The Final event of 2017 has wrapped up and It wasn’t the way I had planned to finish off. Needing to finish Top 2 or 3 to secure my Asian Tour Card for 2018 I knew exactly what had to be done. The Rancho Charnvee Golf Club was the venue, about 3 hours north of Bangkok. It was rather cold by Thailand standards with strong winds ripping in as well….first time Ive needed to wear a jumper in Asia all year. The course was a great layout with the greens particularly fast and undulating.
An afternoon tee time on day 1 and I got off to a nice start making birdie on my first 2 holes, I then played a 3 hole stretch that in the end hurt a lot, made a triple and a double bogey to lose all momentum and good vibes I had going. Grinded my ass the rest of the day but couldn’t get anything going. Shot 76 (+5) and left myself lots of work day 2 to be around on the weekend.
Even though Day 1 went roughly I was still confident that I could turn things around and post a good score Day 2 and be around to make a charge over the weekend. I couldn’t have asked for a better start, came out firing making birdies on 5 of the first 6 holes….this put me right back in the mix. Continued to play really steady for the next 6 holes but couldn’t capilise on the opportunities I had. After feeling really solid with the putter all day it deserted me over the last 6 holes, I threw in 3 late 3 putts to ruin what was such a good round of golf. Ended up shooting 69 (-2) to miss he cut by 2 shots. Absolutely gutted to throw away the good opportunity after giving myself a shot.
Whilst the last 3 tournaments were probably my worst for the year and it was disappointing to finish that way I have to be happy with how my game was over the entire season. Given it was my first year playing in Asia, plying golf courses for the first time and travelling back and forth from Sydney I gave myself a great opportunity to play my way onto the Asian Tour, in the end I finished 12th on the OOM and missing out on the Top 5 that was needed. Still 2017 was a good year that saw me win my first International tournament, it has cemented in my mind that I am good enough to compete on the international stage and I feel Asia is a place I can compete and be in the mix regularly.
Finishing 12th on the OOM has given me excemption into the final stage of Asian Q school where I would be able to try and secure my card for the Asian Tour in 2018. If I decide to not head to Q School I will be fully exempt on the ADT and I can try and finish Top 5 to play my way onto the main tour that way. I know that after the experience from this year I will be much better prepared and ready to tackle 2018 and make it an even more successful year.
This is something I could not have done on my own and I can’t thank everyone enough for the continued support and encouragement. It’s been a long journey and I look forward to taking bigger steps in 2018.
Have a Merry Christmas and great New Year
Good golfing
MARTIN DIVE GOLF 