By Matt Griffin The past month has been quite busy with a few events and the start of the One Asia season. Overall my form has been coming together nicely and the work I have done over the past couple of months has been worthwhile. Following the QLD PGA in Toowoomba I headed down to the Gold Coast to play in the Jeep Fourball at Royal Pines. It is the first time the event has fitted into my schedule and it was a good excuse to spend a week on the Gold Coast. I was fortunate enough to be able to stay with Paul Bellingham and his family for the week and team up for the fourball. The week would be reduced to 54 holes because of poor weather on the Saturday but I played some great golf all week and ended up in a tie for 1st after rounds on 70, 64, and 67 to be 15 under par. It was really nice to shoot a couple of low rounds as that has been something that has been lacking over the past year and even better to get a win. A big boost to the confidence and I will hopefully be back with Paul next year to pick up the teams event as well. There must be something about Queensland as I always seen to play well up there. Obviously the early morning run along the beach and swim keeps me nice and relaxed. Also enjoyed a day at Movieworld and Wet n Wild, which was a lot of fun and nice to get away from golf for a little while. Following the Fourball it was back home for a couple of weeks to prepare for the Indonesian Open and the start of the One Asia season. As always it would be an extremely hot week with temperature hitting 35 degrees all week and some extreme humidity. I enjoy playing in this weather as I feel my fitness sets me up better than most for the challenge ahead. With the first view of the course we knew we where in for a challenge with long rough and extremely firm fast and steep sloping greens. A deadly combination making hitting fairways a big priority. This would suit my game so I was looking forward to the challenge. On Day 1 it would become an extremely windy afternoon and with a late tee time some tough work ahead. I played well but didn t convert some chances for a 1 over 73, but a good score compared to other afternoon scores. Day 2 was much easier but I didn t play great for a 2 over round but I would make the weekend and given the poor side of the draw, not a bad result. Scoring was pretty bunched so there was a good chance to make a move up the board. A good round of 69 was a good start on Saturday and then on Sunday without much luck I shot 71 and ended up in a tie for 22nd on 1 under par. This would be a solid start to the year and given I wasn t quite there with my game and played the par 5 s in even on the weekend, a reasonable week. Congratulations to Nick Cullen on a great win as well he has been playing some really consistent stuff over the past 12 months. From Indonesia it was then onto Queenstown New Zealand for their PGA and a real contrast in conditions. It was great to walk off the plane in one of the most spectacular places in the world and breath the fresh air. My game felt great in the lead up and I was hopeful of a good week. Each round I played some great golf but never quite got the score I was after which was frustrating. The first couple of days this was due to a few too many errors and on the weekend I was stiff to have many close shaves with the putter. It all added up to scores of 71, 69, 70 and 71 for a total of 7 under par and a tie for 17th. Another solid week but not quite what I was after. The week was really enjoyable though and its hard not too have fun in Queenstown. There are so many great places to eat while if I wasn t there for golf I would have to give the bungy jumping a go. A few of the boys were able to fit in the shotover jet, which was a lot of fun through the tight gorges. From here I know have a couple of weeks at home before heading up to Japan to try and pre qualify for the Tsyura Open and play the first Challenge Tour event of the year. Matt Griffin is a former National Squad member and current member of Golf Australia&aposs Rookie Professional Program. This blog can also be found at his website www.matthewgriffingolf.com
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