Your 2012 Golf Goals - Official Thread

1. Be able to hit my driver or three wood well enough that it isn't a liability during the round. Striking them so poorly I've been using my irons off the tee.

2. Shoot in the 70's on my home course.

1. Commit to practising over the summer. No more playing to a 4 HC with no practice.

2. Get into the club div 1 pennant team

3. Shoot more red.

1. Become more consistent with my scoring. Guess this means I'll have to start practicing again. To accomplish this I'll try to find someone (teacher/coach) who can modify my swing to reduce some of the stress on my back. No more reverse-c finishes...  ;)

2. Better my putting from 15-20'. I would be able to post many more sub-par rounds if I could start making 20-30% of these. Not sure if that's a reasonable expectation though.

3. Establish and maintain a real single-digit handicap again. Haven't kept a 'real' handicap since the back injury.

Net result is to shoot a dozen or more sub-par rounds this year, from the back tees on my home course (+7000yds). I may have to settle for the combos though (6600yds). Maybe try for a Sr division USGA amateur event. We'll see.

By goals can be summed up by two things. I have so many of them that I will consolidate them into scoring. :)

1. Break 100

2. Break 90

Going quant in 2012.

1. Average putts per GIR below 1.9. (Last 50 rounds: 2.03. Completely unacceptable. )

2. Average GIR above 55.6%, or 10 greens per round. (Last 50 rounds: 52%, or 9.4 greens.)

3. Driver club head speed consistently over 105 mph. (Current: 97 - 102 mph.)

My goals for last year were a bit more big picture than statistics, this year I think I'm going to go a little bit more balanced...

1) Break 80- My goal last year was to break 100, did that. Then I got the breaking 90 out of the way by shooting 87. I shot 39 on the back of that round, so I know I have the potential if I keep up the same amount of practice and commitment that I had last summer.

2) Average 36 Putts or Better per Round- This may seem easy to many of you, but really my putting is what's holding me back. To accomplish this goal, my putting is not the only thing that needs to get better (although that's a major part of it), but also my short game in getting up and down/closer to the pin (at least close enough to give myself a chance or put it to tap-in range) and my short iron play. I have to cut out the three putting as I average way too many of those a round.

3) Keep the Left Foot on the Ground Through the Entire Swing- This is one thing that I really hate about my swing and causes me to lose balance. I've fixed a lot of things about my swing, and this really needs to be fixed my the end of the year, no excuses.

3) Practice the Short Game More- Now that I have a place to do so, I really need to practice around the green more even if it's just once a week after my lesson. All aspects of my short game need work, especially bunker play. This summer I want to have more up and downs and give myself a better shot at par even if I don't get the GIR.

4) Stay Mentally Committed in Every Round- This includes thinking on every single shot and limiting blowup holes. It also includes letting said blowup hole not effecting the upcoming holes. Way too many times this year I would be putting together a pretty good stretch, but then a single decision derails a hole, or a single hole derails the round. Sometimes I just need to learn to take my medicine and play for bogey.

5) Play in at Least 3 Tournaments- I really want to start the tournament golf scene this upcoming season and I have my eye on a few tournaments through the Long Island Golf Association (Long Island Amateur, Long Island Open, Michael Hebron Amateur Championship). From what I can tell, they're open to anyone, and I would need to shoot somewhere in the mid 70's to make the first cut (around mid 80's not to embarrass myself...). Although I don't think I can make the cut just yet, I really think I can be competitive, and from past match play experiences I play even better under pressure. I just love that competitive atmosphere and it really focuses my thoughts for the entire round.

6) Shot a Combined 3-Over or Better on the Final 3 Holes at my Home Course- This one is pretty straight forward, and is one of my personal demons so to speak. The last 3 holes at my home course are by far the 3 toughest holes on the course, and they always give a little boost to my score by the end of the round. If I can conquer this goal, it will be a big thing for me.

7) Make the School Club Team by Junior Year- For my final goal, I need to be about an 8-10 handicap. I think I can get to this point by the end of nest summer, and really want this goal more than anything else. This is what I'm working for, and really believe that I can accomplish it.

I have many more goals than last year, although I feel like all of these are things that I can definitely achieve with enough work. Like last season, I want to be able to look back and clearly see my improvement. But this season, I want to be able to hit the objective goals as well so that I can measure directly how much better I've gotten. I really am looking forward to this season more than any other, and am gonna be struggling this whole off season with golf fever. 

Play another 30 or so rounds and drink lots of beer.

Get down to a single figure handicap.

To do this I will have to improve my short game significantly, particularly putting. Currently averaging over 2 puts per hole.

Will also have to hit more GIR. So lots of work to be done all round but looking forward to improving.

Get better in the scoring scone. In the my rounds of 90 I used to have about 50 shots inside 50 meters.

So:

1. I will focus in putting and shortgame during the winter.

2. I hope, this will help me break 80 during next season.

greetings

michi

Break 90 and cut my putts down to inside 25 a round

1.  Continue to groove tempo for all swings until it's automatic.  too much thinking right now.

2.  Average less than (1) three putt per 18 holes

3.  Get my son playing with me more

1. Commit to a swing pattern. This year I spent too much time fixing and tinkering with my swing that I just screwed it over even more.

2. In lieu of 1, I'm getting some full swing lessons. My short game has gotten me to the low 80s, I play a 2 strokes to the green and let's scramble like crazy for par. I would like to see more birdie opportunities that aren't chips.

3. More Golf Fitness. I'm going to start over the winter, got a kettlebell, P90X, will have P90X2, and Power 90.

4. Begin scoring under 80. I've broken 80 on days where my swing has clicked, but I still have days where I shoot in the 90s on a bad swing day.

5. If all goes well, I hope to drop my handicap in 2012.

Get to a 7 handicap or better by:

1) Finding more time to practice - not enough places to practice in VA, not enough time when in OH

2) Improve GIR to >50% on a routine basis - iron play has been rough lately.  Hitting lots of fairways but greens are living without fear when I'm around.

3) Don't screw up my short game - chipping and putting well (see #2 above). 

4) Focus on one shot at a time - have been doing better on this - shot my best round of the year yesterday and no idea of the number until I was done.

Flirted with Stack and Tilt toward the end of the year. Going to work on the swing in my garage throughout the winter.

My goal; To consistently hit more flush shots in 2012 using the S & T method.

Would love to get the cap down to a 0.  Went down to a 1 this year, with very little practice time so I would like to have a little more practice time and try to get down to 0.

1. Consistently shoot in the 70's in the later half of the season

2. Drive the ball straighter and figure out why my drives fly so low ( currently only hitting 30% of fairways )

3. Make those 3-6 feet putts more often ( which will help me with goal 1 a lot )

4. Play/practice more