Griffin voted Rookie of the Year
Victorian Mathew Griffin has had a year to remember. He turned professional, managed to keep his card on the Asian Tour and just got voted the Australian Golf Digest Rookie of the Year.
Griffin is not your average touring professional. He has a Commerce/Economics degree from Monash University to go along with his impressive golf credentials. Griffin has even worked a 9-5 in an accounting firm. And that experience made him work even harder to achieve his dream of playing professional golf:
“I actually did vocation work in an accounting firm and I didn’t like being stuck inside the office for five weeks straight so I think it made me practice a bit harder,” said Griffin after leading the Australian PGA Championship at the halfway mark.
“I did (a degree) at Monash University. I loved going to uni, it was good for my golf as I wasn’t a great golfer or top player as a 17, 18-year-old so it was an easy decision and made things a bit easier.”
“While I was going through uni, I think when I was 18 I was off about a two handicap at Victoria Golf Club and then gradually through the first two years I would have been pretty similar off one and then down to scratch about 21.”
“Then I qualified for the Australian Open in 2004 and that sort of gave me a taste for it, it sort of just progressed through the state squads and national squads from there.”
Having been the top ranked amateur in Australia in 2008, Griffin finished 10th in the 2009 Asian Tour Qualifying School to secure his card. His best finishes on the Asian Tour this season included a T3 finish in the Macau Open, a T19 in the Indonesia President Invitational and a solid finish to the season with a T10 in the recently concluded Kings Cup in Thailand. Griffin’s solid play saw him retain his card on the Asian Tour for next season.
He narrowly missed out in the 2nd stage of U.S PGA Tour Qualifying School this year, however coach Denis McDade is very pleased with Mathew’s progress: “Mat has had an incredible year. To be able to come out and hold his own in the pro ranks and retain his card is a great achievement, and then this week doing so well in the Aus PGA Championship was just the icing on the cake” said McDade. “He is gaining in confidence all the time and I don’t think it will be too long before he breaks through for that first win”.
