2011 Golf Goals - How Did You Do?

[Lofty Lefty]

My 2011 goals

1) Lower Official Handicap (13.3)

2) Increase GIR (35.6% over last 10 rounds)

3) Average 29.9 putts or better for the year (32.8 over last 10 rounds)

4) Up and Down 50% (31.33% over last 10 rounds)

3 & 4 should take care of each other, eh? lol

Results

1) 12.3 - but this could be attributed to the changing in the handicapping system here in Oz. I just worked out that if we still did the best 10 x0.96, I'd be 13.7

2) 42.1%

3) 36 , well 2.0 per hole is what it's telling me

4) 18.5% , but I'm not sure what it would be if I did the U&D; stats like I used to (when playing onto the green from inside 50m or so, when trying to get U&D; for par)

[mymizunosrock]

My goal for this year was to just maintain my handicap. I got to 5.4 but shortly after it started blowing out. I did manage to go under par for a comp round though, which was one of my other goals. I guess the last one left was to birdie every hole for our eclectic. I have 4 missing from my card on the 4 hardest holes, all holes I birdied more than once last year, so Im a little frustrated by it. Most I have birdied, but on comp rounds with no individual events where you cant update your scores. I won the A Grade nett last year, but I need to find a couple more before the year is out to take it out again. At least I have one eagle.

[B-Con]

[url=http://thesandtrap.com/t/41931/your-2011-golf-goals-official-thread/54#post_564563]My goals[/url]: [quote name="B-Con" url="/t/41931/your-2011-golf-goals-official-thread/54#post_564563"]My goals, with what I consider to be their difficulty ranking. 1) Hit 50% fairways. (Last year I hit 45.73%.) - [b]Easy[/b]: I basically need to hit 2 more fairways per round. I have quite a few that sit just a few feet off the fairway every round, so the potential is there. But getting two extra fairways will probably just entail eliminating the tailing end of my slice, which seems to pop up a couple times a round, and the odd duff that shows up every round or so as a result of my not being fully comfortable with my major swing changes over this year. I need to work on my distance off the tee, though, so I'm not setting the accuracy bar any higher than that. 2) Hit 27% GIR (eg, 5/18). (Last year I hit 5.09%.) - [b]Medium[/b]: I have long club options that I didn't have this past year, and better ball-striking than I did last year. This has always been the sore point of my game. My last game I hit 38% of greens and that's with a bunch of mess-ups, so this is attainable and likely my most core statistic for improvement. 3) Take evolvr lessons. - [b]Easy[/b]: I have money set aside for this. 4) Drop my handicap to < 19. (Currently 23.1.) - [b]Medium[/b]: If I can hit a few more greens and fairways, and in the mean time improve some all-around ball-striking, it will definitely shave 3+ strokes off my average score. I think I have the potential to average about 90. 5) Drop my "anti-handicap" to < 28. (Currently 35.0.) - [b]Medium[/b]: My main goal is to keep my worst scores no more than 9 strokes worse than my average good scores. (I also have some old terrible scores contributing to my anti-handicap right now.) 6) Break 90. - [b]Easy[/b]: I have a couple games at 91 and 92, and both of them came with some horrid holes. I think I can average close to 90, let alone break it. 7) Break 85. - [b]Hard[/b]: This may be overly ambitious as it requires a level of consistency that I don't think I have ever displayed, even for just 4 consecutive holes. But if I can get to a point of averaging 90 then it just requires a really good day. I'm not a fan of setting unrealistic, or even borderline unrealistic, goals, but I felt that I needed a stretch goal for the year, so this is it. 8) Play 20 rounds. - [b]Medium[/b]: This comes to a game about every other week, excluding a couple of winter months. Finding time to play is actually one of the hardest challenges for my game. I don't like to play if I can't do well at the range, since I never play on the course better than I do at the range. Since I'll probably be at the range twice a week, I'll have to fit rounds around them in there somewhere. I don't like setting unattainable goals, but I think all of those are realistic. Obviously, that doesn't mean I'll hit all of them, though, but I expect to get about 6/8 of them. [edit: 4/11/2011] For the record, here's how I assess the "difficulty" rating: Easy: I should be able to hit 3 out of 4 Medium: I should be able to hit about 1/2 Hard: I should be able to hit about 1/4 At the end of the year, I'll determine what range of time/games I should use for my relevant stats, that way I can use stats most indicative of my ability at that point. I will probably choose something around the last 5 months (eg, July and later) or 10 games, but I may go farther back than that.[/quote] I decided to use my last 10 rounds where appropriate. I'd like to use more like the last 15, but my software only shows stats for the last 10 or last 20, and 20 goes back to the beginning of the year, but I only care about the more recent rounds. So last 10 rounds it is -- I think they're fairly representative rounds. And I will probably play once more this year, but looking at the stats it can't dictate whether I make or miss any goals, so I'll do the summary now while I'm thinking about it. How'd I do? 1) Yes. (56%) - Our fairways are wide so I have no excuse not to hit them. I'm suffering with hitting thin with the driver, so I'm not happy with my driving, but at least I'm finding the short grass with it. 2) No. (20%) - No excuse here. My short iron accuracy didn't improve like I'd hoped, and my long wedge approach shots went up and down like a roller coaster as I tweaked my swing. I'm only recently finding the sort of shot iron comfort that I'd hoped I'd get way earlier this year. The plus side is that my crappy shots got better, but my average shots didn't improve much. It's up from last year (at least I'm hitting GIR a few times per round), but I really should be doing better. 3) No. - I got a camera, but never got to evolvr. First, I enjoyed working on my own swing with video, it was a combination of just plain fun and a challenge to incorporate for myself what I learned; I like doing that. Second, we had our first kid and my driving range trips were inconsistent and I frequently forgot my camera. I want to do a long series of weekly sessions when I do it, so that wouldn't have worked well. Oh well. 4) Yes. (16.6) - That was easier than I had thought. 5) Yes. (21.4) - That was way easier than I had thought. I really reigned in those blow-up games. This was definitely a year of making by good points a bit better and making my bad points much better. 6) Yes. (86) - Once I broke 90 I stayed below it for the next 8 full rounds. 7) No(t really). - I carded an 85 after filling in the last 5 holes with my handicap. I was playing very well that day and actually on track for better than 85, but it got dark by the 13th hole. So I technically didn't shoot below 85 and I technically didn't even make all those strokes myself, so I'm saying that I have not broken 85 by my own standards, although technically I've had a scorecard that says "85" on it. 8) Yes. (22) - I now realize that I didn't specify how 9 holes would count. I decided to leave them separate, the issue for me is getting out to play in the first place, and getting out to play even just 9 holes is a minor victory. By the difficulty category: Easy: 2/3 Medium: 3/4 Hard: 0/1 So, an acceptable year. Definitely showed some improvement, although not quite what I was hoping for. The biggest disappointment was definitely my GIR stats. Definitely a better and more consistent golfer in several areas. It was a fun year. I slowly replaced most of my clubs: I got new wedges, a 3-wood, a putter, and even irons at the very end. All careful decision, and all were definitely for the better. Can't wait for next year.

[rwfastrax]

1. Improve my Driver, 3 wood and 5 wood performance. Especially driver off the tee, 3 and 5 from the fairway.

2. Improve shot shaping

3. Improve green reading and putting.

4. Get hcap down to 7's or high 6s.

5. Regardless of 1-4 enjoy golfing (this one's easy).

1. check...putted for eagle more this year than any previous year, mainly due to improved 3 and 5 wood play...sadly enough...no eagles. Still struggled with the driver but was making progress      when winter set in.

2. check...starting to incorporate draw and fade on iron shots. Got pretty good with a knockdown draw under trees.

3. not so much. Changed putters mid way through the season (cameron) and had to adjust my stroke slightly

4. nope (see #5)

5. had my worst (and longest) battle with shanks ever. Had to start taking lessons to correct...found a few additional swing flaws and worked on those as well

the shank thing almost completely ruined golf for me for about 6 weeks. Ultimately I came out of it and played well for about the last 3 months, but it really kept me

from progressing overall this year. Next year will be different.

[NuclearMike]

I started back up in April after a nearly 10 year layoff.  All I really wanted was to get something approximating my old game back.  I failed, but learned that I'm better playing by feel than by structure.  I practiced a LOT (considering how much I work) and saw some great improvement in my wedge game and driver (better than they ever were) but don't have the consistency with my irons that I want.  My iron play is improving and I have high hopes for next year, since all I expect is to be more consistent than I've been.  I don't have time to get to the course like I used to (five rounds in seven months) so it's hard to see what's changed each time out.  I also found that I tend to forget on the course what I've been working on at the range.  Another goal for 2012- transfer range swings to the course.

[BuckeyeNut]

Anyway, I consider 2010 a bad year for golf.  I played fewer rounds than any year since 1992. (82 rounds in 2010)  My wife was traveling extensively and I had other priorities....

It was still good in some ways because I recorded my lowest ever index of 1.5 in 2010....so it wasn't a total loss. LOL

My goals for 2011:

1. Play at least 100+ rounds...

2. Don't get worse....

Results:

1. I've logged 147 rounds so far.....I far exceeded my goal. (wife no longer traveling)

2. Not only did I not get worse, but I recorded my lowest career index of 0.9.

Overall....2011 was a huge success.  This was a great year of golf!!

[WWBDD]

I played at least a round every week and my wife didn't seem to mind ... so I did really well.

[johnclayton1982]

As far as goals, met.

However, I'm finding the trip from 89 to 79 way, way harder than the trip from 110 to 89.  Basically, playing bogey golf was about consistent contact, a decent short game, and 35-38 putts a round.  Shaving those strokes off in the 80s is really tough.  I've threatened the 70s a few times, and shot a 78 twice on a very easy course, but I always tighten up on 16, 17 and 18 at my regular local (incidently, 3 of the hardest 5 holes on the course).

In 2012, I'd like to eliminate my driver flaw (which is a weak popup where I hit mostly tee - about 1 in 6), break 80 once and learn to control the nerves I get when I hit 16 on a good round.  Those three goals are reachable for me.  In two years, I'd like to play to a 5 handicap.  Right now, I shoot right around 80 all the time, but I always seem to throw in a double or two when I hit the last holes with a good round going.

[GJBenn85]

Goal 1: Start playing golf.

Goal 2: Consistently make contact with the ball.

Goal 3: Not run into anymore signs on the golf course at crotch level (once was enough because it HURT!).

Goal 4: Break 90.

First three goals were achieved.  The last was not and I am now taking lessons.

[jamo]

[LIST=1] [*] Continue to forward my swing through video. I got a Casio EX-FS10 today, so I'm hoping 210 fps will show me all the gory details that 30 couldn't. I made some decent progress last year, but I have regresses in the past few months because I haven't played much.  [*] Get my handicap down to scratch. I got it to a low of 1.5 this summer, and hopefully I will be able to get it to 0 this year.  [*] Play in (and win) some tournaments. Last year I made the decision not to, but this year, since I'm still 18 and can play in junior tournaments, I think I want to try a few. I think I have a shot at winning.  [*] Get fit for a driver. This probably won't happen, but I'm leaving so many yard on the table it's annoying. I need to get the kinks worked out of my swing first, and coupled with the price tag, it probably won't happen. But you never know.  [*] Improve my putting. I suck at putting, 31.59 per round, and I hope to improve. The rest of my short game is find, especially at the end of the year, but my putting still sucks. I did get a new 33 inch putter, which should help, but we'll see.  [/LIST] Some stats that I would like to achieve (and what I had for 2010 to compare to): Handicap: 0.0 (1.8) Fairways: 75% (65.51%) GIR: 65% (60.61%) Putts Per Round: 30 (31.59) GIR First Putt Distance: 20 feet (23.7) Scrambling: 60% (48.20%)

1) My swing is better today (or at least at the end of last year), so yes, I'd say I met the first bullet point. Not as much as I would have like, but I did see some improvement. 2) Still not quite. As of now, I sit at a 1.3. 3) Nope, I didn't play in any. Definitely something I regret and aim to change this next year. 4) No again. Still playing the SueprQuad. 5) My putting still sucks, though I think it should improve a bit once I have a full year to implement AimPoint. Final stats from last year: Handicap: 1.3 Goal Not Met Fairways: 71.01% Goal Not Met GIR: 67.22% Goal Met Putts Per Round: 32.60 Goal Not Met (Though it's nearly 3 points lower since I started AimPoint.) GIR First Putt Distance: 22.9 Goal Not Met (It's actually much less is my last few rounds FWIW.) Scrambling: 41.07% Goal Not Met

[sportsnut]

Like a few of the other posters I was new to golf in 2011 and do not have a posting to refer to but I did have goals for the year. First goal was to take lessons, starting this sport at 61 years old I did not think I had a lot of time trying to figure out things so I went to a pro. This worked out well and helped me quite a bit, started the lesson in May and started playing a par 3 in late June/July, moved to a full course in August. I adapt quickly and have an affinity to grasping sports.

Second goal was to score less than 115 before end of season. I made this the second time out so I modifed it to breaking 100 before end of season but was cut short by a surgery in early October but came close finishing my last few rounds at 103, 105, 108 so I'm close to knocking on that door and have made it one of my goals for 2012.

I gotta tell you 2011 was a fun year and am really glad I started this quest, but wish I had listened to my wife and father in law and started sooner, this is a great sport to become involved in,  .