What was your turning point? Or was there one?

There were a few milestones that led to plateaus. Sometimes it can seem like two steps forward and three steps back, but stick with it. And be reallistic - if we're not top players at any sport, why would golf be the exception?

That's a great point as well. Since my goal right now is to play no worse than bogey golf, that gives me three shots to get within 100 yards on a par 5, two shots on a par 4, etc. If I can learn to get down in 3 from inside 100Y, and eliminate penalty strokes, I'm pretty much there. I guess I always thought my ball striking would be better than it is at this stage of my development.

The guys who got me into golfing are all single-digit handicappers, and they taught me to do what you're describing (keep it in play and make bogeys) so I wouldn't slow them down. One of them basically said, "Listen, it's going to take a while to start hitting the ball like us, but there is no reason you can't learn to chip and putt as well as we do." So I would hit a weak cut into the right rough, hit a 5-iron (fat) 150 yards, bump it onto the green and 2-putt. Not pretty, but since I didn't take forever, they kept inviting me to play with them. And, gradually, my ballstriking is catching up.

I've played golf since the age of six or so. So, I feel like I probably picked it up faster/easier than most. Though college when I didn't practice much (much more intersting extracirricular activities) I would consider anything sub 80 a solid round. Most were low 80's. After college I had a lot more time to practice and it really came down to working on fundamentals and making my swing shorter and more efficient and mostly working on shots from 100 and in. Most of the time at the range, I'll hit nothing but wedges and then work on chipping and pitching. It just takes practice and persistance. I have to be the best that I can be at everything I do and I was on a mission to break 70 (which I finally did two years ago). Every person is different and has different goals.

I believe that's more important than most people would believe.

C'mon man---ya gotta tell me what that was!

This is a great thread!

I haven't gone on a 18 holes course yet, but given how inconsistent I am on that 9 holes par 3's course I go often, I'm definitely a 110+ player.

Strangely enough, I'm quite good in the sand, but I (unfortunately?!) rarely end up in bunkers, most of my mistakes / lost strokes come from fat shots with my 56º wedge from the rough that go 5 yards…or fly over the green. That and my distance control on my putts. I am very ashamed to say I end up with 4 putts too often

But I have had those "aha!" moments during my lessons (3 times a month) and I've seen my progress as far as the golf swing goes (started from zero last August, never touched a club before that in my life, and I'm 32):
#1 the first time I realized why I was hitting airshot after airshot, and finally made contact.
#2 when I started to consistently feel my weight properly shifting back to the left on the downswing.
#3 and more recently, "slowing down" my swing so that I stopped being "handsy" at the top of the backswing, starting the transition. This lead to MUCH better contact because my body could execute the hip slide AND still be in sequence at impact.
#4 not sure what's the next step yet, but I know I still have to work on #2 and #3 because when I hit it great, I tend to feel over-confident and "forget" about all that… that's when things get ugly

That's why golf is awesome: it's so humbling and frustrating but yet so rewarding. I wish us all good luck !

Well your mileage will vary as everyone has different faults. For me it was all in my release, I had a big hold off, or lack of release if you will. Once I learned to properly release the club my drives went from 200 to 250 carry and my GIR's when from 2 or maybe 3 a round to about 14... But again this was just me.