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I have been playing pretty well all year, however, the low scores have just not eventuated.  However last week was one of those weeks when it all came together.
After making the cut One Asia tournament at the Korean Open a few weeks ago, I had renewed motivation for the rest of 2009.
Last week I played three events and finished 1st, 1st and 2nd.  Three under at Murwillumbah and seven under at Ballina were enough to take out the winners prize.  I followed this up with 3 under at Yamba, to finish one behind the leader.  My Ballina and Yamba totals were enough to take the series prize as well.  A great week where it all came together - now just to continue that form into the Aussie summer!

I have been playing pretty well all year, however, the low scores have just not eventuated.  However last week was one of those weeks when it all came together.

After making the cut One Asia tournament at the Korean Open a few weeks ago, I had renewed motivation for the rest of 2009.

Last week I played three events and finished 1st, 1st and 2nd.  Three under at Murwillumbah and seven under at Ballina were enough to take out the winners prize.  I followed this up with 3 under at Yamba, to finish one behind the leader.  My Ballina and Yamba totals were enough to take the series prize as well.  A great week where it all came together - now just to continue that form into the Aussie summer!

After returning from the Korean open with a somewhat successful event. Made the cut and finished in a tie for 55th,I have a new enthusiasm for the larger more lucrative events..

It just reminded me of what I need to work on and work harder at in order to be competitive on the bigger stage..

Its no secret that all the top players putt extremely well , but I found out that the ones that win putt well on a day to day basis, not just one round here and one round there. They are consistantly better putters.

You can never make enough putts!!

After a few weeks back to the grind playing the Sunshine Tour Pro-am circuit up in Nth Queensland, or more commonly known as “Troppo”, I had an excellent week in Mackay, and a massive boost of confidence is back in my golf game. After a couple of weeks playing without much success , I had 26 birdies this week in  the Mackay Open. I am not sure how I did not come away with the win. But I was not too far away if it were not for one poor tee shot, and a dubious ruling, which eventually lead to a quadruple bogey 8 towards the end of day 3, I may have been telling of how I won the Mackay open. However I have moved on from it and after seeing Tom Watson handle his loss with such professionlalism I cant help but be in good spirits and I am looking forward to next 2 weeks in Rocky and Yeppoon.. May the birdies keep coming thick and fast.

After a lengthy lay off from competitive golf I did not expect my win to come so soon. In only my 2nd event back, I am collecting a winners cheque for the Emerald Pro-am. It was a 2 day event where I went bogey free and shot rounds of 65-66 to win by 2 shots. Armed with a new driver and new putter, it was nice to see the rewards come in for the effort I have put in over the past few months with my coach Kevin.

I continue on the road trip in the mining towns tomorrow for the next 2 day event in Middlemount. I now have my eyes firmly set on winning the overall circuit prize for the 8 rounds in total. With 4 rounds to go I am well placed and only a couple of shots behind the leader.

After a rather slow start to the year. I have decided to take some time off competitive golf for a few weeks to work on improving my swing and short game. With my results not up to my standards to begin the year , I took a good hard look and assessed my total game and where I needed to improve,Under the guidance of my coach at Hope Island Kevin Healy.  My stats indicated that my short game(under 100mts) needed some attention. My long game was not getting me in too much trouble but my scoring clubs (wedges-chipping-putting) were not doing what they should be doing if I was to be contending week in week out.

All of my best results and wins have come from having an excellent short game. Holing more putts and getting the ball up and down almost all of the time no matter were I missed the green, because lets face it not even the worlds best golfers hit 18 greens a round in regulation, so we all miss greens,but if you can get the ball up and down more often than not you will find yourself up near the top of the leaderboard more often.

Short game green here I come..

I played both the Vic open and Vic PGA these last 2 weeks with mixed bag of results.

I made the cut on the number at the Vic Open at Spring valley then finished in a tie for 39th but I felt going into the next week I had room for improvement.

After a good start to the VIC PGA at Sanctuary lakes I was 3under with one hole to play on day 1 and made a double bogey on the 18th to leave the course with a sour taste having played nicely all day. Day 2 came and I found a way to have 10 birdies for the 2 days which ordinarily would be enough for most players to make the cut but I seemed to be uncharacteristically inconsistent following up my birdies with bogies which led to 73 and a missed cut. It was a rollercoaster  2 weeks for me with alot of good golf played with the odd blunder which eventually cost me dearly.

My next events will be some proams in Melbourne in 2 weeks along with pre qualifying for the 3 nationwide events in Melbourne and NZ.

Time to keep the mistakes to a minimum.

After celebrating Christmas and new year with family its time to look ahead to the new year 2009 and get back to doing what I enjoy doing most. Playing tournament golf.

My next event will be the Victorian Open held at spring valley in Melbourne on the last week of January followed by the Victorian Pga at the Greg norman designed Sanctuary Lakes also in Melbourne.

So I have a few weeks to prepare for these 2 events.

I am off to practice my fast downhill putts, because you know you will always get these in melbournes sandbelt courses.

After missing the cut yet again at the Masters I begin to wonder if I will ever play well at Huntingdale. I like the course alot and always enjoy playing the masters but I guess it does not suit me or like me..?

So this week I move onto my favourite event on the calendar at Coolum for the PGA which is a course that I have had some success at before in previous years. Last year shooting a 30 on the back nine was the highlight on day 2 for me.

Its a great time of year to bring my family with me to the Sunshine Coast where it has just turned summer,beaches are great,good weather and a great tournament.

After coolum I head to sydney to Monday qualify for the Australian Open, As my exemption category does not qualify me for the event this year.

Its impossible to not get excited playing these big events here in Australia in the summer, With that I look forward to posting some low numbers and having a couple of top finishes to top off the year heading into Christmas.

Matt

After missing the cut yet again at the Masters I begin to wonder if I will ever play well at Huntingdale. I like the course alot and always enjoy playing the masters but I guess it does not suit me or like me..?
So this week I move onto Coolum for the PGA which is a course that I have had some success at before in previous years. Last year shooting a 30 on the back nine was the highlight on day 2 for me.
Its a great time of year to bring my family with me to the Sunshine Coast where it has just turned summer,beaches are great , good weather and great tournament.
After coolum I head to sydney to Monday qualify for the Australian Open, As my exemption category does not qualify me for the event this year.

Ok I am off t