Are you a Better Golfer than a Year Ago?

[JonMA1]

  On 6/11/2016 at 10:27 PM, Braivo said:

I am definitely not a better golfer than I was a year ago. I am always hopeful and lie to myself after a good round that I've "turned the corner" only to go out the next day and have the wheels fall off. 

The reality of the situation is that I will not improve until I can commit more time to practice, and that seems unlikely at this stage in my life with young children. Therefore, I have accepted my lot as a bogey golfer for the time being and have stopped pressuring myself to improve.

I simply go out and measure my round against bogey golf. Sometimes I beat it, other times I don't. 

Will I be better this time next year? Unlikely. The time required to improve isn't in my future, but I'm ok with that. 

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Nice post. You have a good attitude about enjoying the game first, and worrying about improving (within the circumstances you can control) second. I envy that almost as much as your ability to beat bogey golf.

[Braivo]

  On 6/12/2016 at 3:52 PM, JonMA1 said:

Nice post. You have a good attitude about enjoying the game first, and worrying about improving (within the circumstances you can control) second. I envy that almost as much as your ability to beat bogey golf.

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Thanks, Jon. I even measure +/- on my scorecard in relation to bogey golf, makes it much more enjoyable. 

[MasonAsher2014]

I am a better golfer for sure, but my scores aren't better, they are worse.

[tdiii]

For question 2, I answered, "I will be about the same."  I'm hopeful to be better, and should be better, but golf is funny.  It's the only sport I've played where you can practice a bunch and not necessarily improve.  Every other sport I've played, if you practice more, you improve.  Golf?  Not necessarily. 

[jgreen85]

I hit the ball further off of the tee, I have much better control from 50-120 yards, but irons are similar to last year. I've broken 80 now 3 times; shot 76 sunday at my home course and saturday I finished +2 on an executive course. A bad day is now 85 and an 82 has been my "par" for a while now, and I'll shoot that 82 in a variety ways (drive it well, but can't hit greens; drive it poorly, but short game is strong; drive it well, iron well, but chip/putt poorly). Previously 85-87 was "par" and an 82 was a good day.

[Aflighter]

Id say im a tick better although my hcp doesnt say so but im close to putting it all together just the strategy mentality part is left.

[Fairway_CY]

I'd say that I'm about the same as I was a year ago in terms of ability, but I put a lot of that on changes I've been making in my swing.  Technically, I'm a marginally better golfer than I was at this time last season.  As for scoring, I'd say I'm about the same.

I hope to be 3-4 strokes better by this time next season... but that's going to require a lot of work on my game when this season ends and sticking with any changes that are made during the offseason instead of abandoning them because my scores are suffering.

CY

[nevets88]

I'm definitely better at utilizing video than before, shooting and analyzing, learning things from other swings.

[xcott]

avg score last year at this time 109.92

avg score since: 105.36

 

Yes, better. But still not good.

 

Dear god I hope I'm better a year from now

[shanksalot]

I sucked a year ago and I suck even more this year. If things don't improve I may take next year off.

[Bechambo]

I think I am better in the sense of the way I play and practice. I have been a better scorer a year ago, but I think, if I may use a metaphor, have found the end of my plateau and found a higher mountain to ascend. With other things now finished and taking away from my energies toward golf, I can now really become a good golfer and ambassador of the game. 

P.S. 

I'm back on the forums and am going to contribute to this community much more frequently than before.

[Dave2512]

Yes. 

[arturo28mx]

I´m a better golfer after every round!!! After a round, as I'm driving home, I always ask myself "what did I learn today?"

It can be something about my driving, my irons, putting, approach shots, strategy, grip, backswing, etc. etc. For me, there is always something I learned.

[boogielicious]

  On 6/24/2016 at 8:18 PM, arturo28mx said:

I´m a better golfer after every round!!! After a round, as I'm driving home, I always ask myself "what did I learn today?"

It can be something about my driving, my irons, putting, approach shots, strategy, grip, backswing, etc. etc. For me, there is always something I learned.

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Excellent. I do this too.

[DrvFrShow]

Nope. Nope. I didn't start at a young enough age and I'm not getting younger.

[marcharing]

I am better. In April 2014 I was off 7 handicap. Now off three. not bad for a 56 year old but I have returned to the game after an absence. Best ever was one handicap.

[tosob]

Yes I'm a better golfer. Handicap last year was 17.8, this year last update 14.8. My short game, mostly chipping and pitch shots have shown the biggest improvement. I shot 39 for the first time in my life, 80 for the round. 

[Pretzel]

I am better than I was at this time last year, with my handicap going from somewhere around 2 to its current +1.2. The biggest piece of the puzzle has been my ballstriking, where I am now hitting more greens than before and I'm leaving myself with much easier birdie putts than I ever have. I used to rarely make birdies, with any more than one or two in a round feeling like a lucky occurrence. This year I've been able to count on one or two a side fairly consistently just because I'm able to place my approach shots much closer to the hole with my wedges than in the past. I've had three tournament rounds with more than five birdies so far this year.

The problem is that, while I'm hitting my approach shots better than ever, my short game has fallen. My most recent tournament is a prime example of this, where I was tied for the lead with a 71 that included five birdies and six bogeys. If I could have gotten up and down even three more times out of my six attempts (I was 1/6 in scrambling on the day) I would've shot 68 and ran away with it. None of the attempts were particularly difficult, I just hit some really bad shots around the green.

Looking back what got me to this point was my tee shots and my approaches, but what will get me to the next level will be if I can sharpen my short game to increase my scrambling.