How good is good enough for your game?

[rrives]

1. I have just finished my first year in golf and my goal was to break 100.  I have achieved that, I would like to be breaking 80, though that might not happen as I am 52 years old and distance is not a strong point.  My goal this year is to shoot in the 80's.  I have achieved 2 rounds in my last four in the 80's and the other 2 was 90 and 92.  I am getting there.

2.  When I get satisfied is most likely when I stop playing (or play not as much).  In my younger days I aspired to be a professional bowler, qualified to get my PBA card, but lack support from my family so I never did, but I gave up bowling as it was not challenging enough for me in the amateur world.  So if golf ever became that way I would most likely give it up also.  Although I do walk mostly when I play for the exercise so I might keep it up for health reasons.

3.  This year I played and practiced nearly everyday (weather permitting)  and plan on keeping it up this year also.  I am at the course first thing in the mornings and walk 9.  Some days if my schedule allows it I will play 18.  

[RFKFREAK]

4 hours ago, 9wood said:

1. How good is good enough when it comes to your game of golf?

2. At what point would you become satisfied with your game?

3. How much time would you be willing to devote to the game of golf to get your game to a level that would satisfy you?

 

1.  I'm not sure there will ever be a good enough - but for right now, I'd like to see a fair amount of improvement in my scoring.

2. I'm not sure I can ever be satisfied in my overall game, but I can likely feel satisfied after a round if I put up a good score.

3. I'll come up with a plan after the Holidays when I start thinking about all that stuff. 

[Dave325]

At this point in time, my goal is improve my swing and consistently keep the ball in the fairway and on the green and never loose a ball. The beauty of golf is that there is always something new to learn and something to improve on. It would be nice to get to scratch, but I would first like to get in the mid-80s some day. I am devoting more practice than any time in my life, so I am looking to continue on and make improvements.

[natureboy]

Up to now - goal was to learn as much as I could about the game and technique and experiment to find the approach that I wanted to take with my game and basic technique preferences so I could self-teach and hopefully so that I would have less need for complete overhauls down the road. That's largely done (though will never be 'complete' as others have said) and I can devote a bit more time to refining what I've settled on and grooving with play & practicing for a few years.

Short - term goal is to become a consistent bogey or better golfer. I have to work on my putting and short game next season to stop wasting my decent GIR average.

Mid-term (a few years?) goal is to consistently shoot in the mid 80's on a typical course - about a 12 HCP.

Very, very long term (10 years at current or slowed rate of practice?) - get to low single digits, but I will likely lose some distance in that time due to age. Hopefully improved accuracy and consistency will offset enough to allow it to happen.

Edited December 22, 2015 by natureboy

[jgreen85]

5 hi

maintain a 5 for a full year

7hrs per week of dedicated practice.

[WUTiger]

1.  Good enough? If I could break 90 most of the time, I would be satisfied in the short run. Then, I would start searching for a way to break 80 on occasion.

2.  Satisfied? Can't really say. Golf rounds were wild this season - 14 stroke difference between my low and high rounds. Among the last 20 scores posted, the high 8 were definitely throw-away rounds.

3.  Time? If I had a three-week stretch in the spring when I can do my warm-up. In the stretch I need 12 days - about every other day or so - when I could do something related to my golf game. Might be just an hour of practice, or range + 9, or warm up and play 18. Never could come close to this in my last three seasons.
     Plus, once seasons got started, I always got disrupted by four-week stretches when not much golfish happened.

[Club Rat]

9 hours ago, 9wood said:

1. How good is good enough when it comes to your game of golf?

2. At what point would you become satisfied with your game?

3. How much time would you be willing to devote to the game of golf to get your game to a level that would satisfy you?

 

1. When "good enough" is having a great day on the links with friends or playing solo...

2. Everyone try's to improve, score lower. But in reality, there is no point or level unless your the best in the world. Even then, golfer always seem to leave stroke on the course.

3. I've devoted a life time, my golf journey has been very rewarding. I Love Golf ......

[gatsby47]

Some day, I might not be able to play golf. If I can play I will be satisfied. I now realize that I will never achieve what a lot of young men golfers are aspiring to achieve.  And it doesn't matter to me now. I so enjoy getting out and playing.  Yes I give an epitaph or two upon a poor shot.  But my recovery is quite fast and all that remains at the end of a round is memories of good shots. In fact, I remember good shots from years ago. I know by history my worst shots too but NEVER dwell on that.  Golf is for good feelings for the vast majority of us. Just think about shooting a 76.  A unattainable dream for most, A wonderful round for some, and an angst ridden crushing blow to a chosen few who then begin to question their own worth.  Not for me.  There is too much great about golf to dwell on scores

[JBailey]

When in my 20's I played and practiced everyday in the summer.  I was a teacher and had 2.5 months off.  I'd play a practice 18 with one club early in the morning, go to the range for a couple of hours and then play another 18 with friends in the afternoon.  I really enjoyed those days and was determined to become a scratch golfer.

Alas, there is this thing called talent, and although my handicap would occasionally fall below 5, it would always return to 5.  Practice, lessons -- nothing really could bring that handicap down.  So, that's where I stayed for about 20 years.

Then, a back injury put an end to my golfing for the next 20 years.  

This year -- fully retired -- I decided to try again.  I'm building a completely new swing.  I'm old, realize it, and I'm playing a completely different game.

1.  I'm healthy enough to be able to walk at least 9 holes a day -- usually 18.  I'd like to be a single digit handicapper again, but it's not real important.  (I ended the year at 11.8)  I take great joy in scrambling now.  When you're not a long hitter, being close to the green in regulation becomes the goal.  Scrambling becomes the way to a par.

2.  I played about 50 rounds playing half the summer this year.  I think I walked every round except 4.  By the end of the summer I was consistently in the 80's. (Even had a couple of rounds in the high 70's)  Quite frankly, I'm satisfied.

3.  I play a pretty straight game with good course management now. Don't usually loose a ball.  I hate looking for lost balls.  I'm scoring well for my age and talent level.  I'll practice a bit, but plan on playing almost every day.  I guess that means I'm not going to put in a lot of work on my game.  I'll just enjoy the fact I can still play.

Later,

John

[arturo28mx]

I have a family and a corporate job. I never have time to practice. I just show up at my club once a week and play a round. That's all the practice I get. In spite of this I usually shoot around 90, sometimes a little less. I'm very happy with that. 

[9wood]

I took up golf when I was about 42 years old only because a couple of other golfers talked me into it. I didn't even have any clubs at first and used a spare set one of the other golfers possessed. I stunk at the game. I tried hard to do better, but I only got worse. Then one day as I was out playing a round of golf, I only hit two fairways on my drives. My score would be around 110-114. Once I got lucky and got a 104 but wasn't able to repeat that score again. So I ended up giving up the game of golf when I was 47. Years later, at the age of 63, I took a trip to Florida to visit a friend of mine who is an admitted golf addict with a 3 HC who moved down there from my area. While visiting him he took me out and gave me lessons in golf. The lessons he gave me proved to be valuable to me and encouraged me to take up golf again. I now am 67 and my score in a round of gold these days averages between 86-94. Therefore I am now satisfied that I have been able to lower my score from the 110-114 I use to shoot when I was in my 40's to the high 80's to low 90's I can now shoot at the age of 67. I play 50 or so rounds a year, and the only real practice I get in is in my yard where I practice swinging my driver and work on my short chipping game

[Lihu]

9 minutes ago, 9wood said:

. . . to the high 80's to low 90's I can now shoot at the age of 67. I play 50 or so rounds a year, and the only real practice I get in is in my yard where I practice swinging my driver and work on my short chipping game

I would estimate that you are a 15HC, with your average putting you at 17 based upon your scoring average of 90.

That's pretty decent playing. . .

[RH31]

1. 12 holes par or better, 6 holes no worse than bogey

2. When I can shoot 74-78 almost every time I play

3. At 55, I play more than I practice, so I can't really say I devote time to getting where I would like to be. I'm OK with how its going, but would still like to be better.

[ev780]

1. Never

2. Never. Although I am occasionally satisfied with individual rounds. Never with the status of the game as a whole.

3. All of it. But I am a realist with regards to my time right now.

Love that part of the game. "can never be mastered"

[Aflighter]

For me, getting down to a 6hcp would make me happy because I could compete against the better players on our tour.

[inthehole]

On December 22, 2015 at 0:52 PM, 9wood said:

1. How good is good enough when it comes to your game of golf?  

I would like to walk onto any course and be able to shoot low 80's from 6000-6200 yds.    A single digit hcp would be nice

2. At what point would you become satisfied with your game ?

see above

3. How much time would you be willing to devote to the game of golf to get your game to a level that would satisfy you?  

 That's the problem ... I play a lot but I never practice ... Don't know if I'll ever get there without a dedicated practice routine

See above

On December 22, 2015 at 0:52 PM, 9wood said:

 

 

[Harp stein]

Interesting thread, I was thinking about this myself a couple weeks back as I made my 2016 golf goals.

1. I've gotten down to a 12 handicap over the last 18 months (avg rating of the courses I play is a 70/125). But I'd say my "typical" scoring range is 82 - 88, if I could move that down to 80-84 that's good enough for me.

2. I'm pretty satisfied now. Mid-80s is better than all but a couple people I play with or have met on the golf course and the game is actually fun now (chance at hitting most greens in regulation and 6-8 birdie putts per round). Someone else said "challenging relaxation" earlier in this thread and I think that's a perfect description for me and I'm there now really.

3. New job is running me ragged plus kids sports and high school quickly approaching, I'm not willing to devote a ton of time to it right now. I'm happy with 1 range session plus some putting/short game work every week.

[9wood]

After reading some of the comments to this thread, I can't help but get the impression that the reason some of you want to improve your game is so you can compete against other golfers with the hopes of beating them. If that is incorrect then please correct me. Nevertheless, if that's what your goal is then all the more power to you. Yet that goal differs from my own goal. When I play golf, the only person I compete against is myself. I could care less what other golfers are scoring, or whether or not my score is lower than theirs. Sure, I have scored lower than other golfers, but that has never given me a sense of accomplishment. My real sense of accomplishment comes from seeing little improvements in my game. Improvements like, accuracy on my drive, being able to get my ball closer to the pin on my pitch shots from 100 yards or so, and being able to hole more chip shots than in the past. Giving my self more chances than before for birdie attempts, etc., etc. Little improvements through trial and error give me a personal sense of accomplishment that I hopefully will be able to carry into my next round of golf.