What are Your 2017 Golf Goals?

[Double Mocha Man]

Okay...craziest New Year's resolution ever.  I'm gonna qualify for the U.S. Open!  Just think of all the news and talk shows I'll be invited to... first member of my family to ever qualify!  Just bought a new 3 wood and Footjoys to guarantee success.

3 step plan:

1. Get handicap down to 1.4 by April 15

2. Sign up for and play in Local Qualifier

3. Move on to Sectional Qualifier, post low enough score to play in U.S. Open at Erin Hills in June.

My New Year's resolutions have always been responsible and sensible.  This time, WTH, gotta go for it once in a lifetime!

[nevets88]

Feels like I'm going in the right direction w/current instructor and he's actually around for the winter and have access to decent indoor full swing facilities so will be able to do steady immersive work through the very cold next 2-3 months without experiencing any bitter cold. Comfortable with swing going to A4 ish, but need to work on pivot back, hip and arms, legwork specifics. Plan to take a lesson every 3-4 weeks and practice 3-4 times a week till it's warm enough to play outside and will try and spend more time playing on the course, try to integrate all the winter work into a better score.

Short game is better, practicing when it's warm enough to play outside, better integrating body turn with arms, will work on that more as it warms up. Will dedicate more time to short game this year, basically didn't spend much time, maybe 5% on it last year.

 

[PabloMoorzio]

Get a handicap score and then start on the road to proficiency by trying to reduce this. 

[LHH]

Simply to play more golf. I'd like to compliment that with regular driving range visits as I am having a lot of trouble with my driver so I need to knuckle down and do some drills this winter and keep hitting balls regularly.

[Denny Bang Bang]

I didn't practice more than a handful of times last year, and it showed.  Going to make an effort to get to the range once a week this year, and get the index back down to 7, or lower.

[Chilli Dipper]

My goal last year was to simply play more, and I did that. I then said I wanted to break 90, but I shot a 92 in August and couldn't post a lower score after that. Mark that up to the fact that I didn't do much practicing at all after the summer.

So, my goals for 2017 start with working on my game more. I went to the range on Tuesday, and was amazed at how high and straight I was hitting driver, woods, and hybrids, which I had been snap-hooking on the course all autumn. I know that when I don't practice, my tempo gets out of whack and I swing with my arms instead of my body, but I don't think about fixing that when I'm playing; it's something that needs to be ingrained.

Therefore, my goals are:

• Have at least as many practice sessions on the range as rounds of golf.
• Break 90 for 18 holes, which is easily attainable if I put in the maintenance time on my game.
• My current handicap index is 18.8, but my GAME GOLF strokes-gained analysis consistently shows I have the short game of a 10-handicapper. By the end of the 2017, I'd like to split the difference between those two figures.

[bm85]

My goal is to shoot lower scores.

I can sense a leak in passion for developing my golf swing. Part of the reason is having accomplished a lot of vanity goals like hitting the ball far, and beating my playing partners.

Keeping the desire alive for me comes down to acknowledging the challenges involved with shooting lower, and facing them head on which go beyond the scope of a single post. For now I'm going to flesh out some short term things that have been irking me.

Strengths in my game are: putting, chipping, approach shots with long irons and short irons.

Weaknesses are: driver and fairway wood effectiveness, controlling distance with mid irons, and poor short approach shots.

*The recent move I have been working on had me hitting several greens over all, but I lost distance (low launch) with driver on the course which threw birdies and those easy-mode pars out the window. I'm mostly convinced it is a setup issue. Driver just feels awkward when you predominantly practice with irons, and don't play enough golf period.

*Part of my issue with fairway woods is the 55g shaft I have in my 3w being too light. I need a heavier shaft as it just feels like a wet noodle, and I lost trust in my ability to hit the sweet spot with it.

*Shots between 160-190 yards for me are a bit tricky, and often lead to nGIR's. It's not a range I have worked on a lot, presumably due to the fact ranges have everything setup 50, 100, 150, 200 etc. Even though I have been shooting around a 5 hcp, I still don't know exactly what yardages I hit with my mid irons, and has been a sketchy guessing game which has to stop.

*I'm not a really good golfer by any means yet, but I practice obsessively and the result is I can find the ball pretty well at this point. It's easy for me to make just about any pitch motion work that I want to, and when playing around in practice I believe I am not single minded enough. So, when I go out to play when it's been awhile - it usually takes me several holes to get in a short game groove which contributes to early bogeys. A little less Seve - a little more Jim Furyk. 

[boogielicious]

I've though about how to state my goals for 2017 a lot. I want to be very specific and less general so my practice plan will address specific issues.

1. Significantly reduce fat shots by working with my Evolvr instructor on my priority pieces. I lost a lot of strokes due to fat iron and wedge shots in the last half of the season. We've identified the issue and now I am working on that with mirror and range work. I will focus mainly on this until the season start. The result should be lower scores due to more GIR and nGIR.
2. Work to improve consistency with a flatter shaft at A5 to improve swing path. We worked on this the first half of 2016 and made some progress. I will keep this as my secondary priority piece for the winter.
3. Map shots zones for Driver, 5W, 4H, 6, 8, PW, 54W full swings at local indoor range with launch monitor. If I have time, fill in the gaps. I didn't do a complete job last winter.
4. Work in pitching practice and putting stroke work when possible.

All the above should help lower my scores and HC.

[65ross]

My Goal for 2017 now back playing after a lay off, get my handicap to single figure's, play minimum of 3 rounds per week weather permitting, one day on the range per week.

[Bryan Kasper]

I tried to create a list of goals last year, but i was not able to focus on accomplishing many of them. I will make this so that i can have an easy way to come back to them and update my progress with them. ( some will be attainable, some will be more theoretical goals) 

here they are:

1. Throughout season goals:
   1. Shoot a round under 80( i shot 39 on 9 holes last year but want to make sure that i can play an entire round under 80)
   2. Bring my handicap under 12
2. Accomplish these by:
   1. Having a more strict practice schedule
   2. Work on specific things in practice sessions.
   3. Attend clinics and read more books and gain knowledge from experienced golfers.
3. End of season goals:
   1. Average less than 2.1 putts per round
   2. Average less than two penalty strokes gained per round

Edited January 8, 2017 by Bryan Kasper

[False hopes]

This last season was my first playing actual golf (went to a driving range a few times before). So my goals are.

1 I really want to break 90, I got close this year on an easy course(shot 91). 

2 Get a HC index so I know where I really stand.  

I'll accomplish breaking 90 by getting lessons which I have already got set up and actually practicing instead of just mindlessly swinging at that little bastard of a ball. 

 

[Mico]

2 hours ago, False hopes said:

mindlessly swinging at that little bastard of a ball. 

 

Good summary of golf at times!

[TripleEagle]

1- I'm now a senior in high school and my current lowest in high school tournament round was a 79, I plan to break 76 (personal tournament best) in a tournament this year. To accomplish this i'm working on my short game A LOT and making my driver swing (only bad club) more consistent, accurate, and get more distance.

2- To get an average drive of 250 yards, currently it sits at 215 and goes to 230 if I dont count my major mishits (slices or hooks). I'm doing some golf exercises, trying new shafts, new balls, and hitting my driver way more than I ever have.

3- Break or hit even par... This one is the hardest of em all, but I can do it if I get my driver up to 250 because that's where I gain the most strokes. 

As a whole I think this will be a good year in golf for me, I recently got an optishot and have been practicing like crazy on it (3-4 rounds per day easily).  I'm also moving 3 states away, so i'll have to find some new courses, but as a whole it should be a good year.

[bkuehn1952]

I was holding off going on record until after the 1st of the year.  So now we are well into January so here goes;

1. During the first half of 2017, get a full club fitting.  I suspect I am not getting as much from my equipment as I could.  If nothing will help as far as equipment changes, then at least I will know.

2. Our "Club Without Real Estate" runs 13-14 handicapped tournaments each summer.  I would like to win another one. 

3. Qualify for the Senior City Championship's "Championship Flight".  I have done that a few times but it has been a while.

4. Keep my handicap under 9.0 so as to have a slim chance of being selected for the Newport Cup competition.

[Lihu]

1. Continue to work on my swing, and try to get more keys. I'm starting to feel more confident with keys 1 and 2. Starting to work more consciously on 3 and 4.

2. Start working on my short game more seriously. Marking all my wedges via LSW. My main issue is consistency in distance and "partial" swings. Sometimes I get the full distances with 3/4 and 1/2 swings. I obviously need to work on control better. I'm getting away from "feel" distances in hopes of getting more consistent.

I feel like flop shots are more consistent distance wise, but of course, it's way less reliable than bump and run.

The plan is to create a game plan around the greens rather than just walk up think "I just feel like doing a flop or bump" as if I had a choice. It should be much more deliberate.

3. Getting more consistent with my putting stroke. I feel like my stroke is improving. As I strike the ball, it's a lot faster then the ball seems to decelerate nearer the hole now. My reading seems to be getting more "instinctive". I don't need to bring a level out with me so much any more to gauge my fingers. Still lots of work reading the breaks better. I still don't really know how to read double breaks. So, I'm going to focus more on that particular skill as well.

[Lazarus]

Play and enjoy more golf. Get my Hcap down to 8. Play 9 holes at even par (then 18). Hit my first eagle.

How (mini goals):

Develop my approach play accuracy and pitching and chipping accuracy

Practice at my optimum/preferred frequency (3 times a week for 1 hour at a time, + 2 evenings for 45 mins followed by 9 holes).

[Mico]

On 29/12/2016 at 3:44 PM, Mico said:

Here are my goals

Overall: Reduce my handicap to under 10 from current 15. 

A. Improve swing. Generate an inside out swing so that I hit the ball more consistently and accurately. My current swing is very inconsistent and leaks power

metrics

fairways hit 7/13 from current average of 5/13

GIR 5/18 v. current average of 2/18

this improvement should reduce my score on average three strokes per round

Actions

5 minute swing practice every day with Sklz swing trainer and golf clubs

Once a week range/golf practice

B. Short game improvement 

I would like to improve my chipping and putting so that I can close out holes even when I miss GIR.

Metrics

saves per round 4 (compared to two currently)

reduce three putts to average of 1.5 per round v. current two per round

reduce average total putts to 32 per round (versus 33.5 currently) 

This improvement should reduce my score on average two and a half strokes per round

Actions

practice chipping with almost golf balls at home

work on putting once a week at course (maybe invest in practice surface at home) 

C. Invest in instruction to achieve outcomes. Periodically throughout the year, I will seek instruction to stay on track with my improvements

january: professional instruction one hour

march: professional instruction one hour

June: professional instruction one hour

sept: professional instruction one hour

dec: professional instruction one hour

 

 

Improve Swing. Focus on stop casting.

january lesson -- Done.

[NJpatbee]

I will temper my goals based upon my projected 2017 golf playing possibilities:

1. Play at least 20 rounds that are eligible for GHIN entry
2. Lower my handicap by a stroke
3. Make better contact with my short irons (the only ones I use)
4. In addition to 1-2 range sessions per week, practice on my course alone when it is not crowded, meaning no score keeping (it is no longer allowed anyway), play multiple balls, and set up difficult lies of all types
5. Stay healthy!