Josh Geary’s swoops to victory with brilliant final nine holes
Caption: Josh Geary, winner of the New Zealand Strokeplay in Christchurch last month. Photo credit: Golf New Zealand.
Josh Geary had a scintillating back nine to win the New Zealand Strokeplay Championship in Christchurch.
Geary produced some of his best golf to come home in seven-under par and steal the title away from amateur Sam Jones in the dying stages of the event. He carded rounds of 68, 68, 73, and 65 to finish at 14-under to win by one.
He started the back nine three-shots behind Jones and managed to kickstart the closing stages of his tournament with a birdie on hole No 10.
He holed his second shot on hole No 11 for eagle and birdied the 12th to suddenly tie Jones’s lead.
The pair traded blows, with Geary making birdies on the 14th and 16th and rolled in a clutch birdie on 18 to put the tournament virtually out of Jones’s reach. The only way Geary could be caught was if Jones made eagle up the last.
Jones went close, making a birdie.
The victory was Geary’s first since the Akarana Open in 2019 and he was delighted to get the monkey off his back.
“This feels pretty awesome,’’ Geary said afterwards.
``It was a bit of a battle all day out there, and even yesterday, I felt like I wasn’t getting much out of my golf.
``But yeah, I made that birdie on 10 and holed out for eagle on 11 and made some pretty clutch putts on the last five holes. It all seemed to come together at the right time.
“My putting clicked today. I tend to get hyper-focused when the pressure's on, and it helps my putting especially. A few putts dropped at the right time.”
“I’ve had a lot of good results over the past couple of years, and I haven’t managed to get over the line, so it was great to get that monkey off my back.
``It’s getting harder to win out here, and everyone is getting better. It’s great to see that the Jennian Homes Charles Tour is doing its job by improving the professionals and elite amateurs which is a great sign. It means more when you win now.”
The victory sets him up well for the rest of the year as he aims to get back over to Europe to play more events.
“This is great momentum for the rest of the year. I’ve only just started practising and playing again after two or three months. I have a few pro-ams up north and one in Queenstown, and then I’m getting ready to head overseas not long after that.
“It’s always good to get some competitive golf under your belt and some high pressure golf too, which is invaluable for when we go to these bigger events abroad.”
The man he beat didn’t walk away empty-handed.
Jones still walked away with the New Zealand Men’s Amateur Strokeplay Championship, awarded to the lowest amateur in the event.
He began the day two shots in front and played solid golf throughout his opening nine to hold a three-shot lead with nine holes to play.
He made a great par on the 10th after hitting his tee shot into the penalty area, and then made three birdies in a row to keep his nose in front of a fast-finishing Geary.
Jones’s tee shot on 17 proved costly as he hit his ball into the penalty area, resulting in a bogey.
“I know this isn’t a consolation prize and I’m really stoked to get this one over the line even though I fell short for the overall trophy,’’ Jones said.
``I played really solid all day and I was checking the leaderboard all day to see where everyone was at.
“Josh [Geary] had an awesome back nine to take it away from me but I’m still really stoked to win the New Zealand Men’s Amateur Strokeplay title.”
Jones’s tournament has set him up well for the rest of the year as he has eyes on making the Eisenhower Trophy team.
“My main goal is to make the Eisenhower team, and this week was a great stepping stone for that. If I keep playing well, there is no reason I can’t be a fixture when it comes to selection time.”
He finished with rounds of 69, 66, 71, and 69 to finish 13 under par.
Winning the New Zealand Women’s Amateur Strokeplay was Royal Auckland and Grange’s Vivian Lu who went back-to-back after winning the event last year.
She’s the first to win back-to-back titles in 27 years, with the last person to do it being Catherine Knight in 1994 and 1995.
Lu was in control all-tournament, shooting rounds of 70, 72, 71, and 72 to finish three-under par, six shots clear of her nearest rival Tara Raj.
Lu said it was fantastic to win consecutive titles.
“It feels great. I’m really happy I was I was able to pull it off today, and knowing that Lydia (Ko) didn’t go back-to-back is a bit of an ego-boost.”
“The game plan today was just to do what I’ve been doing the entire week. I just wanted to stay consistent today and shoot somewhere around even par.
“I want to try and win the New Zealand Amateur again and just play my best in all the events I end up playing in. This has given me a bit of confidence for the year ahead.”