What Are Your 2021 Golf Goals?

[iacas]

Like our 2008 , 2009 , 2010 , 2011 , 2012 , 2013 , 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, and 2020 threads, here's the official thread for 2021!

The rules are the same as they've been:

1. Post your personal golf-related goals for 2021. Be specific and thorough.
2. Elaborate on how you'll go about achieving these goals. Details, people!
3. Post just once this year in this topic. So, make it a good post. (Though if you reach all of your goals, you should quote your post and revise them later in the year. Then you should set harder goals next year. 😄)
4. Keep the replies to a minimum. This thread is mostly for the posting of goals. If you want to encourage more discussion of your goals, post a copy of them in your Member Swing thread. If you want to discuss someone else's goals in more depth than a few replies, quote them in their Member Swing topic.

If you're looking to recap your 2020 goals, that topic can be found right here.

Let's hear 'em!

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Remember, please, that good goals should be SMART:

• S - Specific
• M - Measurable
• A - Attainable
• R - Relevant
• T - Time-based

We have the "T" because it's 2021. The rest, well, make good choices.

[cipher]

Now and after the new year I plan to continue my Evolvr lesson work so that when the spring and summer comes around I can mostly just play and reach my main goal for 2021 of being a sub 5 index golfer. I feel the work we did this fall was great and I was finally able to gain more control of the clubface in a way that I have been looking to do for many years. I won't swing every day this winter, but enough to retain what I have been learning and also avoid any injuries. I already started on it, but I would like to get a little more fit, increasing strength and flexibility for injury avoidance and staying healthy in general. I will read LSW again since I haven't read it for years to make sure my course management is in the right place. Other than that, I just want to keep it pretty simple and have some fun. I am looking forward to a golf trip in the summer and playing a lot of golf in 2021 more than anything.  

[saevel25]

2021 Golf Goals

1. Get into better golf shape (exercise).
2. Enter more tournaments.
3. Continue to work on swing path so that it doesn't get extremely inside out. 
4. Practice short game more often so it stays sharp.

[Sean_D]

My Goals for 2021:

• Lower Index to 7.5 or lower (Currently 9.6)
  • This goal will be meet by achieving the following goals.
• Increase Fairways hit percentage to >53% (Currently 48%)
  • Working with my coach to continue my ball striking.
  • Better understanding of shot shapes and shot zones
• Increase tee P.Avg to >260yds. (Currently 255 yds.)
  • Focus on ball striking, ball speed, and launch angle
• Increase GIR to >37% (Currently 32%)
  • Range practice with alignment aids
  • Ball striking (Different trajectories and shot shapes)
  • Better understanding of shot zones
• Decrease approach proximity to hole to <40 feet (Currently 47.62')
  • More target oriented practice on range especially within 150 yards.
• Increase Scramble Percentage to >40% (Currently 34%)
  • Practice from varying lies and distances in the short game area.
• Decrease short game (<50 yds.) proximity to <15 feet (Currently 18.38')
• Reduce 3-putt percentage to 8% or less. (Currently 10%)
  • practice lag putting.

In 2020, I set my supporting goals too aggressively and missed most of them while still achieving my larger goal or reducing my index. This season I hope I have set those goals more realistically. I have also included goals pertaining to distance and accuracy (which relate more closely to strokes gained) and included more mental aspects of course management into my training.

[The Flush]

Play more golf (already bought a season pass for the first time).

Play more 18 hole rounds. Most of my rounds this year were 9 hole league matches.

Play in golf league again because it is fun and it makes me play more golf.

Beat my 18 hole best score. My best for 18 is an 87 from a long time ago. This year I have back to back 9 hole rounds of 41-42 in league play, so I 'd like to shoot an 83 or better for an 18 hole round.

In order to beat my best score, I need to fix my pull with my irons.

Walk to course more. Home course is pretty hilly, so it is not fun to walk in the shape I am in. But walking will help me get in better shape.

Edited December 2, 2020 by The Flush

[Golf With John]

2021 Golf Goal - Golf With John 

1. Break 90 consistently. I should hit 89 or better 7 out of 10 rounds. I know I can hit 90's because I've tried better ball (2 balls), and I was able to only hit 4 over in 9 holes. 
   1. Better course management.
   2. Thinking before my shots.
   3. Make good contact
2. Practice range. I've gone out almost every weekday morning in Oct, putting 30 minutes and range a hour.
   1. Chipping and putting practice.
   2. Trying to get make my body to automatically do what I've learned in my lessons. 
   3. New shot shapes (how to hit a fade, draw, low, high). I realized I have no idea how to hits these. If it happens on the course, it's accidental as my only goal was to hit it straight.
3. Play Club tournaments
   1. I've played 1 this year and it was a great time. Got to putt every hole! 
4. Oct 2021 goal is to hit 80 from white tees
   1. Once i'm comfortable breaking into single digits, I'll move to the back tees.
   2. I was able to hit 87 1 time this past year and it was an amazing feeling.
5. Ingrain in my brain, there are bad shots and it sucks but it's okay. We'll get through it.

[Esox]

1) Figure out why I seem to always hit a snap hook on the first tee. It's a mental thing, but isn't everything?

2) Improve my putting.Seems like some days I'm better off missing the green and chipping. (  I'll see an old buddy of mine who is a PGA teaching pro)

3) Now that I have rededicated myself to the game, I may get fit for a driver that is a bit easier to work. I can draw these fairly predictably, but hitting a fade is an iffy proposition. But they sure are LONG. I'd give up 15 yards for easier to work..( I picked these up used earlier in the year when I decided to give it a go again, 10.5 & 12 degree Taylormade SLDR's)

[TourSpoon]

1. Get down to a solid 3.0 index (this year was 4.2-6.0 currently at 5.0) 

2. Use my Mevo to dial in wedges, full, partial, and knock down along with short irons distance and partial shots

3. Increase GIR to 50% or greater 

4. Further develop the reliable power fade off the tee and eliminate a both side miss 

[dagolfer18]

Here are my 2021 Golf Goals; a few more than last year.

1. I want to shoot par for nine holes, and break 80 for 18 holes, just one round of each is all I need. I think I can do it on the front nine of my home course (2910 yards, par 36), but I’m still gonna need to practice to get that done.

2. I’d like to get to the point where I’m averaging around 42 for nine holes, which means between 82 and 85 for eighteen holes. What I need to do is the same as #1, but I probably need more lean on irons/hybrids. 

3. I want to get my handicap down to 14 or lower (17.4 right now) and KEEP it there. I wasn’t specific enough last year, so I’m making sure I say that this year! Again, practice is key.

4. I’m hitting 28% of greens (5/18) right now on average. I want to get that up to at least 40% (7/18), and to do that, I will put forth about 3/4 of my bucket on irons, because that’s what I’m hitting for most of my approach shots.

5. I want to improve my bunker play. To what standard, I don’t know, mainly because my bunker game is super inconsistent right now. There’s a practice bunker next to the range, so I could hit shots out of that to practice hitting different-length bunker shots.

6. I’m averaging 61% of fairways right now, so I’m gonna keep the goal from last year, get to 70% or higher. Same practice thing as last year.

7. I would like to limit my three-putts to two max per round, which means I need to spend a good amount of time on the practice green, practicing my lag putting. Also, I’d like to get my average number of putts down to 34 or less (36 avg right now).

8. This one may be the most important to me, which is why I saved it for last. I want to make All Conference in the golf season. To do that, I’m gonna need to place in the top 12 in scoring average of the 50 or so golfers in our conference (prob need to average 42). I know I have the game, because when our last season was cut due to COVID, I wasn’t even playing my best,

As I said, #8 may be the one I want the most, especially since I saw where I was at the end of last season.

[Greg 504]

1. Break 80

2. Lower and sustain HI from 15.9 to 11 by the end of central Ohio season

3. Continue lessons, at least one every 6-8 weeks. 

4. Increase GIR/nGIR to 50% from roughly 35%. 100 yards and in was one key contributor to lowering my HI last year.

5. Play at least 75 rounds.

Goals #1 - #4 can be met by focused practice sessions (employing the 5 S's and 65/20/15 rule), lessons (focusing on one priority piece at a time) and on course time. 

Goal #5 will be subject to current Covid status and tolerance from my wife and daughter. Although intolerance could also lead to more rounds being played....... 

[woodzie264]

Despite my full subscription to LSW values, as @iacas & @billchao can attest to, my putting is a “glaring weakness” so 2/3 of these skill-specific goals are putting related:

1. Go four 18-hole Rounds with no 3-putts (only 2 this year): continue to work on lag/distance control via pendulums and quieting my hands during the putting motion.
2. Improve Putting average from 1.84 to 1.75
3. Improve average GIR from 46% To 50% by continuing to work on Full Swing Priority Piece
4. Shoot four 18-hole rounds under 80 (2 this year): doing all of the above
5. Complete the “No 6’s Challenge” thru all of the above

[Lugowskins]

I have a handful that I am zeroing in on.

My GIRs were abysmal this year at 32.2% but over my last 3 rounds I put in a lot of time with my wedges (bought a launch monitor wow has it helped develop shots and increase confidence on the course) and actually hit 50% 27/54 so I think 43% is realistic and I hope I look back at this and say it was too low of a goal. 

I had far too many blow up holes this year I averaged 2.7 double bogies or worse per round this year while only averaging 1.6 birdies or better. i want to swap those around and average more holes under par than double or worse. 

My putting was pretty good this year I averaged 30.8 putts per round getting that under 30 should be attainable. I had 3 rounds with 27 putts which was my low I think doing more dedicated practice will make those more common. 

I really want to win my club championship. There is only 1 guy there who is really better than me he's won it I think 4 years in a row there isn't a ton of competition only like 5 guys are capable of even breaking 80 on their best days. 

I finished the year as a 9.5 handicap it may sound aggressive but I want to be under a 5. I went into last winter as probably at least a 22-25 handicap that was happy to break 90 and a year later I'm a completely different player I need to keep building on that. I know the talent level is there it honestly comes down to eliminating the big miss with the driver and dialing in the wedge game I think I can put up some low scores. 

And lastly not stat related but I bought a Garmin Approach G80 launch monitor and my "gamer" swings are 110 mph with the driver but I can ramp it up to 115 not sure how accurate those are based on the reviews I've read but I know the ball speed numbers are dead on so my goal will be based on that. My easy swings generally land low to mid 160s and when I ramp it up I've been as high as 173. I am going to get back in shape (covid hasn't been kind to my waistline lol) really focus on golf-centric exercises and try to get my easy swings over 170 and would love to hit 180 on the big swings. 

 

[Sandy Divot]

To live to see 2022.

[Darkfrog]

Main focus this year is to continue to improve toward becoming a "low event" golfer. I don't make a lot of birdies, but that's okay for now. Usually when I do it is due to an above average approach shot, or sinking a long-ish putt. What I really want to eliminate this year is having multiple +2 (or worse) holes per round.

1. Reduce handicap index by ~2 strokes. I'm sitting at 13.3 now with probably 4-5 more rounds to play this year. I don't expect my index to change much in the next three weeks so reaching this goal would bring me to around 11.

1A. Reduce handicap index by ~3 strokes from handicap index (aggressive goal). This would bring me down to around 10, and possibly dip into single digits.

• The main path to reaching my handicap goal is to continue with full swing lessons and good practice. I can't really provide any metrics that will help me reach this goal. I don't have a tracking device that does real strokes gained analysis, but looking at my rounds, it's not that hard to tease out that I add quite a few strokes each round due to poor tee shots and approach shots. I can generally look through the GPS shot tracking for rounds where I score above my differential, it's trouble off the tee or poor approach play that is the clear cause. There are occasional outliers in and around the green, with short game failures and 3- or 4-putts, but they are rare. I feel like I am slowly and steadily making progress with ball striking, and I want to keep this up over next year.
• Schedule at least one playing lesson. Sometimes I am playing and I feel like the results in my lessons and practice aren't fully translating to the course, and I want to figure out why.

2. Take putt-outs seriously. I'm not talking about the times where someone in the group knocks the ball back to me when it's close. This is a personal behavior goal, not necessarily a scoring goal. Often when I have made an utter mess of a hole, once I get the ball near the hole on the green, I just dick around with putting out, and often add unnecessary strokes to an already bad hole. I also do this with short game stuff too, but it happens more often with putting.

• To reach this goal, I'm going to think of a way to mark the scorecard with "@Darkfrog mentally checked out on this hole" symbol, and track how often this happens, and then come up with a method for finishing out holes with full concentration.

3. Eagle a par-5. Carrying this one over from 2020 goals just in case I don't make it in the next 3 weeks.

• Similar to goals 1 and 1A, this is just more ball striking work, with focus on the tee shot I think. I need to improve my play with driver to really have a good chance at this one.

4. Play 5 new to me courses. I usually stick to the courses that are familiar to me and close by. I'd like to get a chance to apply some LSW concept to unfamiliar spaces.

• This just takes a bit more ambition and effort than I currently have been putting forth.

5. Break 80. I've scored 80 twice, and had enough low 80s "what if" rounds where without a one or two high event holes I could have met this milestone. My teacher says she believes I am capable of scoring in the 70s, and I think I have what it takes too, but hasn't quite come together yet.

5A. Accomplish the "No Sixes" challenge. Major stretch goal here...

• Plan is pretty much the same as goals 1 and 1A.

[mdl]

After 6 months of video lessons and net work, translate brand new swing into ball striking. At minimum lower handicap by two strokes. Stretch goal is 4 strokes.

[mvmac]

- Play golf on the East Coast. Qualified for the US Four-Ball at Philly Cricket Club but then it was cancelled because of the pandemic. Love Pinehurst and it's been two years since I've been there. Also have an open invite to play Shinnecock anytime I can get there. 

- Win the Club Championship. Obviously a goal every year. How? Keep playing in tournaments and testing myself under the gun. Keep improving speed control on the greens. Get the pitching and chipping tighter, I tend to be good with the hard shots but need to take advantage of more of the standard/stock chips and pitches that I don't get up and down. 

- Qualify for a national USGA event. Most likely it would be a Mid-Am. How is basically above. With the swing, keep improving mechanics so I can trust I'm not going to miss shots left.

- Increase ball speed. Have been putting a good amount of time in the gym and starting to see a little distance gain but I'm still behind other good ams. So keep the body in good shape and keep improving mechanics.

- Get hole-in-one number eight. It's been 9 years since my last one and I'm due!

- Stay healthy. Like I said above with spending more time in the gym, I've been able to not only get functionally stronger but improve the way I move and feel. 

 

 

 

[DennisMiller]

Oh boy - Where to start...

I think my main goal has to be, stop being stupid, meaning I need to stop messing with a variety of sets of clubs I own and settle on which one I'm best with.

Next is to re-establish my practice area in the backyard and use it. (It was taken down when we had trees trimmed)

Secondary to that is to do more to exercise specific golf muscles. Recovering from surgery has not been kind to me.

Third, I really want to meet some new people to play with. My usual Monday morning game is often canceled because the guys have other interests that get in the way.

And at 71, 72 in May, I think this is the first year to start thinking seriously about shooting my age.

Edited December 18, 2020 by DennisMiller

[onthehunt526]

2021 Golf Goals:

1. Stay out of the shit, call the zoo. In so many words, it’s very simple, golf is not a game of perfect, take whatever shot shape I have that day or round and just adjust my target accordingly. 15 yard draw adjust my target 15 yards right. Just relax and play golf.

2. Become a better wedge player. In short my wedge play needs some work. From 50-100 yards I have struggled for years with it. So if I have to “lay-up” on a par-five I’ve tried to avoid that range like the plague. It needs work. So I’ll have to start hitting more 50-100 yard shots at the range.

3. I’m currently sitting at a 3.5 handicap. I’d like to get to into the 1.x range. Not difficult just have to score a little better more often. Even though my last 5 rounds were 73,76,73,74,71 they were on courses that were rated in the 69.5 range. On those sort of courses I should be around 71 or 72 a lot of the time. My bad rounds that don’t count toward handicap should be 74 or 75 on those courses. I will say I make a shitload of pars, I do think I’m a reasonably warm putting round away from a round in the 60s.

4. Practice a little more than I was able to this year. More practice on the long game (I was dealing with a slight hook) I’m trying to tame that down to a nice soft draw. It’s close, it’s just a couple things.

5. Related to the above goal, take a few lessons to straighten out the few things I need to change to score better. I took lessons a few years ago and it got my game from low double digits down to a 3.9 in two years. So I’m ready to take that next step.