Matthew playing at the tournamentAt the start of July, I headed off to Scotland to compete in the Boyd Quaich Memorial Golf Tournament – a venue on every golfers' wish list.
The tournament was four rounds, with the competitors being reduced to the top 30 after two rounds. My first round was played on the Old Course, which is the oldest golf course in the world.
My first round was one of two halves. Having played solidly for the first 11 holes, an unlucky break on the 12th halted my momentum.
I dropped from -1 to +3 in my last eighth holes which was very frustrating but I tried to remain positive ahead of the second round.
I didn’t get off to the best start in the first half of the second round which meant that I had to up my game in the second half if I was going to reach the top 30. Luck was on my side and I was 2 under par for the last 9 holes which placed me in 29th position.
For round 3, I had my friend Joe Swaine (from the first team) caddying which was a great boost. Having another pair of eyes looking at each of my shots was invaluable and I played really well, leading to a comfortable 3 under par. This set me in a good position at 1 over par for the entire tournament, moving 29 places up the leader board to 10th.
Once again, the final round was one of two halves. After some great play from the fairway and a solid putting performance, I was 6 under par for my first 10 holes. This saw me tied for the lead with 8 holes left to play. Unfortunately, on the next hole, a bad break caused me to drop another 2 shots which halted my momentum.
After a very long week (both mentally and physically), I found it challenging to bounce back from this and finished 7th overall (which, after some contemplation, I was pleased with after being in 32nd place in the first round).
July 2019
