Review your season

[Jack T11]

Hey everyone as we’ve now entered the off season. I’m just thinking back to my goals at the start of the year break 75 and get a single digit handicap. I’ve achieved neither of these things I haven’t even broken 85 this year and not a single score I’ve put in this year has helped my handicap. 
 

so just wondering what all your goals were and did you achieve them?

Edited October 5, 2023 by Jack T11

[cnosil]

16 minutes ago, Jack T11 said:

 

so just wondering what all your goals were and did you achieve them?

My goals for the pat few years have been to break 70 and get my scoring average to 75.  Based on the course difficulty that I play this equates to scratch.  
 

closest I got was a 73 and I am averaging about 81.   Short game has improved which was the largest hurdle I needed to overcome; just not good enough.  I have improved iron play by reducing my big left miss; still happens but not as frequently.   
 

IMO, big reason is the lack of focused practice to fine tune my stock shot and dialing in short game distance control based on varying lies. 

[Tom the Golf Nut]

Two seasons ago I decided to stop chasing a handicap of 0. It was time to have fun and enjoy myself golfing. This season I moved from TN to NC, obviously changed my home course and decided I had to focus and figure this course out. Then came the Cobra Challenge, Virtual Tour, and the Match Play. These all forced me to focus and get serious again. It's actually pretty draining focusing that hard for an extended period of time.

I signed up for GHIN again and started putting in scores. I have seen a change in my abilities by the focus and some equipment changes. This season I have achieved career low score of 67, a career low handicap of 0.5, and made several eagles which I haven't done in years. The handicap wasn't a big change from a 0.6 but that handicap was two years old and I was probably higher last year but didn't keep track.

Overall this was a very successful season and it's not over yet. There is still hope to get out of that dam aceless thread. 

[vandyland]

Birdie Challenge - I am (still) trying to birdie all 18 holes at my golf course. I have one hole left to birdie and, luckily, the golf season in TN is basically year round. 

Swing "Change" - I wanted to "own my swing" which to me meant I had an overall "methodology" and just a few things I had to think about. Also, this means in theory I should be able to boil down my issues to a few things and be able to "correct/fix" it on the course rather quickly. I have practiced quite a bit with the "No Turn Cast" swing, attended a Monte 2 day clinic in Chicago and have had 3 online live lessons with him in the past year. While my swing will always be a work in progress, I think I took appropriate action this year to commit and execute a swing change. 

Overall  Scoring/Handicap - Handicap isn't always the best indicator of improvement (since it only takes your best scores) but it is a decent approximation. My handicap at the beginning of the year was 5.9 and now my handicap (as of today) is 2.4 which is also my low handicap....ever. My average differential (score relative to course handicap) for ALL rounds in 2023 is 6.8 and was 7.9 in the prior year. For the last 4 months (25 rounds) my average differential is 4.3 so I feel like I am reaping the benefits lately. My average score in 2023 is 76.84 vs 77.2 in 2022 BUT I am now playing from 6,500 yds instead of 6,000 yds so the differential is probably more important. 

Areas of Strength/Weakness

Driving (trending up) - I was already driving the ball fairly well but adding the Mizuno ST-Z 230 Driver has further improved that. I am consistently at least +2.0 strokes gained driving these days and averaging 290-300 yds total.
Approach (trending up) - This has been benefitted greatly by the No Turn Cast and my GIR average is currently 12.5 greens per round. This is a 1.9 GIR/round improvement vs prior year. 
Short Game (neutral) - This is fairly hit and miss. My standard chipping and pitching off normal lies is slightly better but my bunker play is worse now that I play a club with deep, soft bunkers. Working to address that but currently it is about neutral strokes gained.
Putting (trending down) - The last month my putting has fallen off a cliff. Simple reason is I don't practice putting, ever. It has been distance control more than anything else. I have lost as many as -4.5 strokes (gained) in a single round when I hit 15 greens. That was frustrating. 

**Random Thought/Observation - I think I always knew this but playing from farther back (if you can hit it decently far and have good approach play) helps your handicap immensely. I can play from 6,000 yds or 6,500 yds and shoot about the same score because I am not a good putter. So from 6,000 yds I have several more birdie looks but I don't really ever make them so it doesn't show up on the score card. If I am 15 feet out or 30 feet out, I am probably 2 putting 95% of the time. 

Edited October 5, 2023 by vandyland

[Stuka44]

MY SEASON IS NEVER OVER TOM!!!

 I ill continue to play here even after the snow flurries start.  In all seriousness though  I continue to practice my putting, which I enjoy, not so much of a range guy.  Since testing the Birdie Ball putting mat, and actually practicing my putting(Go Figure) since then, I've seen almost all of my putting numbers improve.  # of 3 putts down,  #of 1 putts up per round,  Up/Down % up.  I know I am still a little younger than some, but I realize I'm not going to magically hit the ball farther at this point, so I work mostly on what I know I can actually improve, and that's making a few more 3-10 footers.  Other than that I play golf with 2 of my brothers almost every weekend, so every season is a success.  I am happy to say at this point, while I still try to score as low as possible each and every time I go out, and take the game still very serious, I can take an 8 smiling from ear to ear.  Success!! 

[Parshooter36]

I didn't have any goals set for the year, but what a year it was!  I was having a fairly typical year scoring wise, then right around the 4th of July something clicked.  Over the past 3 months, I have played the most consistant golf of my life. I didn't beat my personal best, but I seemed to be within 5 or 6 shots of my PB nearly every round.  I don't have an official handicap, but according to The Grint my handicap has dropped from 11.5 at the end of last season to 6.8 today.  And to top it off I won my club championship match play event beating all 3 guys that have combined to win the last 10 years worth of championships.  

[Bossfan]

My goals were pretty modest. I have some health issues so I know not to set my expectations too high. First I wanted to keep my scoring average under 90 and handicap at 15 or below. I did do that. I also hoped  to break 80 at least once. I didn’t do it that but shot two 80s so close. I didn’t play as many rounds as I might of liked because there were days I didn’t feel well enough to play. 

[Rygolf32]

Wasn't too bad overall (hopefully still some time left here to improve a little more with cooperating weather). Was able to get my handicap down from a 6 at the end of last season to a 3.7 with a lot of work, mainly focusing on off the tee and putting.

Still haven't broken 70 this year, one of my few main goals as it's been a few years since I've been in the 60's. Otherwise, goal was to get in the 3's for handicap, to make less/limit 'dumb' mistakes and to play more golf which I've definitely done this year. 

 

[Golf2Much]

Living in Key West, we have two seasons:  tourist season and summer!  Golf is 52 weeks of the year, so one goal is just surviving over 150 rounds!

I run our course's GHIN and had some time on my hands so I downloaded 14 years of golf scores into an excel spreadsheet.  I divided up the scores by year and took my average scores to see what has happened over the that time of capturing scores.   After over 800 rounds, a knee replacement, broken neck, shoulder operations, aging into my mid-60's, various different golf clubs and balls and my game literally changing 180 degrees (e.g. things I did well at the start, not so well now and vice versa) my average score over 14 years was 85 and changes less than plus/minus a stroke from year to year!  I did not count about six months of scores in that calculation after I broke my neck, was temporarily paralyzed and had to learn to swing a club again. 

So, with all of that, why would I expect to see any major changes!  

This year however, my golf goals were to play in the MGS virtual tournaments, check out new irons (as mine were nine years old) and to stay active on MGS.   Because I play year round, I had a little advantage and won the year one of the Virtual Championship Tour by the slimmest of margins.  So, thumbs up!  I was picked to do MGS's member review of the Callaway Paradym X irons.  Another thumbs up!  And finally, I've been more active on MGS both posting, responding and helping out on the special virtual tournaments.  Final thumbs up!  

So, I'd say I met most if not all my goals.  Oh, this year's average score so far:  109 scores posted ranging from 78 to 94 with an average of 85.7!  Somethings never change!

Edited October 11, 2023 by Golf2Much

[JerryB]

There's a thread floating around somewhere regarding goals at the beginning of the season and I'm too lazy to look for it, but I'm fairly certain I didn't hit any of my goals.  Just started playing a couple years ago and unlike from year one to year two, my progress in year three was not linear.  Objectively I know this, but it still hurt this year.  I began the year with a handicap of 18 and I'm currently at 20.4.  Swing was a mess; everything was hooked badly.  Finally trending in the right direction just in time to shut it down for the year.  Broke 90 a few times but was far more likely to shoot over 100 and had an abysmal +51 one round.  

But I did play several new courses this year and gained a few new golf partners.  That makes it worthwhile.

[Josh Parker]

My season doesn't end in Texas but my goal this past year was to get back into the game and focus on getting my handicap back down to single digits.  Life has finally settled down some and I am able to get to the range almost daily these days.  I am working with our head pro on my driver and making some solid progress with that.  My iron play has improved greatly since getting fitted and putting new irons in the bag.

I'm not down to single digits yet, but making progress and seeing better rounds.

[revkev]

My season never ends so it's hard to say - in fact normally October high point of it.  I've played in a couple of tournaments this year including my clubs member/guest with some success - no wins but won some money.  It looks like I'm going to finish in second place in the B flight in my summer golf league - A and B flights are single digit handicappers so I've stayed in that category and played to my handicap.

 

Personally it was a very hard summer with a very difficult family issue so I didn't play as much as I would have liked.  But I'm hoping to remedy that - November/December are great golf months in Florida.  

[Dweed]

Our season is winding down here in Mid Michigan. We still have a few weeks left, albeit chilly, before courses close.  One thing I've noticed is for the past 7 or 8 years my score usually started to get worse in the Sep-Nov timeframe. Not 100% sure if it can all be weather related. But happily so far this season my score/index has been steady and or dropping a couple of tenths. I attribute this to more directed practice and trying to maintain some semblance of record keeping. Two goals I set early on was increase my GIR's. So far this year I managed to hit 44% of greens compared to 29% last year. I wanted to increase the % of rounds breaking 80. Last year it was 20% and so far this year I'm at 31%. My driving has remained steady at 62% no improvement but no degradation either. As far as putting my only goal was to eliminate 3 putts. Problem is I never developed a plan of attack to fix what might be the problem. I know I usually had at least one 3 putt each round of 9. Since being involved in the @GolfSub70 putter testing I have been tracking my 3 putts better. Rough estimate of 11% of putts were 3 putts. Since tracking my 3 putts, they have dropped to a tad over 7% currently. Will need to quantify goals for next year a bit better once I figure out where I stand at the end of this year.

 

[Shlax]

Wanted to start the same thread. Time for the end of the season debriefing!

My only quantifiable objectives at the start of the season were:

1. Break-80.
2. Become a single-digit handicap player.

I’m happy to report that I fulfilled these tasks while exceeding my own expectations.

1. My lowest score of the year is 76 (twice) and I shot 77-78-79 a handful of times. I broke 80 roughly 12% of the rounds I played and shot 80 on the dot probably another 15% of the time.
2. I started the season on April 14th as a 10.3 handicap player. My index increased up to 10.6 until I finally got to 9.9 on June 6th! By mid July, it had dropped to 9.1 and since August, it has varied between 8.6 and 8.8.

My only objectives for next year are to break-75 and remain a single-digit handicap player. I am not chasing a given index or even thinking about getting to scratch in a few years. I will work steadily on other issues with my game, mainly putting, and my index will likely decrease close to 5 or 6 organically. I would however add shooting even-par or better on a nine to my list but I will not consider that as a failure if it doesn’t happen.

On a more qualitative note, some things that I am proud of/worth noting this season are:

1. Reunited with my driver. This aspect is the weakest part of my game and I have succeeded in finding a state of mind and correcting some issues where I now feel confident off the tee. Indeed, I finally got shallow and started playing a draw!
2. Had the pleasure to be selected as a tester for the Caley 01CB irons forum test and they ended up grabbing a spot in my bag, against all odds.
3. My par rate is higher than my bogey rate.
4. Made my second eagle ever.
5. Had two very close calls for my first ever hole-in-one. On these two occasions, the ball was within 8-10" of the cup.
6. Had a record low number of putts in a round of 28 (and a record high of 42 no later than yesterday…).
7. Added a 3-hybrid as a 15th club in rotation with my 2-iron and it might very well become a permanent fixture in the bag. I previously had somewhat of a disdain for hybrids and I am more than happy that I gave it a shot!
8. Started confidently using my 60° LW as the main chipping club around the green and this brought me versatility in shot making and better final results.
9. Added the low-spinning or one-hop-and-stop approach shot to my toolbox. I still need perfect conditions to successfully execute it, but that’s a wonderful way of boosting confidence during a round!

Finally, I’m glad that I discovered this community and became an active member of the forum last April. I enjoyed reading about everybody’s experience regarding golf and exchanging with like-minded obsessed addicts on gear, technical aspects of the swing, thoughts, struggles, successes, technology and projects.

It was fun and see you next year fellow Spies! Take care.

Edited October 16, 2023 by Shlax
Typos

[Swood1994]

Going into this season I didn’t have high hopes for my golf game. My wife and I had our first child in January so when the golf season started I didn’t anticipate playing as much as I did the year before or even getting close to my original goal which was breaking 70. 

Fast forward to the end of the season and I think my “goals” were accomplished this season. I maintained my 7 (6.8) handicap throughout the season (even with my poor performance on league nights). And in a truly out of the blue round I fired a 68 with 3 birdies and 2 eagles in the same round. I believe my average 18-hole score was around 78-79.

All in all I think given the fact that I played 1/2-3/4 as much as I did last season I would say I’m very satisfied with how this season ended up. 

[Byrnzee]

It's hard for me to grasp that my season is officially over, but the weather forecast has been pretty convincing as of late. That being said, I'm definitely satisfied with my season. My main goal for this year was to get to a single-digit handicap after going through a full swing change.

For anyone that has attempted a swing change before, you know that it's an incredible challenge that often gets worse before it gets better - I can confirm that is definitely the case. I'm happy to say I ended the season at a 9.1 handicap, which is my lowest on record in my golfing "career." I'm also much happier with how my swing looks and performs, as I was incredibly inconsistent in the past.

I also played ~36 rounds of golf this year, which is definitely a record in my adult life. Excited for next season already!

[MaxEntropy]

I had 3 goals for the year:

1. Play more than last year.
2. Break 80.
3. Get handicap to single digits.

I am currently 1.5 rounds away from tying last year, so if weather cooperates, I should be able to achieve the first goal. #2 has been on my radar for a while. Prior to this year, I had shot a couple 80's and a few 81's so I knew I was capable if the stars aligned. I broke 80 twice this year (77 and 79). Realistically, I did not know if I had the practice time needed to achieve #3 and figured if I did achieve #2, it was going to be a fluke, lucky round. It tuns out I was on a bit of a heater for the middle of the summer thanks, in large part, to the Sub70 wedge test as my short game was very good for a long time this summer. The 2 rounds in the 70's and 6 league rounds in the 30's got me as low as a 7.4 and I ended our league season as a 4 for 9 holes. I wasn't able to maintain it and am now back above a 10, but I know I can get and stay there if I can do a couple things next year: 1) be more consistent with driver. This year it was either really good or tragically bad with not much in between; and 2) I really have to figure out why I have been so bad with an iron in my hands the past couple years. Maybe I need to be selected for an iron test next year as it guarantees I will practice that aspect more .

[elight]

Last year was my first full year playing. I finished having never broken 100 or finding any real consistency. I worked very hard in the simulator in the winter and also worked a lot of chipping in the spring.

Goals this year that I achieved:

Achieve 100+ mph club head soeed
Hit a drive (on course) at least 260 yards
Break 100
Break 95
Finish a 9-hole round with no 3-putts

Goals this year that I did NOT achieve:

Break 90 (many 9-hole rounds in late season in low 40s, but not enough time to play 18 holes frequently) 
Handicap <20 (currently 21.7)
Enter a non-charity tournament

10 birdies (had none through mid-August, three since then) 

700 total holes played (don't have exact count, but not even close) 

 

All in all, a success. And maybe a few rounds left. I've seen a glimpse of what I can achieve next year with more practice and consistency. One thing that really bugs me, though, is that every "big" round (invited to a country club, playing a nice course on vacation, etc.) was a complete disaster.