When I started with an instructor at the start of this year (2024), I texted her about my goals. They were:
- Eliminate big tee-off mistakes (slices, pulls)
- Break 80
- Handicap 6
- Predictable positioning at setup
Admittedly, only "Break 80" and "Handicap 6" are measurable.
Text message about goals
So how did I do?
I broke 80! On June 15, I had the good fortune of a round of 77.
It should be humbly noted that the weekend before I shot 99, which is so golf.
Throughout the year, I posted 32 rounds on the GHIN app.
In terms of GHIN handicap, I managed to get below 6; 5.3 in the end. From 10.3 at the start of the year, down to 5.3.
'Your Handicap Index' from the GHIN app
So, yay!
Bonus goals
After the good fortune of achieving my goal of the year, I needed a new goal (or goals) with the time left. So I picked out a new goal; A round of 18 without a messed-up hole. I.e. no OB, no double-bogeys, or worse. Amazingly, I managed to do this just two weeks later. A round of only pars and bogeys.
A round with no double bogeys or worse
Then I made up another ambitious goal; green-in-regulation on all four par 3 holes at my home course. And with inches to spare, I managed to achieve this goal in early November. Yes, there were 2 3-putts of those green-in-regulation landings, but it still counts!
2025 goals
- Reach a handicap of 4
- One full round without a single miss-hit(*)
(*) To me, a miss-hit is a shank, a crazy slice or pull out into the OB, a bladed iron or wedge, or a duff hit where the ball goes less than half the necessary distance.
I still feel like I'm learning so no goal is about winning anything. Golf is (stupidly) hard and progress tapers as you get better and the handicap goes down. At the time of writing, I'm still a terrible putter but I chalk much of that up to lack of experience (only been playing 3 years since I quit when I was a kid). And I'm 45 years old and an ageing body is a less fit body and thus harder to predict/control.
Goals aren't important. Scores aren't important. But what's important is the fun of trying to get better. And to that effect, goals and scores are the language of what's important.
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