Hello everyone, long time lurker

[alienator]

Just thought I would sign up and contribute to the community and let you know a little bit about me.

Been a browser of the forums since I first started the game in 2014 when I was looking for good beginner clubs and have been back several times since.

I've been playing for about a year and 4 months and have been addicted for about a year and 4 months. When I first started I just used youtube videos and friends advice to learn as I went and my first 6 months struggled to break 120 in reality. My friends would let me pick up at triple bogey and just take that as a score but in reality I'm sure I'd have shot some 140+ rounds haha.

I've manage to get gamegolf to track my stats and as of now my gamegolf handicap is sitting right at 20 and Ive logged about 90 games this year.

I decided to take some lessons for the first time this winter and see if it helps to drop my handicap faster and I have had 3 so far but I really have mixed feelings about them we will see. 

My best rounds so far were late this summer I shot an 81 on a par 72 131slope course and felt really good about it. I also shot a 76 on a par 66 course that is basically a normal front nine then the back nine is almost all par 3's

When all aspects of my game come together on the same day I can play pretty good it just only seems to happen about one out of every 20 rounds, but I do feel I get better by little bits every week.

[JonMA1]

Welcome to the site @alienator.

[jbishop15]

Welcome to the forum! Glad to have you around! 

[RandallT]

Welcome aboard. Congrats on converting from lurker to poster. No turning back now!

[NeedAJoker]

Welcome!  You and I are similar in time spent on golf thus far and handicap, so I will be following your progress as well. That being said, I don't have a single round in the 80's and certainly don't plan to sniff the 70's for a while, so congrats on getting there/close so quickly!

Kevin

[alienator]

1 hour ago, NeedAJoker said:

Welcome!  You and I are similar in time spent on golf thus far and handicap, so I will be following your progress as well. That being said, I don't have a single round in the 80's and certainly don't plan to sniff the 70's for a while, so congrats on getting there/close so quickly!

Kevin

Thanks! I will say those at my best rounds of best case scenario playing with my dad so I was very comfortable and it was just my day both times. My next best round was an 86 at the same course and my average round at that course is 89-92 as I play it the most. I'm lucky to have 20 nice courses within an hour of my house here. I've watched my scores slowly drop from breaking 100 my first time this spring over the summer to consistently low 90s with the occasional 88-89 now. 

Mid say all aspects of my game can use work and I spread my practice around among them. My plan next season is to really focus on my short game while keeping my tee and approach shots at least as good as they are now.  I almost always miss the green with any iron longer than a nine, not by much it might only be a couple feet but I find myself chipping on at least 14 holes per round. Some days I follow those chips with a one putt and some days it's a 2 putt. While putting is not yet my strong suit I think it's more green reading than anything because I rarely three putt. I've gone five and six rounds without a three putt my lag putting is on point. Problem is short of the lucky long one I get once a round I usually two putt anything over 4-6 feet. 

Oh one thing I forgot to mention Kevin. Get yourself a game golf if you haven't already. It by far is the best investment I have made in my game. It really putts things into perspective and points out your misses even if you think you know them you will still learn from it. It's very helpful for real scenario club distances also. You can get the original ones on eBay now new for 100$ if you keep your eye out. 

I always knew I played a slice/fade and I'm a lefty so missed left a lot. It really wasn't until I saw all my shots on game golf that I realized hey dummy just aim a little more right. As stupid as that sounds I think it took 5 stokes easily off my game instantly. 

[NeedAJoker]

17 hours ago, alienator said:

Oh one thing I forgot to mention Kevin. Get yourself a game golf if you haven't already. It by far is the best investment I have made in my game. It really putts things into perspective and points out your misses even if you think you know them you will still learn from it. It's very helpful for real scenario club distances also. You can get the original ones on eBay now new for 100$ if you keep your eye out. 

I actually did pick up an Arccos earlier this season, which is effectively the same thing as GAME, but you don't have to tap anything on your belt, just have to have your iPhone in your pocket.  I am a super stat junky with golf, so I really like it, but actually stopped using it halfway through the season as it was getting a bit daunting trying to correct all my scores by having to add so many penalty strokes, extra putts, etc.

I will start using it again this next season, especially now that I should be keeping the ball in play a lot more and not playing ping pong back and forth across the fairway.  Hopefully.  The stats should be a lot more relevant to my actual skill level this season, and I should be able to start deducing more from them once my swing is grooved and yard averages and dispersion is more stable.

Kevin

[14ledo81]

Welcome to TST!!

[Jvanderhuff]

Sounds like your on the right track