Running from Thursday to Sunday, the event will feature 144 top golfers from around the country, with $150,000 in prizemoney up for grabs.
Matthews said she was both nervous and excited to compete again.
“I haven’t competed in an event like this in about four years, it’s a massive event,” Matthews said.
“I’m quite nervous because there are some elite golfers in there, but I am very fortunate that I got into the field, so I’m excited.
“It’s going to be a bigger crowd, it’s going to be a big event. It’s great to be out there in the community and representing Goulburn Valley.”
Playing in her first big tournament in years, Matthews said she was going to keep her approach to the tournament light and easy.
“I’m not putting any pressure on myself. I’m hoping to get in the top 10 if I can, that would be great,” she said.
“I’m just going out there and trying to do my best and to have fun and to just enjoy the experience of being back out there.
“The course is playing really nice, really tough. If the wind picks up it’s going to be really challenging. I’m just going to play to my strengths and just enjoy it.”
The tournament will be played in honour of Jarrod Lyle, the former professional golfer from Shepparton who sadly passed away from leukaemia in 2018 at the age of just 36.
Lyle played on the Professional Golfers’ Association Tour and contested both the US Open and The Open Championship during his career.
Matthews knew Lyle personally, and said it would be a special moment to get to compete in a tournament in his honour.
“It’s meaningful when you know someone who has gone through that, to have an event where it is in memory of him. It’s really important and sentimental. We wanted to play for Jarryd,” she said.
Matthews is a professional golfer, turning pro when she was just 19. She spent six years travelling and competing on the pro circuit in Australia, before taking a break from the game in 2018.
She has competed on the Australian Ladies Professional Golf Tour, taking part in tournaments across the country.
Matthews said one of her biggest achievements was playing in the Victorian Open three times, making it through to the third round one year.
She first started playing golf when she was young and she soon found a passion for the sport.
“I used to play a lot of sports and I just picked up golf because my dad and my brother were going to the golf course and I always felt left out,” she said
“I just started playing and my dad said, ‘you’re actually really good at this, keep going, keep going’.”
Matthews was ranked in the top 20 female amateur golfers in Australia, also cracking the top 50 rankings for female professionals. She said it was an awesome experience to play on the pro tour.
“It was just a lot of fun going out there and competing and doing something that you love for a living,” Matthews said.
Matthews has a strong Echuca connection, with her family having previously lived in the region. She now lives in Tatura but still maintains her Echuca connection, working at The Riv.
She said the fatigue from the pro tour was behind her break from the sport, which turned out to go for longer than originally planned due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“It’s mentally tough, mentally challenging and physically challenging. I just found that I needed a break,” she said.
“That break was only supposed to be a couple of years, but then with COVID it got extended.”
Now, though, she is back and ready for action.
Despite her break from the sport, Matthews still retains her professional status, and she said she missed competing at such a high level.
“I just want to play in as many local events as I can, just because it’s great to be out there in the community,” she said.
She said the social side of the sport was the thing she missed most while spending time away from golf.
“The people, the support — there’s some great people out there that they all just love their golf. I just missed that social side with COVID especially,” she said.
“And competing at that high level, too. When you stop you forget how much it means to you that you can play to that level.”
Entry to the TPS Murray River is open to the public for a gold coin donation.
In honour of Lyle, money raised throughout the weekend will go Challenge, a not-for-profit organisation that supports children living with cancer, of which Lyle was an ambassador.
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