You vs. Your Year-Ago Self

[dsc123]

I went with 76-90%.  I got down to a 15.3 last summer, and I'm about 14.4 now, and one more good round could get me to 13.X.  That doesn't seem to justify a 76-90 winning %, but I really do think I'm better in every respect than I was last year.  I also play a tighter with the rules than I did last year.

[Mordan]

A year ago I was 19.1, and I'm now 10.7. I went for 76% - 90% but I think it would be much closer to 76% than 90% even with that large change in handicap.

[Pa Pa Jack]

I did not vote on this one. Due to surgery on my lower back and then on my neck, I have not been able to golf in about 7 years. I began hitting the range a little about 6 weeks ago and then began playing about 3 weeks ago.

I will tell you that I got hold of Bobby Clampett's book "Impact Zone" because of the people on this site. I have been using his principals for about a month now. In the past I have always had issues with my irons going too high and relatively short.

Today I played and could not believe the difference in my yardages with my irons. It is amazing. Of course my driver and fairway woods are a mess right now. No idea why, but I couldn't hit my driver at all. The worst I have ever done in 30 years. But I will sort that out eventually.

[AmazingWhacker]

I've improved a LOT over last year.  That is to be expected with new players.  .I'm sure next year it won't be the same story.  I've been playing for about 3 years now but this is the year that "the light" came on for me and I had a series of "ah-ha" moments with my swing.  Last year, I was really inconsistent, I never hit my driver, I often couldn't reach a par4 in 2 shots plus I couldn't aim my approaches so I was playing between double and triple bogey golf *when* I avoided disasters.

This year, my distances and consistency are drastically improved.  I can reach greens in regulation but I still can't aim very well so I tend to play close to bogey golf when I'm playing well.  The frequency and severity of disasters have been drastically reduced.  Last week I blocked a tee shot into a hardpan waste area but I was able to pick the ball clean, get the ball back in play and advance it pretty far towards the green as well.  No way did I have that shot last year.  Not the block either because I used to always slice my driver.

[inthehole]

My handicap has dropped from 28.6 last June 1st to a 12.3 as of July first this year.  Have shot my low career game of 74 4 times since May this year not a single round over 88  since feb this year. Have been playing for over 40 years,  was diagnosed with MS and cancer within six months of each other and was in a wheel chair 2 yrs ago so I could not be happier with the way I am playing now. But it is funny I can remember last year I was over joyed to break 90, now if I don't shoot a 82 or better I get mad. Played the last 3 days and shot 78 , 78, & 80.

Inspirational !!!! Glad you have overcome some very serious obstacles & have developed a game many of us would love to have !

[VMAN]

I've improved quite a bit but mainly with regards to consistency. My hdcp has not gone down yet but it is trending that way as my scoring average is lower. Mainly due to lessons and working on the changes. The other big thing is my putting is much improved especially from 5' in. A lot of it has to do with the backyard putting green. Amazing what ten minutes four times a week does to your stroke! I'm finally starting to drive the ball in the fairway again and I expect to gain a couple of strokes this summer and reach the 4 index range. I had plateaued and needed to work on my game, now starting to see the dividends of the last few months of work.

[eedwards]

I am really no better than I was a year ago.  My full shots are more consistent but I have worked so much on those areas that my chipping has gotten terrible, which used to be the best part of my game.  I can go out and shoot something around 73-75 then come back the next day and drop an 88.  I won't even mention that although I am straighter with the driver in the process I have consistently lost 20 yards and have a terrible ball flight.

[lumpuckeroo]

Compared to a year ago, I'm the same, compared to 5 years ago, I'm better.  I score better in my 50's than I did in my 40's and better in my 40's than in my 30's.  I'm sure this trend will not continue as I have lost a lot of distance over the last year or two.  And when I say better, I'm talking about scoring, I'm not sure I hit the ball any better now, but I score better, which is really what the game is all about.

[glock35ipsc]

Easily 91%+ here.  I went from playing army golf, to actually being able to hit shots to my intended target area the majority of the time.  Last year at this time I was literally trying to hit the ball and bad things happened every time I stepped up to the ball. Thin shots.  Fat shots.  Topping.  Huge slice.  The occasional one that went straight and left me wondering "how the heck did I just do that???"

My biggest turn around came from my new coach, who pretty much changed my game after two sessions.  I was setting up ahead of the ball.  I was taking waaaaay to large of a back swing.  Was not getting my weight forward on the down swing. Was coming over the top and swinging my arms at the ball, instead of staying connected and rotating my body through the shot.  This took less than a  dozen swings on video to see what was wrong.  After the first two sessions I seriously went from army golf to hitting fairways and greens.  My scores are getting better every round.  If I can get my short game back, and become a better putter, I should be cussing much less frequently!

[Chris Stewart]

I voted 91%+. Considering I just started playing again in February, I would crush year-ago me. I just hope I can answer the same way this time next year.

[Yeri]

11-25% for me. My overall game is much worse, my last two times out have set record high scores (64 and 68 on 9 holes). My current good hits are better, my putting is better, wedges are much better, heck even my driver is quite a bit better than 1 year ago. However my irons have gone from bad to not even worth playing the game bad. I'll usually hit a decent drive of about 200 (yes, 200, that's not a typo) into the fairway, take about 5 more strokes to get within 60 yards of the green, then get it in with 2-4 shots from there (1-2 pitches / chips, 1-2 putts - usually takes about 3 shots on average). Oh, and this is on a par 4 :)

On the very, very rare days that my irons behave, I can shoot great scores, even managed to break 100 this year. Those days are few and far between though.

[teamroper60]

I voted 91-100%.   1 year ago today, I had yet to play the game (I just took the game up last October).   That first round (and most of the subsequent rounds for several months) were in the 110+ range.   Broke 100 for the first time on May 2nd.   Since that time, I have been shooting in the 90's (mostly high 90's) with just a handful of rounds over 100.   My goal for this first year was to be consistently in the 90's.   I think I am there now.   My driving is erratic at times and my putting is typically atrocious but my irons, chipping & wedges have gotten pretty consistent.   If I could improve the short game, I believe I could break 90....

[hero12]

My best this year is the same as my best last year, but I've worked on simplifying my swing.  I am more consistent this year, dropping my average score at my home course by ~2.5 strokes.

[Sai-Jin]

this is the first year that I'm able to say that I'm almost equally strong in all areas of my game. Driver, fairway, chips, green side bunker play , fairway bunker and putts. And on top of that I'm able to groove the effortless swing and still hit it far and straight. I averaged 14-17 a round last year, but now I'm able to score between 7-11. I think I'd be working on my ball in or top of rough shot as well as hitting the green more with my 2nd shot. I've been getting away from not hitting the green, in which 2/3 I don't, because my wedge short game around the green Has been my strongest point in my golf game to land that that 1 putt in the hole.

[Motown88]

I'm getting worse...I used to golf 3 to 4 rounds a week, now it's down to 1 maybe 2.  I plan on getting a membership next summer to a golf course in my area as long as I'm not deployed.  That way I'll be able to golf a lot more and maybe get my handicap back down to where it used to be.

[Leftygolfer]

Much worse.  Maybe a bit more than a year ago but I don't even feel like the same player, and not in a good way.  Against my 2009 form, I don't think I could beat that player more than 5 out of 100.