguing aspect of his golfing life is his coaching arrangement. He essentially works alone, or in recent times with another Mount Maunganui local Bradley Iles. He sometimes sends videos of his swing to Mal Tongue and there's a bit of advice by phone or email.

It could be argued this makes Geary a more self-sufficient player and the benefits are obvious.

He is magic on the greens too. Every time he looks at a putt under 10 feet it seems to go in. Long may the habit continue.

- HERALD ON SUNDAY