This week is a special week for me, for two reasons.

Just 2 nights before the event begun my Grandma passed away and lost her battle with cancer-(Nana Rosa as i liked to call her) God bless her. So while playing this week I will be remembering all the good times and memories of my Nana Rosa.

The second reason i have many fond memories is that I am playing a tournament on the Gateway Tour at Desert Mountain where i lapped the field last year shooting a record 25 under par to win by 8 shots closing with a pair of 64’s to win. So needless to say it is filled with plenty of good memories playing a course i played so well on the year before.

This week I have drawn a rose on each of my golf balls in Memory on my Nana Rosa…. This one is for you !

You will be sadly missed by all our family. I know you will be watching over me.

Matt

This week is a special week for me, for two reasons.

Just 2 nights before the event begun my Grandma passed away and lost her battle with cancer-(Nana Rosa as i liked to call her) God bless her. So while playing this week I will be remembering all the good times and memories of my Nana Rosa.

The second reason i have many fond memories is that I am playing a tournament on the Gateway Tour at Desert Mountain where i lapped the field last year shooting a record 25 under par to win by 8 shots closing with a pair of 64’s to win. So needless to say it is filled with plenty of good memories playing a course i played so well on the year before.

This week I have drawn a rose on each of my golf balls in Memory on my Nana Rosa…. This one is for you !

You will be sadly missed by all our family. I now you will be watching over me.

Matt

After some long discussions with family, friends and my coach, I am headed back to Scottsdale to play 8 events on the Gateway Tour.  We all agreed this was the best preparation for US tour school at the end of October.

My brother-in-law Ryan has just arrived in USA to play Gateway, so we will be bunking down.  Nice to have some Aussie family for the few months, to add to my USA family of Todd, Erin, Scott and Dutch. 

Some quality practice with my coach, commonly known as  K-Rudd or K-Fed is in order for the next few weeks before I head off.  Am making the most of the Gold Coast beaches too, but have to say I am not enjoying the rain or cold weather!  Go the Eels and Maroons!  Oh, and how good is Tiger - what a freak.

Home sweet home

The Gateway Spring Series has drawn to a close, and I am back down under.  I led after round 1 of the Tour Championships, then T2nd after day 2, got back to the lead again midway through day 3 with 5 holes to play. But slipped by weeks end to an 11th place finish.  The Tour Champs pretty much summed up my Spring Series campaign- close but not quite good enough.  I felt like I played well all series, but just didn’t put all aspects of my game together.  There are great signs, but still some work to do to be at the level I know I can produce.  I am very sad to leave Scottsdale, and my USA family, but I know I will be back soon. 

I am back home and will spend some much needed time with my wife, family and friends, and enjoy the Aussie winter!  Some hard work with my coach Kevin Healey at Hope Island is on the cards, and mapping out my schedule for the rest of 08.  Very excited to finally be able to go to a Titans match just near home and keep closer tabs on my beloved Eels!

I have arrived in West Palm Beach Florida ready for the Gateway Tour Championships.  After a reasonable Gateway Spring Series campaign, I finished inside the top 50 to qualify for their Championship event. 

Florida reminds me a lot of home with the humidity and the beaches and waterways, and the awesome golf courses! 

I had a few days off last week after missing progressing to stage 2 of US Open qualifying by 2 shots, not the best birthday present!  I know I am playing well, it’s the old case of just putting it all together…. 

Playing a superb golf course this week, just like the courses at home, so am really looking forward to it. Keep your fingers crossed for me….and go the Maroons in State of Origin !!!! 3-0 white wash..

After five events on The Gateway Tour I am reasonable happy with my USA campaign. I have been steadily improving each week with placings of 46th, 15th and just last week a 10th.  I was very excited with my game last week, and if a few bounces of the ball went my way it could have been a much better result.  I know I am playing well, and realise it just takes that one week when EVERYTHING comes together to finish right up the top.  Scottsdale is feeling more and more like my home away from home - I am staying with my great friends Todd, Erin and Scott and Dutch who are now just like family!  It certainly makes it easier being away from the Gold Coast with these characters!  I have been enjoying catching all the NBA playoff games on tv, and have even managed to go to two Phoenix Suns games - what an experience! 

Thanks to everyone who has sent me messages via this website - your support is much appreciated and I always love to hear from you!

Matt

Hello everyone.

 I am heading back to the United States of America. I will be playing once again on the Gateway tour in Phoneix Arizona.

I begin play on the 19th of March. I am looking forward to getting back to the desert where I won last year. Playing last year in America was great for my game and confidence. I am glad that i have the chance to go back and play some more. I feel very fortunate that I have the opportunity to play once again in the USA. The land of opportunity awaits me.

Bye for now, and keep your head still when you putt.

Matt

Hi all,

To say I was excited about returning to Moonah Links for the Nationwide event last week in Mornington Peninsula area of Melbourne would be an understatement. Moonah Links Golf Course was the scene for my best result on tour 3 years ago when Moonah hosted the Australian Open where I lost by 4 shots to eventual winner Robert Allenby. A week where I finished number one in the putting statistics and tied 10th overall. So, I had some very fond memories of playing well coming into this years Moonah Classic. However Moonah served up a dish of strong winds to upset my plans of a repeat performance of 2005. My putter let me down as the wind played havoc with my ball on the greens this year. Whilst dissapointed at missing the cut, it was great to get back to a venue I enjoy playing so much even if it was a brutal test of golf.

No time to rest now, as i have one more event at home at Royal Pines in a week from now. I go back the the United States after Royal Pines for a big year on the Gateway tour in Phoenix Arizona. A place i like to call my home away from home. So some hard training this week in the gym and some time spent on range and course with my swing coach(Kevin Healy) and some discussions with my mental coach (Andrea Furst) and i will be back on track to shooting some low scores in no time!

I never enjoy missing cuts and this time is no exception. Even though it was my first event back from a lengthy break of 6 weeks i felt like i was going to play well. However it was not to be. Eventually missing the cut by 2 shots. I had my chances and with 8 holes to go i was 1 under for the tournament and the eventual cut mark was plus one. So i was well within range and making a move on the leaderboard when i hit a tee shot in water on par 3 then a chip out from a poor drive on a reachable par 5 and then an unplayable under a bush on the 2nd to last hole. All of these cost me dearly. There where some positive signs apart from these obvious errors and i worked hard on my iron play over the weekend as i know i have a lot of golf coming up. No more important than the British Open Qualifying next tuesday. Royal Birkdale here i come!! 36 hole qualifier in the one day will be a test of patience and endurance. I cant wait to get back to my best golf. Ill have my fingers crossed and hope my best game is on show this tuesday.

I have just arrived home after missing the cut at the Australian Open. It was not the way I was supposed to finish the year, but in this game you don’t always get what you expect. After  my most hectic year travelling and playing, I came to realise this even more. You never know what is around the corner in this game from one week to the next. I would have never expected to win a USA Gateway Tour event by 8 shots then almost win the Tour Championships. When it all comes together you feel like you can achieve anything. When I shot an equal course record on day 2 of the Desert Mountain event, then beat it day 3, then equalled it day four, it took a while to sink in how well I played for that week. 69-65-64-64 = 25 under (8 shot winning margin) - it’s not very often that you win in this game so when I won the way i did I needed to make the most of it and give myself lots of credit for achieving it.  There were some mixed results since then, but I have certainly realised the importance of preparation and keeping yourself fresh for the Australian Summer, which I hope to do next year.  I will sit back this summer while taking a well earned break and and look to the Gateway result as the pinnacle of my year in 2007. I will plan my year for the upcoming 2008 season and attempt to acheive bigger and better results than 07.

Have a Merry christmas all.

Thanks for your support.

Matt