Goals for 2008

[TheMizunoMan]

I am going to sort out my slice, and get in the teens handicap wize!

Wish me luck!

[jc21539]

I second that... spend more time on the putting green.

[cheffdiddy_45]

To play a lot more golf then i did last year, to break 80 for the first time, after a couple of 83's, im getting close and to beat my dad head to head.

[BD57]

1) Work the Process Take a lesson every other month & work the lesson between lessons. I have a bad habit of changing my focus from the lesson after a week or so.

2) Short Game!!! I hit more fairways these days than I ever did, and greens in regulation per round aren't far off my historic "top end" - yet my handicap index is almost 4 shots higher.

3) More Competitive Become capable of qualifying for the State Am & Mid-Am (doesn't mean I do it, though I'd like to); qualify on points in my flight for EW Tour National & Senior National tournaments.

[golf_junkie27]

1) Stay confident-Every bad shot is followed by an opportunity to make a good shot. That can't happen, though, if I don't remain confident. I've improved on it but I need that to be my main goal.

2) Work on my chipping-Don't be a hardhead. Use the right club, be it a 5I or SW.

3) Keep plugging-Earlier last year, a few bad shots meant a terrible round. I got better and kept grinding. My focus improved and my shots dropped. I need to continue to do this.

4) Break 80-I've come close. Shot an 81 at Van Cortland, 84 at Garrison and Split Rock. I've kept notes, know which holes I've failed, miserably and have a plan of attack. Now, I need to execute.

Most important, though, it to keep having fun. Golf is a game and I need to keep it as such.

[TCCcaddie]

Get the handi under 10 to get started. Then work out the rest as the season gets started.

[beisenhauer]

I'd like to get my handicap down into the mid-teens (currently 20+); say, 16 with 12-13 as a stretch goal. However, that's just an outcome, which doesn't mean much without the means to achieve it.

Of the stats I kept last year, the one with the strongest correlation to my scores was penalty strokes. I have to keep the ball in play, if not always in the fairway. I hit about 30% of fairways last year; I'd like to get that at least to 50% as well as "missing better" when I don't hit the fairway.

When the weather turned unseasonably warm earlier this week, I got out and played a quick 9. I kept the ball in play, but my short game and putting had abandoned me. It inspired a another goal: to average three strokes or fewer per hole from inside 100 yards (including putts, obviously.)

One last goal is to better my all-time best round of 82. Maybe even break 80. (I managed a 39 for 9 holes once last year.)

[cbe_golfer]

I am going to take this a little differently. I am going to set a target for this month and keep it pretty simple.

5 pars
2 lost golf balls or less.

Actually I think the first is easier than the second..we'll see.

[907golfer12]

1) Last season I hit balls a lot, but with no objective, so this year I'm going to practice with a purpose

2) Get my handicap down to single digits (sp?), and hopefully play in some Alaska Amateur events

3) Practice my short game A LOT more

[hawkeye]

In the middle of exams - no golf from mid December to end of Jan for me - so here goes:

So here's the golfball stuff:

1. swing mechanics - was working with club pro towards the end of last year on a few things so continue this. Also working with college coach on the short game.

2. putting - the main thing holding my handicap at 5. Probably average >32. Spend more time on putting green at the range, work on drills. Work on a proper technique.

3. <100 yards - work on distance control with all clubs inside this range. Go to the short game area at the range specifically for this.


Some psychological/mental stuff :

1. course management - leaving driver in the bag, hitting to a preferred approach distance (ties in with 3 above), hitting conservative shots - trying not to short side myself.

2. enjoy myself - remember you could be stuck in the library or behind a desk.

3. off-course practice - between reading tidbits on thesandtrap.com and magazines/books, find some time every day to focus on golf - remember the great shots, remember Tiger's shot on 16 - get some positive vibes going.



golfing goals

1. make the college golf team - there are 11 guys going for 10 spots. Played my way onto the team in November & won, so by working on my game I hope to get a couple more matches in.

2. make the club teams - Junior Cup (5 man team, handicaps >5) - got to Provincial quarter finals last year - so try out for the team again and see if we can do better. Also played on 4 other teams but not too interested in them)

3. win a major title - win a Junior Scratch Cup (36 holes, handicap >4/5). Won my first one last year, enter a few this year.



More general stuff:

1. fittness - buy a pair of trainers so i've no excuse not to run! work on some weights at home and gym too. continue to take yoga classes.

2. practice timetable - be strict, practice as much (if not, more) than i play. Go to range at least twice from Mon-Fri. If playing Sat and or Sun, practice beforehand.

3. make new friends - this is what it's all about!

4. handicap - lose 2 shots in handicap. This will eliminate me from some teams and competitions but i hope this will only focus me on dropping the next (the hardest!) few shots.

5. keep stats - birdie opportunities (ie putting inside 20ft), conversions, penalty strokes, up and down <100yards, putts, gross score. College coach wants us to keep track of them - good indicator of what you should work on at the range/lessons (it all comes down to the short game!)

6. be prepared - well i am a Scout Leader! but make sure always have umbrella/windcheater/waterproofs, visor, warm hat, gloves (winter), spare change of clothes and of course balls/tees/gloves/pencils. Note the weather forecast a few days before and the night before. If it's a new course, study the website and/or look up some review websites.

7. look the part - it's half the battle. look good => play good.


OK! let's see how this works till St. Patricks Day - that's when the winter season is over in Ireland!

[acing1]

My goal remains to decrease my handicap from a 13 to a 12. I have sought to do this for six years now but to no avail. It's like I am stuck in quick sand. Whether my scoring average for the golf season is 87 or 89, I usually end up a 13.
To become a 12, I will focus less on scoring average and handicap thoughout the year and more on milestones. It seems that whenever I try to accomplish new course bests, I accomplish those goals frequently. So, for most rounds, I will focus on establishing new course "bests." The theory is that this will keep my focus on process and not score. Sounds like an oxy moron, I know, but this has worked for me before.

[fjm039]

1. Find a teaching pro I am comfortable with and establish lesson schedule. I need to do this to become more consistent. I am all over the place from day to day.
2. RE-READ Dr. Rotella's book on 'Golf is Not a Game of Perfect' and actually apply the teachings for more than 2 rounds.
3. Get my 5 1/2 year old introduced to the game by taking her with me to the practice range or when I play 9 holes. Allow her to putt around and drive the cart until her interest grows (we all know it will :))

[Tristan]

come top 20 in v kent order of merit and do well in the McGregor championships whilst being easily inside cat 1 (3)

[Bill23]

Handicap Below 10 -I feel that i have improved this off season by getting some lessons from the golf pro at Dick's, and from what ive learned to do and what not to do from last season where i started the season at a 25 handicap and finished at about a 14 handicap.

Start on the College golf team -Right now i need to beat out 1 to 2 players on the team in order to even play in the tournaments that the school plays in.

[klaymon]

I've already accomplished one goal and that's to be more positive on the course. I used to really let bad shots get to me. Now I just focus on the next one instead of what happened 3 seconds ago.

My new goal is to break 100 by summer.

[FortAsel]

well, I've posted earlier on the thread, but I'd like to ad some more goals:

Improve Consistency: Last year I started shooting in the mid 20's, then I got down to mid 80's, but I still score in the 20's and only once I reached the 100 strokes. This year I want to score on the mid eighties tops. I don't want to score anything over 85. It's not gonna be easy, but I know I can do it.

Improve my practice: Usually, when I go out to the range I hit 100 balls with my 56º, 8i, 3i, 3w and Driver. This takes me about 45 min - 1 hour and I'm normally on the golf course for less than 1h30min, So I don't practice a lot of short game, especially chipping, pitching and sand play. In the begining of the year, that was all that we would do because our driving range was closed for work (it was a complete mess) and while that, I would be getting my ball about 2-4 inches away from the hole. Then the D.R. reopened and I started lossing that control. So, my goal is, pratice more short game and then play 4 holes on the course.

Improve work ethic: When I have a problem that I want to solve, I usually get angry when I cannot correct that mistake. This makes the mistake get worse and the I have to change more parts of my swing. By this I mean that I have to have at least 1 lesson with my coach each 3 weeks.

Improve course management: When I'm leading a tournament, weather it is during the night, on the first day or on the sencond day, nobody can catch me. That's it. It is just impossible. But sometimes, when I'm trying to reach the top of the leaderboard, I start thinking "Lets fire at the pin we only have 5 more holes to go!". Then I get too agressive and I end up loosing the tournament, because I get too agressive. I mean, when I look back at it, 5 holes is still alot to go! In 5 holes you can do 5 birdies! You can do whatever you want in five holes and win the tournament! This means that I should start waiting for my chances. Par isn't a bad score.

Improve my scoring: Even though I want to improve consistency, I want to improve the way I score. I don't want to have score cards like 82-76-85-77-84... This leads to inconsistency and my hadicap won't go down like that. This could also be becaus of my temperament, which I also want to improve.

I think thats all now...

[i-Guy]

i-Guys Goals for 2008 as follows:

1) FIR (fairways in regulation) = 50% (7) (21% (3) in 2007)
2) GIR = 50% (9) (33% (6) in 2007)
3) Up & Down = 46% (27% in 2007)
4) Putts per round = Less then 31 (32.3 in 2007)
5) Penalty Strokes average per round = 1.5 (3.7 in 2007)
6) Handicap = Less then 12 (14 in 2007)

Obviously I have a game plan behind each of these goals on how to achieve them through diligent practice, lessons and working on the mental aspect of the game (thinking better on the course). Good luck to all on their goals for 2008...See ya!

[TomS]

Mine are to keep my swing consistent, try to keep my drives straight, maintain low 80's and try to break 80 by the end of the year...