Catriona Matthew's Blog

Hi Everyone,

Well I am finally back in Scotland after a whirlwind travel schedule these past few weeks.

I last checked in with you all when I was in Japan for the Mizuno Classic event. I ended up in a tie for 4th that week which was a great result. I did, however, feel slightly disappointed as I played really well the last 9 holes and gave myself lots of birdie chances which I failed to convert. From that event in Japan we made our way to Tokyo to start a mammoth journey to Lorena Ochoa’s event in Guadalajara, Mexico. I flew from Tokyo to Chicago to Dallas to Guadalajara!  Lots of frequent flier miles for me there!

I had a great week there and ended up winning. It was an honour to win such a prestigious event on the LPGA schedule with the top 32 players from the money list competing.  I started where I left off in Japan and played really nicely and finally my putter got a bit hotter! It was such an enjoyable week not only because I won but because I got to meet up with some old friends again. It was nice to be able to talk to Lorena as she has been away from tour now for almost 2 years!  She is having her first baby in a couple of weeks time so she is excited.

After Mexico we travelled on to Orlando for the season-ending CME Championship. It was a quick week as my original flight was cancelled so I didn't get to Orlando till late Monday night.  After such a trying week and still being jet lagged I must admit it was hard to "get up" for another event.  I struggled. In the first round to  a four over par effort; my first round over par in the last 7 rounds.  I played a lot better the next three days and ended up 25th, a decent effort after my first round.

We then flew home to Scotland Sunday night and I had last week off,  I think I deserved that!

I am planning on taking some time away from golf now till after the turn of the year.  I did, however, see my trainer yesterday and started working out in the gym today.  I have a pretty intensive routine for the next 2 months with an aim to try and get a bit stronger and fitter. I really think my gym work over this past year helped me maintain a higher standard on the golf course and I am hoping that trend will continue next year.

I would like to wish all my followers a happy Christmas and best wishes for 2012.  I will check in again with you next year from my first event...  At this stage I haven’t decided whether that will be in Australia or Thailand.   Why not follow me on twitter?!  My address is @beany25 I look forward to updating you from there.

Bye for now,

Catriona

Hi Everyone..

After my week off, which passed very quickly, I am now in Japan.

I flew to Tokyo last Sunday evening and arrived Monday afternoon after an 11 hour flight. It is always feels strange to have "lost" half a day in the air! I then caught a connecting flight to Nagoya and then it was 2 hours in a bus to get to the tournament site this week. The hotel and the golf course are in the same resort which makes it very easy, you can walk from the hotel to the golf course which is always nice.

All in all a long trip so I decided to take Tuesday off to recover. I have played this golf course before so I decided to use the pro-am this week as my practice round.

The first 9 holes of the pro-am were quick, only taking 2 hours, however in Japan they stop after 9 holes for something to eat. We met back on the tee 45 minutes later and it seemed that the team lost all their momentum! After being 7 under for the first 9 holes they struggled to 2 under on the back 9. They had a good time though and that was the main thing!

Yesterday I had a good practice, playing 9 holes before heading to the gym. The tournament started today and the weather was glorious. I ended up at 4 under and was pretty happy with that as I am still feeling jetlagged.

After my round I practiced for an hour, went to the physiotherapist and am now off to the gym. As you can tell the life of a tournament pro golfer is simply not just playing 18 holes! There is a lot of other "stuff" going on to maintain that level of high performance. Tonight we are going to a barbeque that the tournament is hosting for the players at the hotel which should be fun.

The weather for the next two days is forecast to gradually get worse with rain much of the day on Sunday. We go to Nagoya Sunday night by train and then I start my marathon trip to Guadalajara for the Lorena Ochoa’s event in Mexico. I have to go via Tokyo, Chicago and Dallas so will spend almost 24 hours on a plane on Monday!!

I will check in from there again, bye for now!

Catriona

Hi Everyone
We arrived in Taipei, Taiwan on Monday evening after another long flight, 4 1/2hrs this time, from the extremely hot and humid, Kuala Lumpur.

Taipei has to be the windiest place I have ever been in my life! Yes, it is even windier than Scotland!! It is, however, mid 70's temperature-wise so that is nice and there was no time change this week. It gets light here early in the morning and dark very early - the tournament this week is 72 holes with a 90 player field so the lack of daylight means its tough to get everyone round in that timeframe.

It was so windy on Tuesday that I decided not to play and just walk around the course and take some notes and putt on the greens. It was blowing 40-50mph so I didn’t think I would gain much from playing.

Yesterday it was the pro-am and it was a 36 team, 11am shotgun. As you can imagine 2 teams on every hole made for a long day - it was 6 hrs 15 minutes to play. Luckily I had a really nice group of businessmen who were very good golfers. They had travelled all over the world and had been to Scotland many times and in fact recognised my Carnoustie Country logo from a clothing line they were familiar with in China, so that was nice! We then had a pro-am dinner afterwards so it was a long day by the time I got to bed!

The tournament started today and I got off to a pretty good start - I shot 70 so was pretty happy. It was about a 25mph wind today so was a bit more manageable, unfortunately the forecast is for the winds to increase again as the week goes on.....I will need to stay patient in the wind this week!

I leave for Scotland late Sunday night on a direct flight from Taipei to Frankfurt and then onto Edinburgh. I am excited to see my two daughters again - it has been tough being away for a three week trip but they have had a great time with their grandparents and are excited when we talk to them on the video Skype. I have only 6 days at home before I head to Japan for a tournament there so I will update you again from Japan.

Bye for now!

Catriona

Well it is almost a week since I last checked in with you.

We have now moved on to Kuala Lumpur, which was a 6 hour flight from Seoul,Korea. There was only a 1 hour time change so jet lag was not an issue this week,however,a 6 hour flight still takes its toll.

I was relatively pleased with how I played last week.I hit the ball well,just didn't make many putts.

I decided to practice short game on Tuesday to try to get used to the Bermuda grass which is very difficult to chip from. Also the Bermuda greens tend to be tricky to putt as the grain really influences the way the putt moves as it runs out of speed. I then had a work out in the gym and called it a day.

My practice round this week was during the Pro-am which was on Wednesday. I was in the afternoon wave and it was quick this week, only just over 4 hours! Much better than last week. We had carts this week which helped keep us cool in the 100 degree heat. It is very hot and humid in this part of the world. Most people never look at a weather forecast as it is pretty much the same every day...mid 90's to 100 degrees hot and humid with a chance of storms every afternoon.

So far we have been lucky and dodged all the storms.

This week it is a 4 round event and we started today. I ended up at 1 under which was pretty good after I got off to a bad start.  If you miss a fairway here it is tough to make par as the Bermuda rough is very thick.  The men's European tour played the other 18 holes here earlier this year when Matteo Mannessero won, so here's hoping we have another European winner this week!

Bye for now!

Catriona......

Hi everyone...I am in Seoul,South Korea this week to participate in the Hana Bank LPGA tournament.  It was a long trip via Frankfurt and on to Seoul.  The trip gave me a chance to catch up on some movies and some sleep after an exhausting but fun week at the Solheim Cup. That week was one of the best all year and to win was so much fun.  We had a great team and the final outcome couldn’t have been closer or more exciting.  Hopefully it will have got a few more people interested in women’s golf!

I arrived in Seoul on Tuesday afternoon and got settled in our hotel for the week, unpacked and went to the gym to try and stay awake!  It is going to be a tough week for jet lag with a 9 hour time difference.

Wednesday was Pro-am day and Pro-ams here are quite the experience.  Players stop every 3 holes for noodles so that along with a 34 team shotgun start made for a 6 1/2 hour round!!

I then took advantage of the physio service we have in the locker room to loosen up my back which is a little stiff after such a long flight, then we had to attend the Proam dinner which was a 6 course Korean meal and lasted another 2 1/2 hrs. This made for a long day and as you can imagine I was exhausted!

I have just arrived up at the course now on Thursday morning and am planning some practice on the range,9 holes and then some gym work back at the hotel. I am feeling a lot more "with it " today and not quite as jet lagged. The tournament starts tomorrow(Friday) and is 54 holes.   Then on Monday we move on to Kuala Lumpur for next week’s event.

I am missing my two daughters already and have only been away 3 days so thank goodness for Skype!


hope to catch up again next week from KL where the weather will be very hot and humid!!


Bye for now.....Catriona