Strong field for Carrus

The battle of New Zealand's top golfers swings into competitive action this week with the start of the Carrus Open at Tauranga Golf Club.

Staged from September 25–28, this year has arguably the strongest field to ever contest the event with former European Tour professional Mark Brown, Muriwai Open Champion Ryan Fox, course record holder Richard Lee, and defending champion Josh Geary in the mix.


Josh Geary. Photo: Supplied

For 29-year-old Geary he is looking to continue his perfect winning record at the $40,000 Carrus Open.

Geary says being the favourite is a familiar position for him.

'I like playing under that pressure of being the player to beat. It helps me focus and rise to the occasion.

'Everyone is expecting me to play well and I want to perform well in front of my friends and family. I enjoy that and it brings out the best in me.”

The Mount Maunganui professional gave his family something to cheerabout last year, carding a five-under par 65 in the final round to cruise to his third Carrus title, winning by eight shots.

The former Eisenhower rep says winning at home again is an important step to him securing his first win on the PGA Tour of Australasia.

'The whole week was pretty special.

'My standout memory was shooting 64 on the Saturday in the horrendous wind. That was the winning of the tournament.

'Winning at home started a great run of results for me. I went onto to win the WA Open and it was huge for my confidence.”

Geary is looking for confidence again as he will attempt to get back on the Web.Com Tour in 2015 by heading to the US Tour Schools with First Stage from October 7–10.

He has a busy tournament schedule coming up with the four events on the PGA Tour of Australasia – his title defence at the WA Open, the Perth Invitational, Aussie Masters and Australian Open – which will all be punctuated by the three stages of the Q School.

'Hopefully I can do enough to get on the Web.Com Tour, have a good year so I can join the big boys on the main tour the following year.”

The four-time Charles Tour winner is looking for title No.5 to join Doug Holloway as the most successful player on the local series.

With the quality of the field, Geary expected a tournament record for four round scoring.

'I think you'll have to get it to 20-under par as a minimum to have a chance of winning so that is the number that I will be going for.”

Another Bay of plenty golfer keen on disrupting Geary's aspirations is Tauranga professional Mark Brown, in what is an attempt to get back on the European Tour.

The 39-year-old Wellington pro, who finished runner-up at the New Zealand Open in March, has had a quiet winter tournament-wise and is looking forward to competing with many of New Zealand's best professionals for the $40,000 purse.

Brown won the 2012 event for his second Charles Tour title.

He has a busy tournament stretch to close out 2014 with events on the PGA Tour of Australasia and OneAsia, culminating with the final stage of European Tour qualifying school in November.

Brown held his card for two years (2009 -2010) after winning in India and is looking to peak for the Final Stage event at the Catalunya Resort in Girona, Spain from November 15 – 20.

'Hopefully I can play well at that event and start preparing for a full season on the European Tour beginning with the South African Open but I need to get playing first.”

The last time Brown played the Carrus Open two years ago he was in a class of his own. He began the final round in contention and played the opening 12 holes in eight-under par, with six birdies and an eagle, to put the title beyond doubt.

Brown closed with an eight-under par 62 to win by four shots from Troy Ropiha and he said that performance was a huge confidence boost.

'It doesn't matter what level you are playing at, it is always satisfying to win a four round event. That final round at Tauranga was particularly pleasing for me. I was in contention to win a tournament and I played great attacking golf to get it done.

'Those are the sorts of rounds you practise for and to play like that under pressure gave me a huge amount of confidence and belief for the rest of the summer.

'I had a really good run after that and it stemmed from the confidence of winning.”

As an adopted son of the Bay of Plenty, Brown is looking forward to the test at Tauranga where you have to go low to compete.

'I spend a lot of time here now after moving to the Bay. The course is an exciting layout for a tournament like this, the first 8 – 10 holes offer up a lot of birdie opportunities and I am sure there will be a lot of players attacking the course for this year's Carrus.”

Charles Tour - Carrus Open Fact Box

When: September 25 – 28

Where: Tauranga Golf Club

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