Joondalup golfer Josh Greer hopes local knowledge will help him out at WA Open

Josh Greer hopes a bit of local knowledge will help him out this week at the WA Open. Playing his home course at Joondalup Resort, the 22-year-old expects to know a few tricks, particularly around the greens. But with a strong contingent of WA players to tee it up on Thursday, he is expecting to have his work cut out. “There’s a lot of good players, even some you wouldn’t have heard of,” he said. “Tom Addy, he won the pro-am around here and with pretty much a similar field to this week and he’s an awesome player. Obviously Connor (McKInney), this is his home course too.” Another WA smokey in the field is 15-year-old Ollie Marsh, who won the Men’s WA Amateur earlier this year, equalling a near 30-year record as the joint-youngest winner. Greer, who himself played the WA Open for the first time as a 14-year-old in 2015, said he would not change his approach much despite recently turning professional. “I’ve played golf since I was 12 and the game hasn’t changed so I just try and play the same game,” he said. “The course is what you see is what you get off the tee but the greens you will probably see there are a lot of slopes out there ... and I think that’s a bit of an advantage. “I think the faces I see and the people I see should help calm me down, I’ve played here a few times so I feel like I know my way around. I’m looking forward to it, it should be a good week.” This year marks the just the second time ever and first since 1987 that Joondalup Resort has hosted the historic WA Open, which was first contested in 1913. Previous winners include legends Greg Norman, Gary Player, Kel Nagle and Stephen Leaney and WA icon Terry Gale, who won six times between 1972 and 1990.