Date: March 10, 2011
Author:

Rookie update: Griffin in Toowoomba, prepares for Asia

By Matt Griffin The QLD PGA was played at City Golf Club in Toowoomba, a course that had a small amount of damage during the floods, as a runaway truck took out the bridges that allowed you to cross the creek in the middle of the course. Overall, the course was in great shape and was extremely tight with thick trees on both sides of the fairway. It felt good leading in although a little underdone, which showed in the opening two rounds. I played well apart from a few mistakes on Thursday and Friday to shoot 69 & 70 and be one under. Luckily, I made the cut on the number with a player in the last group dropping a shot, which let the one under players through, which was a big relief after I had a poor finish. I took advantage of that fortune with two rounds of 66 on the weekend to end up in 19th place, which was pleasing. I gave myself plenty of chances on the weekend and easily could have gone lower but it was nice to move up a number of places. With the recent floods many of the pro s chipped in to raise some money up in Toowoomba and the surrounding areas. I was fortunate enough to head down to the children s ward at the hospital and meet the kids. It was extremely tough to see the sick kids but nice to see a smile on their faces and hopefully a few may take up golf in the future. It surely puts a bad day on the golf course in perspective. We also went down to Grantham and Murphy s Creek to see some of the flood damage, which was truly shocking but hopefully wont be too long before they are back on their feet. I am now in Melbourne for a couple more weeks, before the first OneAsia event of the year in Indonesia. I m really excited about getting back up to Asia and hopefully starting the year on a good note. We have a good schedule up there, which will ensure I stay busy throughout the year. Along with those events I will hope to pick up a start or two in Japan and maybe spend some time in the USA trying to pre qualify for some events. In the meantime, before Indonesia, it is time for some hard practice to ensure I am ready to go when the season begins. 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 new website www.matthewgriffingolf.com