What level was your golf game after..?

[Rudy]

After 1 year of playing?

After 5 years?

10?

I'm 18 years old, turning 19 in two weeks, and just picked up the game last summer. What I'm interested in is seeing where some of you guys were in the level of your golf game after a certain time of playing. About a year in to my golf career I think I'm progressing fairly nicely. I just recently corrected a nasty slice with my driver and woods which straightened my drives out to around 225, and I'm decently happy with my iron play, I don't completely shank any balls (except for the occasional brain lapse) and my putting is improving vastly. I used to 3 putt on nearly every hole, but on my most recent 9 hole round I recorded only 12 putts! A huge improvement for me. My one area I need to improve on most is probably my game from 100 yards in. I feel this is where I lose the most strokes. I shot an 89 on a Par 70 course a few weeks ago, which is by far my best round. The handicap I have on this profile probably isn't even close to being accurate, as it was more of a ballpark estimate rather than a calculation, mainly due to the fact that I don't have enough rounds recorded to have an accurate handicap. If I had to take a guess I would say that my handicap is significantly lower than 30.0.

I'm going out to an extremely nice and well received course tomorrow morning, so we'll see how I fare on new ground.

[tm22721]

1 yr...25 hcp
3 yr...10 hcp
5 yr...7 hcp (present)

[B-Con]

You mean of dedicated playing or since we first whacked a ball with a crooked stick? I spent almost a year not playing after casually playing my first year. Starting my third year I felt almost as if I hadn't played at all before.

1 yr: ~50 handicap
3 yr: ~35 handicap
5 yrs: Will know next year. I think I'm on course for a ~23 handicap. I've only recently made a study of the golf swing.

[Jonnydanger81]

Your level totally depends on how much you put into it. For me personally, I picked the game up when I was younger, just kind of tinkered with it so when the chance to play at work or school or whatever came up I would be able to be competent enough to play. For years and years I was just happy being able to get around the course for those 3 or 4 times a season I'd go, but at some point if you really catch the bug and start practicing more you can start to improve at a pretty dramatic rate.

[martytilma]

I've been playing since I was 16, but never really took it seriously enough to establish a handicap until about 5 years ago. Always have been pretty decent. Once I started to establish a handicap it only took me about a year to get it to single digits.

[JML22]

Yeah
I had lessons when i was like 9-12 golfed like 1-10 times in those years
didnt pick it up again til last year
So last year 5000000000000 cap
I've gotten A LOT of lessons from CPGA friends though and i'm at the range atleast every other day if not every day.

[nuck81]

I started in March, have had two lessons, and my last game was a 46 on a nine hole course in Owensboro Ky ( Hillcrest Muny ) and have been under 50 the last three times out.

I still have a few swing issues (noodley arms and not enough lower body) but I'm progressing nicely. I gain distance weekly, and my short game is getting much better. I'm very pleased. My year one goal was to break 100, but I'm passed that after two months, so it's changed to breaking 90 after a year, and being a consistent

[Colinb913]

I have been playing since I was about 13, but seriously have been playing 2-3 times a week this summer (age: 16). Not using a handicap, I am shooting mid 70's-low 80's pretty consistently. I am in no way at a competitive level, so I feel no need to calculate my handicap, hell I might do that sometime when I am bored.

[Dad-2-3]

I have played since I was a kid on and off probably 2-3 times per year. I never broke 100 legitimately until last august when I started playing with a purpose and practicing. I broke 90 earlier this year, and am on the way to breaking 80 hopefully before the season ends. I think everyone progresses @ different rates and comparing yourself to others is basically useless unless it's used as a motivational tool. The key is to stay motivated. After getting a bit discouraged with myself I took a look at my stats from the last 14 rounds of last year and compared them to the last 10 rounds of this year. I'll spare you the numbers, but every thing is improving and moving toward my goal of single digit by the end of next season.

[Rudy]

You mean of dedicated playing or since we first whacked a ball with a crooked stick? I spent almost a year not playing after casually playing my first year. Starting my third year I felt almost as if I hadn't played at all before.

Yeah, I meant starting from the first year you really dedicated yourself to improving at golf. I played once or twice a few years ago, but it was just for fun and I was whacking balls aimlessly.

[mirv]

after 1 year, i was shooting mid to upper 90s generally, if memory serves. after 5 years, i was shooting mid 80s pretty consistently. in my 6th year, i suddenly had a couple of revelations that bolted me from mid-80s to mid-70s, which is where i currently am.

[longdrive23]

in my 6th year, i suddenly had a couple of revelations that bolted me from mid-80s to mid-70s, which is where i currently am.

Would be great to know what these were :)

[Kieran123]

I've been at it close to a year, but about 2 months ago I REALLY got into swing dynamics etc, and focused hard on getting better, and have dropped form the low 90's to low 80's golfer.

[saevel25]

Lets see here...

I started playing golf when i was 13

1st-2nd year 120+
3rd-4th year: 100-110
4th-6th year: 90's
7th-present: high 70's to high 80's

Keys to success, No penalities, no lost balls, limit three putting, develop a short game that can save me a few strokes a round.

[chilly]

I started playing dedicated golf for the first time starting May '09. I was a 15hcp May '10, and my goal is to be a solid 12hcp by the end of the season. Going pretty well, should break into the 13.x hcp range with next revision. I've been trying to practice twice a week and get out at least once a week, seems to be helping although I'd like to practice more often.

[DavidFehertysBike]

I was breaking 90 regularly at the end of my first year. I broke par 2 times in my 3rd year, and broke par once in years 4 and 5. Im in my 6th year, now and i shoot in the mid to high 70's the majority of the time. For me the short game and the putting came around and i got a better feel of how to just play the game. On our level, the key to scoring low is saving par, not so much dropping birdies all over the place.

[DaSportsGuy]

Year 1-17.4
Year 2-Hopefully down to 12

[senorchipotle]

I was breaking 90 regularly at the end of my first year. I broke par 2 times in my 3rd year, and broke par once in years 4 and 5. Im in my 6th year, now and i shoot in the mid to high 70's the majority of the time. For me the short game and the putting came around and i got a better feel of how to just play the game. On our level, the key to scoring low is saving par, not so much dropping birdies all over the place.

speak for yourself. if i didn't drop birdies for all the bogeys i make, i'd be screwed. OP, after two years of playing starting at age 14 i was down to a single digit. from 16 to about 23 i played a lot and had some really good people help me out. i got down to a plus for about two years in that time by playing with some really competitive golfers.

i put down the clubs for about 31/2 years after moving out of the country. since then this is my second year becoming serious about it again.