Who's Joshua Munn? That was the question being asked in the clubhouse on the first day of the Muriwai Open last year.
The 20-year-old Manawatu amateur had come from obscurity to take the first-round lead in the Charles Tour event with a nine-under-par round of 63, shattering the course record of 66 and taking a three-shot lead.
This week there will be no avoiding the pre-event discussions because Munn will be back as defending champion after confounding the pundits by defying the efforts of a field of experienced professionals to win the tournament with a 72-hole total of 12 under par.
Munn, overlooked for a national squad on the eve of the event, needed just 21 putts in his record round as he blitzed the West Auckland links course. "It's pretty much what you practise for and it all came together on one day," he says. "But I think the key was backing up the first round with 68 in the second round. That gave me the momentum to push on."
The wind began to blow and his last two rounds were 71 and 74.