Date: May 16, 2008
Author:

Impressive Griffin wins Keperra Bowl

Australia&aposs number one amateur golfer, Matthew Griffin has finished off a superb Australian amateur season with his second major victory by taking out the 2008 Keperra Bowl. Griffin held off charging Queenslander Ray Beaufils and Tasmanian Ryan McCarthy in a thrilling finale to a great week of golf at Keperra Country Golf Club. Griffin opened with two 67&aposs and then stumbled home on his way to a third round 71. He hit the lead during Wednesday&aposs second round and then held the lead or a share of it for the remainder of the championship. The final round tested the young man all the way as Beaufils and McCarthy made early charges. Griffin managed to get off to a great start with a birdie at the first hole before another couple at the fifth and eighth. Beaufils was also impressive throughout the final round as he attacked the Keperra layout and opened with a front nine of 31. An unfortunate bogey on the 10th after a slightly wayward drive didn&apost stop him as the local recovered in sensational fashion to chip in for an eagle three on the 11th to put himself right back in contention at 12 under par. Another birdie on the par five 13th saw him draw even closer. The shot of the week probably belonged to Beaufils with his second in to the 16th. After a drive that finished left on an adjacent tee, he managed to weave a fading eight iron over trees to approximately seven metres from the hole and then sunk the putt for another birdie. Closing pars would give him the clubhouse lead at 14-under par and he waited to see what Griffin would do. McCarthy put together his best career performance this week and began the day at eight under par. He eagled the ninth hole to get his round going and turned at 12 under par after a front nine of 32. Birdies at 11 and 12 got him to 14 under and tied with Griffin at that point. A solid finish saw him par the final holes including a two-putt from 20 metres on the treacherous 18th green. Griffin had the upper hand all day and while the others waited for him to make a mistake, the cool customer from Victoria Golf Club never flinched. His only blemmish was the difficult par three 12th which he bogeyed to drop back to 14 under par. He birdied the next hole to quickly recover the outright lead and pars over the next few holes gave him a one shot lead as he approached the last. Griffin&aposs approach to the difficult 18th hole was indifferent and came up short on the front fringe of the green, about 20 metres from the hole. His approach putt was a good one but a little shy as he left himself about two metres short. The final putt was as solid and confident as the rest of his game all week and found the centre of the cup. Griffin clinched his fist as the putt went in and it was obvious to all present that the win meant a great deal to the young man. Queensland&aposs two man team of Ray Beaufils and Brett Rankin ended up winning the Teams Event with a total of 19 under par. They were one shot ahead of the Victorian and South Australian teams. The Keperra Bowl signals the end of the of the amateur season in Australia, and many of the players this week will now head to Europe and the USA to test their skills against the best in the world. Click here for full results