I had a great day out there today. I teed off at 12.48 and at that time there were obviously plenty of people around. There is nothing better than the buzz of people all around, hope to experience alot more of that in the years ahead.
I played one of my best rounds of ball striking ever today. In very windy conditions I struck the ball exceptionally well and my 2 over par score was due to the 34 putts I had. Some days you make them and some days you don't. Fortunately for me today was a day where I struck the ball great which meant my score was still ok. I think my only real disappointment of the day was bogeying the 18th hole after playing and fighting so well all day. I am looking forward to tomorrow morning where hopefully the conditions will be a little more scorer friendly. Hopefully I can reproduce the same quality of play with just a few extra putts dropping. Can't wait. Sorry to cut the blog short today but have an early start and I forgot to do it.
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Well it seems like it has been a very long and tough year, which it has but I have to say what a great way to end the year, here at the Australian Masters. What a great tournament it is and it is certainly one I have wanted to play ever since I took up golf as a 14 yr old. I remember watching the greats coming up the last at Huntingdale and then putting on the yellow jacket.
This year the Masters is at Victoria golf club and I have to say that this golf course is now in the very top drawer of courses I have ever played. The quality from tee to green is sensational and the actual design is superb too. The is no place to hide out there and really no easy holes. It requires precision from the first shot to the last with perfection in between!! I arrived on Monday in a fairly ordinary state, unwell after a rough weekend battling illness. I lost 5 kgs in less than a day and was struggling to eat at all. Fortunately I ate on Monday night woke Tuesday feeling much better and then felt better again today. Hopefully by tomorrow I will be back to 100%. I played the pro am today, which was a first for me in one of these big events. It was great fun. It all started on the range when I heard a voice say "Hey Matty, Hey Matty!" I looked over and it was Brett Ogle. I have never met him before in my life. Anyway I politely went across and said hello to him and he proceeded to chat to me for 5 minutes about my win at Wollongong and then wish me all the best for this week. As I went back to Rushy who is caddying for me again this week, I said to him, "well that was weird, he just chatted to me like I was a long lost mate?" Rushy said, "Well isn't he? It seemed like it to me!" I then told Rushy that I had never met him before!! He couldn't believe me. Anyway it is amazing what a "W" on the resume does for you. I had a great group today in the pro am with my group consisting of a gang from the club next door, Cheltenham, which is a little 9 hole course that give up their course for the week so we have a practice fairway. What a classic bunch, and the 3 of them all came with caddies and a bunch of their members too. The club Captain was there and he copped it from all directions from both the other players and also the members following us along too. One member who will remain nameless actually brought a sketch pad in which he had pre-written some sledges in so he could just hold them up whenever it suited best. I have added a photo down below! Anyway it was a great afternoon and I happily got involved in the banter and before long they were all giving me ammunition to try and take the mickey out of each other. I didn't disappoint, managing to drop little comments here and there sending the boys into laughter! Good fun! I used the day also to have some more time practicing certain options off tees and also different options on and around the greens. It is typical sandbelt golf where heart of green is always great and attacking just doesn't happen that often. I really enjoy the course and think it does set up pretty well for me. I am looking forward to really enjoying the week and playing myself into a good position for the weekend. I would love to end the year on a high note. See ya after round one tomorrow!! Well it is with disappointment that I write this blog tonight. I have missed by 2 shots in securing my card for the 2012 season of the Japanese Tour. I was close but no cigar today. I played alot better than yesterday and had my chances today but just couldn't take them. It would be easy to ponder on what might have been but I am instead choosing to look forward to the year ahead.Two shots is nothing over 72 holes and it would be easy to think about where you could save those two shots but instead I am choosing to look ahead to the Aussie Masters next week in Melbourne and then the One Asia schedule for 2012 in which I should get into most events on the calender.
Today was another cold and very windy day and once again my putter deserted me despite hitting a host of really good putts, the ball just wouldn't find the hole. I hit 13 greens in regulation today in the wind which was a fair effort but as we all know golf is a game of putting and today, like yesterday, I just couldn't find the hole. When I hit a sublime 9 iron into the 16th hole to a foot for a tap in birdie, I thought I was a chance if I finished birdie, birdie. I hit a 3 wood onto the green on 17 and had a crack at the birdie only to run it by, I hit a great 2nd putt only to see it lip out and then just missed birdie on 18. Sometimes you would like to know the number, a slightly less aggressive putt on 17 gives me a chance down the last. Lots of positives out of the week and looking forward to the Aussie Masters at Victoria golf club next week. Thanks for the support everyone and I look forward to the year of One Asia next year. I hope you will follow along as I look to have twice as many events as I did this year. Don't forget to catch the Masters next week with world number 1 Luke Donald hitting town!!! Cat Well that was a tough day at the office. Very cold and very windy and I didn't do alot right out there. I didn't drive the ball too well in the wind and that meant some tougher shots into the greens. From those spots I hit the ball into the wrong parts of the green leaving me some mind boggling putts. Hence I shot 5 over to move to 1 over for the tournament. Not great but hanging in there.
On a positive note I battled all day and tried my best on every single shot and still managed to hit 13 greens in reg. And if not for my short putting from 5 foot I would have had a really bad day. I holed out very well indeed and thankfully so. Hopefully it was just one of those rough days at the office, we all have them. The key is to not have two bad days at the office in a row. Anyway I have to stay positive in that I have been hitting the ball really well and that tomorrow my concentration will be on again and I will control the ball a little better. I will hopefully get some of the dropped shots back from today. Just a quick update, I didn't write anything last night as we didn't hit one ball yesterday. The weather was terrible and the course just couldn't cope with the amount of rain that was falling, so play was abandoned. Today however looks fine and we should be able to play a full round today I am guessing. I am off to the course now to prepare and hopefully I will blog some good news later on today!!
Sorry about the late post again for all those wanting to catch up with the progress from Finals here in Japan. We woke this morning to miserable conditions, 7-8 degrees and raining!! Chris Rolph told me in the foyer "I didn't sign up for this, you're on your own today!!" Needless to say that a few threats were made about sharing a new nickname I have given him this week and very quickly he towed the line!! Good for him and good for me. He actually had a great day and we are really working well together. My facebook request for a caddy has produced the goods I think. He is getting better every day and the only mistake made today with club choice was one I made, luckily I managed to save par. Chris has a very handy knack of saying the right things at the right time, which is one of the major reasons I chose him to come up here. With his background in elite Tennis Coaching, I knew he would be able to contribute that way.
It was a far different day today on the course, yesterday it was cold and windy, today it was raining early then just cold, the kind of cold where you can see your own breath when you exhale. I was also playing the King course today which is definitely harder and the greens are far more demanding to putt on. The golf was different too, as yesterday I got under par early and then just kept going where today when I bogied the 6th hole I was struggling a little at 2 over for the day. I hadn't done much wrong with a 3 putt bogie on the 3rd where my ball just failed to get up a tier in the green resulting in a 50 foot putt back up, and then a bogie of the tough 6th hole. A birdie on 7 and a good chat with Rolphy really helped as he reinforced that I was playing great and to have confidence in my ability and not let this course dictate terms to us. Good stuff Rolphy!! I then birdied 2 of the next 3 holes to get to 1 under and parred the last 8 to finish at -1 for the day. That puts me at -4 for the tournament in tied 8th, but the field is bunched and there is no time to take the foot off the accelerator. At dinner tonight Rolphy and I discussed the mindset needs to be about winning this week now, not just getting through. So the goal remains the same as it was last night. Last night it was about 80 pars and 10 birdies, now it is down to 63 pars and 9 birdies after today. That would get me to 12 under and a great finish, if I happen to make an extra 6 birdies then things will be even better!! Bye for now, beauty sleep and all!! Hopefully more good news tomorrow!! Man was it cold today, brrrrrrr!!! It was blowing a gale and very chilly for the first round today. I actually had mittens on and a Beanie for most of the day!! The worst part about it is that it is apparently tomorrow is going to be colder and raining!!! Yes!!!
Despite the weather it was a good day, I played really nicely and despite two pretty soft bogies I managed to shoot 3 under par. A really good start to the marathon. I am placed tied 6th at the moment and if I can have 5 more rounds of 3 under I would be a very happy man!! I really like that Queen course so I guess if I can get through the two rounds on the King course ok I feel as though I may be ok. Still alot of work to do and will be just taking it one shot and one hole at a time and enjoying the journey. The funniest thing from the day today was this guy I was playing with on the first hole of the day. He holed a putt from about 25 foot on the first hole of the tournament. It was a great putt for sure but he then went on to give a huge fist pump and the equivalent "Cmonnn" in Japanese!!! It was the first hole of a 108 hole marathon!! I thought it was hilarious that he could be that pumped on the first hole, I think he is in for an emotional 6 days!! Anyway that is it for tonight, bed for an early start to round two, 90 holes to go |
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January 2017
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