Another Year, A New Set of Goals

It looks like JP and I are starting the new year on the same wavelength. A new calendar always gives us hopes of changes for the better. We all start with a relatively blank slate. How we choose to fill those empty squares on the calendar will have everything to do with how we feel in December when we look back on 2008.

Here are my top five resolutions for my 2008 golf campaign:

Number Five: This Stuff is Getting Old
I’ve been “stuck” at a USGA index of 8.0 for the last two years. In that time, I’ve “ballooned” up to 8.6 and had it as low as 7.7, but that’s it. I know I’m not likely to get down to scratch, but 5.0 seems possible. It’s time to make some changes and see what happens.

In September, I took one of the first lessons of my life, and then had another in October. Aside from a few pointers from a friend in high school to get me started, I’ve largely learned the game through trial and error, and an unhealthy addiction to golf magazines. The closest I came to a professional lesson was taking one of those 10 minute lessons the PGA sponsors every year and a group lesson sponsored by a past employer. I was a little stubborn about breaking down and taking a lesson, because I felt like I had got myself to single-digits, maybe I could get myself down to scratch. Great thinking there!

Anyway, at age 43, I finally paid a PGA professional to show me the error of my ways, and I think it’s been a good thing. Sure, I struggled a bit in the weeks following my lessons, but I think the changes I’m working on will pay dividends next season. During the very first lesson, I learned that I’d been dipping my head as much as four inches during my swing. That could certainly be the cause of my occasional tops and fat shots.

This year I’m going to continue working with a pro and see how far it gets me. I can’t get out to golf much during the week, so I’m going to go to the range twice a week to work on a consistent swing. With a little luck, I’ll be playing the golf I want to play on league night and weekends.

Number Four: Golf the Year ‘Round
I’ve been very close to this goal before, but I’ve never quite achieved it. Play golf in all 12 months in a calendar year. In 2007, I only managed to play in 10 months. Snow cover, low temperatures, and a hand injury conspired against me in February and December. In 2006, only December’s snow kept me off the course.

This year, I’ve hedged my bets in at least one month so far. I’ve got a trip to Florida planned in late January. So I’ll be able to keep this resolution, at least through February.

Number Three: Keep Some Old Friends Around
I hereby swear that I’ll end the year with mostly the same clubs in the bag. OK, for a lot of people this is not any sort of challenge. I have several friends who have played the same clubs year after year. My teammate in golf league just replaced the irons he’s been playing since high school, some 20+ years ago. It’s a little different with me. I tend to spend way more than I should on golf clubs. I’ve replaced wedges that were just fine, solely because I had some theory about a different set of lofts fitting better with my game. I’ve done pretty much the same thing at the other end of the bag, too; and don’t even get me started on the number of putters I’ve gone through. There are eight clubs over a year old in my bag, a hybrid and my irons. Everything else was new last year.

This year I hope to end the year with the same cast of characters. Well, for the most part, anway. I have had my eye on a milled carbon steel putter for awhile, and if I put a 20° hybrid in the bag, I could pull my 18.5 and 23° and put my 4-iron back in the bag. Of course, if I find a really good deal on some MP-57s, all deals are off. Well, some resolutions are made to be broken.

Number Two: Play a (New) Road Game
The wife and I have had a casual competition with another couple for the number of states we’ve played golf in. What can I say, we are woefully behind. We just keep vacationing in the same places. To date, we’ve played together in Florida, Illinois, Missouri, Ohio, North Carolina, South Carolina, and West Virgina… a measily seven states! If we’re going to get anywhere near 50 by check out time, we need to get moving. So one of my goals is to knock at least one more state off the list. Wisconsin and Connecticut are prime candidates as we need to visit family in both states, but a weekend trip to one of the neighboring states would also fit the bill.

Number One: Do a Reality Show
Finally, it’s hard to call this a resolution other than to say, I’ll take a shot. What the heck?

The USGA, NBC and Golf Digest are sponsoring a contest to play Torrey Pines alongside three celebrities under U.S. Open conditions a week before the final round of this year’s Open. Nevermind that a week before the Open, the greens won’t be double-cut yet or quite as firm as they’ll wind up, and the rough will still have a couple days to reach full Open length. It’s going to be tough. A course being primed for an Open will still be an animal that the majority of the rest of us don’t get to see first hand, let alone play. If you want to enter as well, all you have to do is tell them what you’d shoot and why you should be the Golf Digest reader to play.

So what do I think I’d shoot? I figure the greens of Torrey Pines will be the fastest I’ve every played. The fairways will be among the narrowest (and probably cumulatively, the narrowest. Now, I do tend to play good courses well, at least the first time. I think that because I know it’s going to be hard sledding I don’t try to do too much (I wish I could bring myself to play like that all the time). So I suspect I’ll play reasonably well for me. Assuming that my number five resolution bears some fruit, I hope to be in the neighborhood of an 6.0-7.0 index by June. While I might play a good, new-to-me course in the low 80s, I suspect Torrey Pines will provide a few new wrinkles (sideways chips out of the rough, putting off a green, all kinds of fun). Oh, and did I mention the TV cameras? This whole event will be televised. So there’s that stress, along with playing with a trio of celebrities.

I think I would break 100, but not by much. I’d be ecstatic with anything in the 80s, but I think that would probably be out of reach (I don’t play courses like that). Most likely I’d wind up in the low 90s; let’s say 92. But if my game got away from me early, it could get really ugly fast!

Your Resolutions
What are your resolutions? Post them in the comments below, then state your goals in our forum.