By Matt Griffin I write this latest blog from the Qantas lounge in LAX after what has been a disappointing few weeks where my form hasn t lived up to where I have felt my game is at. It started at the WA PGA at the Vines in Perth where I had a solid finish of 12th. After a poor start to the event it was a solid week and I felt my game was in good shape. I was then scheduled to play the WA Open after a quick trip to Singapore but unfortunately this trip took longer than hoped and I had to miss the event. This would however mean I had some more time to prepare for the Australian Open at the Lakes in Sydney. After a great week last year I had high expectations and hoped to match with a number of the big names coming out. There was a big buzz around the week and I was rapt to be paired with Andy Lee in the pro am who had Hamish as his caddy along with the Drummond guys. It was a fun day and the game felt good heading into Thursday. I had a late tee time for day 1 on a day in which the wind would just continue to strengthen. Scoring was extremely difficult but I made it to 3 under through 13 before a couple of late bogeys dropped me to 1 under. This was still a good number especially given the near 6 hour round!! Day 2 was a real struggle and I found myself 4 over with a few to play and in real danger of missing the cut. Birdies on 2 of my last 3 including a 50 footer on the last meant I made it though which was a relief. With an early start on Saturday I hoped we may get the better of the conditions but in fact the morning was tougher. Despite this I played some great golf and shot 3 under with a few late close shaves. It would be a solid move up the leaderboard. Sunday then started great with a couple of late birdies before some tentative late golf saw me finish t29th and overall a disappointing week. It was a great week for Australian golf and hopefully some momentum can be built out of this summer. It would then be a Monday morning flight to the USA for 2nd stage tour school and something I have been building up to all year. While I hadn t really been shooting low scores the game felt good and I was really confident of getting through to final stage. It was a good course that suited my game and with a good caddy all was set up well. Started really poorly on day one but fought hard and after a good day 2 to was right around the mark. A late fightback on day 3 keep me in with a chance and only needed 2 under on the final day to get through. Played a really solid first 13 holes to be one under for the day and right there despite an extremely cold putter as it had been all week. A terrible wedge on the par 5 14th led to a double bogey and that was all she wrote. A disappointing end and shows I have a lot of work to do on all aspects of my game. While I am technically better over the majority of this year I am just not getting the lowest numbers out of my game for one reason or another. As we know in this game one shot here or than can mean the world of difference. Hopefully an injury free 12 months will ensure I am better prepared for Q school next year! From here it is back to the Australian PGA at Coolum a course I play great around and went close to winning last year. Who knows that could be the week it all comes together. It will be then off to Japan for Final stage of there tour school. As you can see it is a busy time of the year. It is time to start putting some results on the board again. 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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