Recap Your 2021 Golf Goals

[iacas]

With the year coming to a close, it's time for our yearly self-assessment thread. Here's how this will work... 

Quote your post from the 2021 Golf Goals topic right here in this topic, then write something below your quoted post to let everyone know how you did!

For deep dives into your goals, consider cross-posting (linking to your post here) in your Member Swing topic.

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The latter is the easier method, and the former won't work very well on tablets or smart phones.

[Darkfrog]

On 12/7/2020 at 5:08 PM, Darkfrog said:

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.

Goal 1 and 1A: Well, I succeeded in reducing my handicap, so goal met. Hit a low of 9.7, and currently sitting at 10.7. However, my full swing  has regressed, and based on recent scores, I feel like I am playing more in the 12-14 range, which is basically my handicap at the start of 2021, although the actual number hasn't caught up with my recent play yet. Putting a positive spin on the regression, I know I have reached a 10-hcp level of ball striking, so I am confident I can get back and hopefully improve from there.

Goal 2: I took putt outs much more seriously this season, not 100% of the time, but enough to feel like I met this goal. After getting fitted for a putter (which I can aim effectively), having a putting lesson (might have been in 2020), and occasionally working in "bead" yardstick drills into my practice routine, I think I developed into a decent putter this year, at least my strokes gained vs. target handicap is positive. Caveat is that my home course has small greens, so I am rarely left with extremely long putts, so I haven't consistently been tested on putts outside 50-feet. I think this goal helped me improve my putts from 6 feet and in since I didn't quit trying as often as before.

Goal 3: Didn't eagle a par-5. Had some good chances, but never sank the eagle putt. This one will carry over into 2022. Hopefully next year I get more opportunities for par-5 eagle putts and one will drop. I have enough speed to reach most par-5s I play in two, but my ball striking needs to get way better to do this consistently.

Goal 4: Play 5 new to me courses. Almost got this one, played 4 new to me courses, however one was a local par-3 I had never played, and one was an executive course on a family vacation, so really only played two new "full" courses. This goal was an attempt to add some fun/discovery into my golf obsession, so still happy that I got some new course experience.

Goal 5 and 5A: Broke 80 multiple times (four I think), including a personal best 78. Also during the personal best round of 78 everything came together to achieve the no-sixes challenge, which is honestly something that I never thought I would achieve. I'd like to think my abilities had something to do with it, but I'm sure good luck played a big part too. I had a period of time earlier this year where my ball striking made some significant improvements, and this round occurred in this period.

[sjduffers]

On 4/3/2021 at 1:43 PM, sjduffers said:

I only have two goals this year. Complete the birdie challenge either on the home course, on the away courses or (of course) both.  I managed to finish the away courses last year, so let's repeat that.

The other goal is to stay in the single digits another year.

I am just happy with the little game I have: it won't get much better and I don't feel like working at it at this point. I have a decent short game (except from greenside bunkers, but it must be a mental thing), am not and will never be a long hitter, but don't make too many course management mistakes so I am ok with taking a bogey here and there.

I am just enjoying whatever round I am playing, with whomever I am playing it, wherever.

I met both goals:

1. I completed the birdie challenge on the home course in August, including a couple of difficult holes that I had never birdied before. I have 3 holes left on the away course(s), but given that I am not playing away very much or with much variety of courses, it's likely to stay that way in the next 2 weeks.

2. I managed to stay in the single digits all year, with a low of 6.5 and a high of 8.9 a couple of months ago, before starting to go down again: currently at 8.1

The third (implied) goal was to keep enjoying myself, and I am doing just that! 🙂

[dagolfer18]

On 12/4/2020 at 9:54 PM, dagolfer18 said:

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.

Goal #1: Done and done. I shot an even par 36 on the front at my home course and actually had an 8-footer on the last hole to shoot 35! I also broke 80 in September, holing out for eagle on the first hole and going on to shoot 38-39 for 77. I’ve also just played some really solid golf this year.

Goal #2: Looking back at this one, I don’t know why I even made this goal. That would’ve put me at the level of about a 10-handicapper, contradicting my next goal, and although I have made some outstanding progress handicap-wise, I’m not there yet. So I get a loss there.

Goal #3: I’m probably most proud of this one. Starting the year at a 17.5 handicap,  and after it went up about half a stroke early in the year, I’ve lowered my handicap all the way to 11.1, which crushed both my goal of 14 or lower that I set for myself here, and a goal to get to 12.5 that my coach set for me in May. A hard-earned win here.

Goal #4: Not quite. Said I wanted to get up to 40% GIR, but instead I’m up to 34%. Not bad, but I failed at this one. It might have been a bit of a reach.

Goal #5: I’m going to give myself a win for this one, because at the beginning of the year I had practically zero confidence in the bunker. Now I have a little bit of confidence because my bunker play has gotten better. 

Goal #6: Double loss for this one, because not only did I not meet this goal, my FIR percentage has dropped. Was at 61% at the beginning of the year, it is now at 58%. Probably the most disappointing out of all these.

Goal #7: Not quite with this one either. According to my advanced stats on GHIN, I’ve averaged 16% three putts or worse, which equals 2.88 three putts per round. My putting has also improved, from around 36 to 34.5. Although I didn’t meet this goal, I’m happy with how much my putting improved.

Goal #8: Another one I’m super proud of.  I went into the Conference Championship last season in 12th place, and I had a feeling 85 would do it. Turns out, I chipped in on the eleventh hole, shot 84, and made it in by one stroke. Top ten make all conference, I finished T-10. I’m gonna try to do it again next season!

Although I only met four out of my eight 2021 goals, I am very happy with how my game improved for the most part. I’m planning to post my goals for 2022 later today, so stay tuned!

[WillieT]

On 1/3/2021 at 5:39 PM, WillieT said:

I found that I tinker too much with clubs - I played 3 different sets and never got really consistent with any.  Therefore - equipment wise, the goal is to stay the course with the clubs I consistent scored best with. 

Drives - (per the Garmin S20) drives on "average" ended up 11 yards right.  Work to get them more towards center or even may a little left (baby draw).   

Approaches - too many too short.  Work on the range to "know" my clubs and their distances (goes back to the first comment on equipment - know the clubs by sticking to one set). 

Putts - too many 3putts+.  Drop putting average to less than 2/hole average (per the S20 stats running 2.2).  Too many par 3's this year that were 3 putt bogies!   Areas to work: accuracy from 6-8' in, too many misses just left or right; lag work - control speed to keep ball from stopping short and running way past.  Work on this with the practice mat in the house (many an hour with the grandson as he loves putt-putt in the house).   

Overall scoring - this will remain from last year.  Work on consistently breaking 90. 

 

Starting from the top: 

Pretty much stayed with the TM SLDR irons.  Did take the 845s, Diablo Edge and 962’s for an occasional spin, but the TM’s remain the go to’s and will in ‘22.

Drives ended the year on avg 5 Yds right of center, better but not where I wanted to be.  
 

Approach shots - improved, but not good enough.  Still coming up just short or just off (left and right), rarely long.  Ball striking improved to where I am 1-2 clubs better this year than last (what used to be a 7i in, now hovers between 8i-9i).  
 

Putting better overall, avg has been around 2.1 putts per hole.  
 

Consistently breaking  90 - Broke 90, but as I still travel north of it more than I desire therefore i did meet the goal.  
 

[saevel25]

On 12/2/2020 at 12:26 PM, saevel25 said:

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.

HAH!!! Goal #1 stays the same for 2022. That is funny. 

1. Did not care much about this. I would give this a C-. I was just overall healthier in 2021, but not very golf specific or exercise specific. 

2. I did enter one tournament! So, goal achieved! Could enter more, lol. Life has a way of pushing new goals aside. 

3. Better towards the 2nd half of the year. I would give this like a B-ish. 

4. This was good. A-ish. 

Could be better, but good. 

[boogielicious]

Quote

My goals for 2021

1. Lower my handicap into the single digits. To accomplish this I will work on the following:
   1. Improve ball striking by reducing early extension with drills from Evolvr. I’ve been working on this for a few weeks. I made a lot of improvement in other areas and this is the new priority piece.
   2. Using MEVO, determine my carry distance yardage for all my clubs including partial wedges. Get ranges. Use lower end of range on the course.
   3. Map out my shot zones with all my clubs. This may be difficult as I will not go into an indoor trackman range until The ‘Rona calms down. But I can determine my direction at the range. My misses have been pulls and over draws. The aim of this is to improve GIR and nGIR.
   4. Using range time, work on pitching and chipping to various targets that require different carries. Use different clubs to try and reach the same target so I am prepared on course.
   5. Optimize driver launch and spin and set up position. I got a handle on this last fall but need to dial it in more.
   6. Practice sand shots more. Spent very little time on this last year.
   7. Use Blast Motion device for rhythm training with my putter and clubs. I tend to speed up on the course at times.
2. Increase my max driver speed to 105 and my playing speed to 100.
   1. SuperSpeed training and core fitness work.
   2. Add additional training as needed and stick with the program
3. Play more. The ‘Rona and injury slowed me down last year.
4. Play at least five new courses. 
5. Visit Erie and Golf Evolution. I hear it is nice when it stops snowing.
6. Meet more Sandtrappers in person.
7. Be less hard on myself in general.

1. I did make it to single digits but there is lots of room for improvement. I need to improve GIR. I scrambled a lot with nGIR to make pars.
   1. I did make strides in this. Hips are more open at impact too.
   2. MEVO helped, but MEVO Plus will help more.
   3. Did not do this well. Game Golf helps, but I need more accurate shot zone data.
   4. Did this a lot.
   5. I did work on launch, but need to fine tune it with MEVO Plus.
   6. I incorporated sand shot work into my range practicing when available.
   7. Upped my rhythm to 72 after my Erie visit. I work on rhythm now.
2. I hit 107 this summer, but my playing speed was lower.
3. played 70 rounds which was double from 2020.
4. Played Deer Ridge in OH, Whispering Woods and Cranberry in PA on my Erie Trip. Played North Kingstown in RI a lot. This will become my home course. But that is only 4.
5. Visited Erie, got great instruction, met some fun Sand Trappers! It did not snow.
6. Met a bunch of crazy misfits.
7. I am still wicked hard on myself.

[pganapathy]

Honestly don't remember what I filled out at the beginning of the year, but I have definitely started playing better golf and am happy that I can see my game improving.

[iacas]

54 minutes ago, pganapathy said:

Honestly don't remember what I filled out at the beginning of the year, but I have definitely started playing better golf and am happy that I can see my game improving.

That's why you go in the old topic and look them up, and quote them here:

 

[DeadMan]

On 1/4/2021 at 8:38 AM, DeadMan said:

3 short, simple goals for 2021:

1. Don't lose months of the golf season from an injury.
2. Reduce my handicap to the 5 range.
3. Have fun when I get the chance to play.

Number 1 should be achievable by keeping sharp objects away from me. Number 2 should be achievable with some decent practice. Need to keep working on my swing, but also still primarily short game and putting. Number 3 is something that I need to keep in mind when I do play. I'm mostly successful at it. However, I probably won't be playing that much this year because I have a 1-year old and a 5-year old, so I want to make sure that when I do play, I have fun.

Accomplished 1 and 3. Did not get 2 done. 1 was pretty much achievable by not being a dumbass, so that was (relatively) simple. 3 was a mindset thing, and I think I did pretty well on this. I didn't love every round, but I was happy to be out playing.

Did not get my handicap into the 5 range. I was really struggling until July, and then I had a much better season from then on. I do feel like I made progress with my swing and game this year, so I'm fine with not getting back into the 5s. It feels like I'm pretty close to a breakthrough and shooting lower scores consistently, but I've also felt that way for a couple of years. 🤷‍♂️

[ChetlovesMer]

On 12/24/2021 at 7:34 AM, boogielicious said:

1. Met a bunch of crazy misfits.

Hey, I resemble that remark. 🤪

I met you briefly at one of the Whispering Woods get togethers... We didn't get to chat much though. Maybe in 2022.

[Lugowskins]

Happy to say I hit most of my goals.

I set my GIR goal at 43% I finished the year at 49.2%

I succeeded in cutting my blow up holes (double or worse) nearly in half to 1.6 per round hoping next year to get that to 1.

Putting was reaaalllly bad all year I bought a new putter over the winter and it did not go well I only recently went back to my cheap pinemeadow and I am so much better with it. My putts per round went up to 31.9 a lot of that was hitting more greens but I also didn't make many putts over 10 feet all year.

I won my club championship albeit with a bit of an asterisk it is supposed to be a 2 day event but 2nd day was canceled due to rain and the course was never in good enough condition to play a second day.

Finished last year as a 9.5 I am currently at a 4.5. My issues keeping me from going lower are driver accuracy I get in trouble too much, my wedges I am not good enough from 150 and in, and I need a complete putting overhaul. Going to work on that hard through the end of the year and over the winter with the hopes of scaring scratch next season.

I only got 9 rounds in the golf metrics app since I started using it but it's been great at pinpointing my weaknesses.

I apologize for the spamming of stats just giving context.

Adding one more image these are my rounds throughout the year, one of these things is not like the other lol. Had a stretch where I had 4 straight rounds where I shot 3 over then had a combined score in back to back weeks of league play where I shot 5 under before kind of scuffling the rest of the season. 

[Bernie Fay]

Worked greatly on my golf swing, and wrist rotation with MISIG, and those shoulder rotation were focused and practised greatly. Golf Cheers!! Working on my new 2022 golf goals.

[Nail]

On 5/12/2021 at 7:50 PM, Nail said:

Golf has only restarted recently in Ireland so I have 6 rounds played. Played today and shot an 84 so’ I’m really hoping to

Break 80. (This has been a goal for a while but really feel it’s in reach now)

Shoot 85 or lower consistently.

Get more confident with irons above an 8 iron.

Improve  my short game to have more up n downs

 

 

I achieved all these goals apart from break 80. I shot 80 on the nose twice this year 😣. 

My handicap dropped from 16 to 11.2 this year because I shot low 80's relatively consistently.

I'm definitely more confident hitting longer irons although nowhere near as good as I want them to be.

My short game came on a lot, I get up and down far more often than I used to. I would say I make par about 50% of the time from around the green at a guess

[Troy Ocker]

Quote

- Get my index down to single digits (11,5 now)

- Play at least 50 18-hole rounds. 

- Break 80 from yellow tees at my home course (rated 73, 6350 yards) 

- Be more consistant with my driver. Now it goes both left and right and I hit less than half the fairways.  

- Get at least one eagle on a 500+ yards par 5 (my home course has 5 par 5s  (500 - 550 yards from yellow tees),where the shortest one plays a lot longer with the green situated 25 yards higher than the tee, but all reachable in 2 with 2 close to perfect shots)

I will start the season with a 3 days "golfschool" with minimum 8 hours of pro lessons on the range and on the course, and put in enough hours/rounds this year to get there. I will also be more focused on not rushing shots and apply the "every shot counts the same" mindset as much as possible.   

Winter is slowly turning into spring here now, so with some luck the local golf courses might open up in a month or so. I really can't wait. 

Well here's a little recap: 

- Got my index down to 7,5 and improved my average strokes on my homecourse by 6 shots per round compared to 2020. Check! 

- Played 85 18-hole rounds. Check! 

- Played 3 rounds on even 80 shots from the yellows with a combined +10 on the final 3 holes in those 3 rounds, so 3 complete breakdowns when the chance was there. This one will be on top of my list for 2022. 

- I hit my driver a bit more consistantly, but still have a long way to go before this is a "safe" club. The right misses are a lot fewer, but I still hit too few fairways. Can't say I reached my goal here either. 

- Didn't get any eagles on the desired holes from the yellow tees, but I did get a great eagle from the reds in the last hole of the season:  It was during the 3-club (5i, PW and putter) last day of the season tournament. Hole 18 is 420 yards long and 70 feet uphill from the red tees, and I hit 2 perfect 5i's to 6 feet and sunk the putt for my only eagle of the year with my last stroke of a ball in 2021...                                  I did get an eagle on hole 1 (540 yards) in a solo 2 ball scramble, but that hardly counts 😛 , so the goal lives on to 2022. 

The 2022 season is still 8-10 weeks away, but I will have at least 1 sim-session (tournaments, so little swing practice) a week from now on to the season start to get in some swings. Hopefully I'll be able to squeeze in a weekend trip to the UK or Germany to play some real golf as well before then. Can't wait tro get back out there. 

Edited February 15, 2022 by Troy Ocker