MARTIN Griffin has turned his Open qualifying bid into a real family affair as he targets a prized spot at Royal Troon.

The ex-Royal Grammar School, Worcester pupil, will have wife Helen caddying plus his parents and two young sons cheering him on from the sidelines, as he attempts to land one of the handful of places available for next week's 133rd Open Championship.

Griffin successfully negotiated regional qualifying at Trentham earlier this week, where he came through an eight man play-off after a two-over-par 74.

But if that was tough, the competition has just gone up another notch for the Moseley Golf Club professional. He is one of approximately 384 golfers at local final qualifying, fighting it out over 36 holes for just 12 places.

Droitwich-based Griffin will play at Turnberry's Kintyre course, one of four LQF venues, but has eased the pressure on himself by insisting he's going there with zero expectations.

"My expectations are that I haven't got any," he said. "I've not been in this situation before and I'm just going to play golf and if I go in with that attitude who knows."

His wife, a Droitwich Golf Club member, will once again carry his bag, having proved invaluable at Trentham.

"She's excellent with the yardage and it's good to talk about other things beside golf, it's difficult to concentrate for four-and-a-half hours," added Griffin.

Confident

Turnberry's Kintyre links course is set to test the qualifiers but after spending seven years of his career at Le Moye in Jersey, where former Masters champion, Ian Woosnam, is a member, Griffin is confident of coping with whatever is thrown at him.

"Le Moye was on top of a cliff so I'm used to a lot of wind," said Griffin.

"Links courses in general are harder and bouncier especially if the wind starts to blow," he added.

"The ball doesn't land or stop. You almost have to judge the bounce and roles, wind and everything else.

"You have to play with the contours a lot more, and need a little be more local knowledge."

Griffin revels in his golfing career but describes it as an accident after falling into an assistant's role at Droitwich Golf Club on leaving school.

"It was something that came out of the blue. The job was there, I played a bit of golf, so thought why not have a go. It turned out to be a good accident," added Griffin.

One things for sure though - if Martin makes it through to Royal Troon it will be no fluke.