Rock providing his inspiration for Marsh (From The Northern Echo)

Rock providing his inspiration for Marsh

5:34pm Wednesday 8th February 2012 in Sport By Paul Fraser, Chief Football Writer

WHEN Robert Rock got his hands on the HSBC Golf Championship title in Abu Dhabi last Sunday, his achievements registered in North Yorkshire.

The 34-year-old has established himself on the main European Tour schedule over the last eight years, but he had to go about things the hard way. Taking small steps in his bid to compete on the same stage as the world's best golfers.

As a Midland PGA Professional and teacher at Swingers Golf Centre in Lichfield, Rock went about earning the funds to pay for his rise to prominence. The more cash he raised, the more events he entered.

Having taken up affiliate membership of the European Tour in 2003, he finished 116th in the Order of Merit from his seven invitations to earn a place on the 2004 Tour schedule. He has, as last Sunday's triumph over Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy proved, never looked back since.

It is the Rock path which Matthew Marsh is looking at for inspiration. Woods and Nick Faldo may be the players that the Richmond golfer has always admired, but the success story of the man from the Midlands is one that has struck home.

Marsh is 26 now. He is yet to play on the Challenge Tour - European golf's second tier - but is making steady progress beneath that as he steps up preparations for the new season on the EuroPro Tour.

Like Rock, he is a qualified PGA professional and raises the funds to compete on the circuit by teaching at Sheffield's Hallowes Golf Club, where he has to travel from his home in Richmond.

"Robert was a Midlands pro not so long ago and there was a point when he would be selling Mars bars at his local club to help him along the way," said Marsh.

"That's got to be the golfer I can relate to the most, certainly.

"He is in his mid-30s now and it's only recently really (Rock won the BMW Italian Open in 2011) when he has started to win things on the main Tour.

Before that he had just been playing in PGA events and eventually did well at the PGA Championship in Wentworth and got on Tour that way."

Marsh is going about things slightly differently, even if he is at a similar age to what Rock was when he first made significant progress.

Since turning professional when he was 19, Marsh has won 11 tournaments within the PGA North Region and he ended last season ranked 12th on the money list, despite playing just three events.

One of his success stories was getting his hands on the biggest prizefund of the year at the Renewable Services Group Charity Pro-Am at Cottingham, where he landed a cheque of £4,000.

But it was the way he secured exemption category 10 to claim final stage qualifying for this season's EuroPro Tour qualifier April which he was most pleased with.

Having made real progress in the last 12 months, he is looking for that to continue during 2012, but could do with financial backing to help him achieve his goals.

Marsh, now a regular at Rockliffe Hall, has quickly realised life in the professional golf lane, trying to live his lifelong dream, is a real challenge.

"On the EuroPro Tour I will play somewhere between 12 to 14 events this year," he said.

"The costs are high, you have to spend around £600 during a tournament week. It's £275 to enter each event and then there's the cost of petrol, hotels or whatever. It's hard.

"If you win an event it can really help. It's around £10,000 for winning, but the prize money drops significantly after that. When you think you are spending between £6-8,000-a-year on playing, it is not easy."

Marsh, 26, has been training at Rockliffe Hall which he described as "fantastic and the best in the north of England". He has also played on the Alps and EPD Tours (both regarded at a similar level to the EuroPro Tour) in the hope of breaking on to the Challenge Tour, which remains his next goal.

"I have wanted to play on the European Tour since I first started to play golf when I was nine or ten," said Marsh, who first realised he had a chance when he won the men's club championship at Richmond Golf Club when he was just 15, shooting 67-71 on a handicap of 7.

"I have a timescale on my mind that I am looking at. I would have to say that when I reach 30, that would have to be the limit. I don't want to be like some of these golfers who are still trying even now and are older than that.

"But if I can make a similar amount of progress this year as I did last year then I am pretty confident my time will come. My main goal for this year is play my first event on the Challenge Tour. If I can get an invite, go in that way, then that would be great."

He does have unranked membership on the Challenge Tour for the year ahead, which means an invite could come calling if a tournament is not filled. "That would be the opportunity I'm waiting for," he said.

n Matthew Marsh is currently looking to attract sponsors/investors for the new season and has different investment package options available ranging from branding or a percentage of his earnings.

Matthew is already sponsored by Charles James Financial Planning Services and is a brand ambassador for CNP Professional Sports Nutrition. He also offers a return for investment by offering Corporate/Company Golf Day help, while will provide Coaching Clinics to clients clients for his sponsors.