Tough year for Josh Geary

By Neville Idour

Following his outstanding sixth at the Australian Open and second placing in The Hills' Invitation Pro-Am it was good to catch up with Josh Geary.

Looking back at 2022 it was a tough year in many ways for him.

“Yes, golf was on the back foot the first few months of this year (2022) dealing with mum’s accident so I didn’t really put much time into my game with practice. I would just play and did so at home first,” Geary said.

“I actually played pretty well to be fair and won a few things. I then went over to Europe for a few weeks.

``I found it hard mid-year with so much going on back home and having a baby at the same time. I spent about 12 weeks in Europe and had some solid play, nothing amazing. I did about five events on each of the Challenge and DP World Tours. Then I came home to family and played the New Zealand circuit and had some more success.

“But it was really about having a bit of down time from golf and not doing much practice. Yet I still had some good results and it was good to finish the year with two good results in the Australian Open and at The Hills.

``Looking back it was a solid season. I think I only missed one cut all year. So even though there were no top finishes in Europe I made a lot of cheques and with a few wins back home it was a pretty decent year money-wise.”

Geary won the New Zealand Strokeplay, the Charles Tour Clearwater Open and finished top professional at the Mount Open. He also won the Millbrook Pro-Am and four other pro-ams plus some other high finishes on the Charles Tour and a second at The Cello Open.

So what does 2023 hold for Geary?

“I don’t have any status in Europe for next season. I will play the Australasian Tour, about eight events including the New Zealand Open and the NZ PGA. After my sixth in the Aussie Open I am already in the top 15 on the order of merit.

``So there is a good chance I can play well enough to gain some exemptions for next year such as the DP World Tour. A top seven or eight might be good enough to do it. If I miss out I can look at Asia which is a growing tour. I might try there at the end of next year if not before.’'