What are Your 2018 Golf Goals?

[kpaulhus]

My 2018 goals are as follows:

1. Average score 79.9 or better for the full year. Currently 83.4.

2. Shoot even or under par 3x.

3. Continue my membership on evolvr for the entire year to avoid any lapses in my game. 

4. Compete in 5 FSGA single day events and one two day event/USGA qualifier. 

[Cormier10]

Lower Handicap from 10.0 to 8.0
Break 80; 5 or more times...3 of those at my local Saturday game.

Areas of focus this year:

sand shots

fairway woods

 

[NCGolfer]

Always fun to reflect on the year past and what I want to accomplish for the next year. 

• Break 70 multiple times - Only happened once last year.  I had stretches where I should have done it more but there was always a hole or two that ruined it.
• Improved driving - I feel like this is one of the weaker spots in my game.  It hasn't been consistent over the past few years but is definitely headed in the right direction.  I want to keep that momentum going.
• Sharpen the wedges - I'm not good enough from inside 130.  Need to be a lot better.
• Keep posting in "My Swing" thread - It was really helpful last year and I there are a few pieces I'm working on.  Video is always an eye opener and the best way to track work on the swing.
• More tournaments - My schedule last year was not conducive to tournament play.  Hope that changes this year...going to look for more opportunities to play competitive rounds.

 

[saevel25]

Overall Goal: Reduce Handicap to sub 3.0

Sub Goals (Not in any particular order of importance)

• Improve strokes gained putting with in 10 FT. My strokes gained putting is +.39 versus a scratch golfer (+ being worse). I can improve my strokes gained putting by .4 strokes within 10 FT. The first thing is to check if I am aiming correctly and hitting my putts on line. If these are fine, then I need to work on my green reading. I probably can work on my green reading anyways.

• Improve Short Game, specifically inside 25 yards. Game Golf is saying I lose 1.8 strokes here. It looks like my major issue is distance control. There are a few areas I can work on here. First, is better technique. Second, selecting the best type of shot for the lie. Third, is repetition to develop feel.

• Improve my approach shots. The biggest area is inside 100 yards. Even if I improve this area, it still leaves a good amount of improvement needed at 100+ yards. I hit about 45% GIR. This means I need to work on my distance wedge type shots. I know the biggest area is knowing how to control my backswing length. I have a bad habit of taking too long of a backswing and then try to control distance by slowing or speeding up the hands. Outside 100 yards, it's just hitting better shots (keep it simple )

 

 

[flopster]

I just need to start playing again, I had a very busy year of work seriously only 15 days off and having my home course shut down the previous year and the driving range down the street close I just really got depressed about playing much.

[upndown21]

My goal is to improve my 10.3 index to a 8.2. This will be accomplished by continuing my lessons and playing more frequently. I also want to win my home clubs m/m, m/g, or club championship (flighted).

[JuanTheGolfer]

My 2018 Goals are:

Improve my average score from 79.09 in Q4 2017 to 76 in Q4 2018

Improve my GIR from 61.2% in Q4 2017 to 70% in Q4 2018

Improve my Scrambling from 19% in Q4 2017 to 40% in Q4 2018

To achieve these goals among other things I will be doing are:  Continue twice a month lessons, continue daily practice averaging 2 hours a day every weekday, and play at least 9 holes every weekday.

[bm85]

Get out and play more golf. I simply didn't play enough last year, often only 1-2 times a month.

It would be great to find some friends to play with.

[cutchemist42]

1-Not sure how to make this a goal....but last year when I encountered a big straight pull problem giving me OB penalties, I wasted about a 6 weeks trying to fix it myself. Waited until 2 weeks were left in the season to get a lesson to figure it out. This year if I encounter a problem, I will not wait that long again.

2-Would like to get down my GG HI down from 14.3 to 12ish. Right now when I compare myself to a 10.0 HI in GG, I think I can get to it. Im losing 4.38 strokes in my putting and 2.59 strokes in my short game compared to a 10.0 HI.

3-Related number 1 goal......Keep the driver in play more.

[Golfer gal]

2018 golfer gal goals:

Goal #1)   Work hard to get my handicap index under 10. This may seem far-fetched, but I just think of it as ambitious! In the past 10 months, I've gone from a 28 to a 15, so I have some success under my belt, and I trust the process.

How am I going to accomplish this lofty goal? Well, at first I'm just going to continue what I've been doing and see how low that can take me. What I've been doing that has helped my game so much is a three-step per shot process. My mantra is "Just. This. Shot."

Step 1 - play smart. Tons has been written on this, and it includes course management skills, emotional control and letting go of poor past performances, choosing the best shot for my skill level of the day, and so on.

Step 2 - precise set-up. Because I'm not very good yet, I need to keep my routines and set-ups as identical as possible each time, otherwise my mind is racing all over the place and I won't even know what caused the problem when it all goes awry. 

Step 3 - one single swing thought. For a long time, my single thought is "turn back, turn through." I like to think it keeps me in a good rhythm and helps me go to the finish, mostly it keeps my mind quiet.

Goal #2)  Get into a regular practice routine.

How? Check out the 5 Minutes Daily challenge, and set aside at least an hour each Thursday for a session. Maybe a lesson once in awhile, and get friends to play practice games with me. Use my big back yard for chipping and sand work.

Goal #3)  fire up golfgirl.net again

How? Just DO it! Tell my friends about it so they check it out and encourage me.

Goal #4)  play 10 new courses

How? Get active with bigger women's groups, like PubLinks or the LA County group. Scout out courses hubby hasn't played when we go to Arizona or up north.

[Timmy-9holes]

This will be my second year golfing.  Last year was a year of learning that golf was not just show up at the course with your clubs and start swinging at the ball.

--Continue the process of understanding the game of golf.  When I started last year I quickly learned there was a lot to the game which I did not know about. I plan to continue learning more about how to play be continuing my reading, lessons, practicing and playing.

--Get familiar and comfortable with my clubs.  I did not understand much about the club shaft flexes.  Once I found a flex I was comfortable with practicing and playing became much more enjoyable.

--Practice with a purpose.  My reading the past year had shown me the importance of practice and how to practice.  I was one of those people who just got a bucket of balls and would just pound away one after the other.  Now I understand better of how important being good with the putter can be.  Every shot needs to be for a purpose and part of a plan.

So, for this year I am setting up practice routines with goals to reach each time out.

--Play at least 10 rounds of golf the right way.  I didn’t understand the importance of warming up and how it can affect your performance on the early hole.  Don’t use the first few holes to warm up.  Have a warm up routine so I’m ready at the 1^st tee.

Being in Northeast Illinois, I can’t play year round so I figure a minimum of two round each month May through September is a good start.  I only played five rounds last year after starting in June so, it would be double last year.

--Play a round at five different courses.  I have a lot of 9 hole courses within 20-30 minutes of my house.  They have various length with some mainly par 3s and others a mixture of 3s, 4s, & 5s.  I want to find a few course where I feel comfortable with the courses and people who run it.  I went to one course last year where I had a lesson and showed up early to practice putting and someone from the pro shop came out to see what I was doing.  It was a public course too.  I want to golf where the staff is friendly and welcoming

--Play the course to My Par.  Hank Haney mentions on his show and I have read others mentioning it that the par at the course doesn’t really mean anything.  I have checked out the lengths of the holes for the local courses and broken them down into what I would consider a par 3, par 4, par 5 or even some par 6s.  Everyone is going to keep score. Make the goal realistic and as I improve the par for each hole will change.

[Fairway_CY]

This is always one of my favorite threads each year.  It gives me a chance to get really specific with my goals and then I get to look back on them at the end of the year.  

Anyway... my 2018 goals are below.

1. Reduce penalties to fewer than 1 per round.  Last season was my best in this category, but I still averaged 1.39 penalties per round (for almost 2 strokes per round).  I'd like to reduce those numbers to less than 1 penalty and less than 1.5 strokes per round.  A large number of my penalties last year came on the approach shot of the 10th hole of my home course.  The lie is almost always downhill... plus there's a hazard fronting the green and OB very tight to the right side of the green.  I need to work on that shot so that it's no longer in my head.

2. Increase GIR percentage to greater than 40%.  My ball striking was better last year than ever before, but I still battled some pretty bad misses with clubs longer than my 8 iron.  I finished 2017 hitting 36.28% of my greens in regulation.  To get there, I'm going to have to spend some time with my 5 iron, 6 iron and 7 iron.  A majority of the par 3 holes that I play require the use of those clubs.  Although I don't have a number in my spreadsheet for par 3 GIR percentage, I'd be willing to bet it's lower than what my overall number is.  If I can fix that... I can score better.

3. Hit greater than 50% of fairways.  I came pretty close last year, hitting 46.64% but I'd like to eclipse the 50% mark this year.  Achieving this goal will make achieving the one above much easier as well.  I've been enamored with increasing my distance, but it hasn't really happened.  I've been right around 235 yards off the tee for the last 3 years.  I need to stop worrying about hitting it further and start worrying more about hitting it where I need to.

4. Putt better.  This is not a specific target.  It's very broad, but it's a part of my game that confidence is very fleeting.  The average distance of all putts I made last year was only 2.96 feet.  I also had an extremely high number of three-putts.  Finally, I averaged over 35 putts per round.  I would like to get that number below 34 putts per round this season.  It's going to take me spending some time on the practice green at my course, but I'm determined to make this a stronger part of my game in 2018.

5. Get back to the tournament winner's circle.  In 2016, out of 19 tournaments I played in, I won 2 and placed in the top 4 another 5 times.  In 2017, I played in 15 tournaments overall.  The first 4 were in C Flight where I finished T-10th, 2nd, 1st and 3rd... but then got moved into a more competitive flight due to my index dropping.  In the higher flight, I played 11 tournaments and failed to place in the top 4 in any of them.  I came close a few times but couldn't crack the barrier.  I'd like to get back into the money spots in 2018, so... this is the goal I want to reach the most.

That's it.  They're all there.  Tomorrow begins my 2018 season.  Time to get cracking on reaching at least a few of these.  

CY

[ElWagonne]

My goals are pretty straightforward:

1) Lower handicap by 2 shots (it's a 9.0 at the moment)

2) Increase GIR to at least 8/18 per round

3) Get a practice regimen of range work once a week

4) Win a Golfweek Am or Golf Channel Am tour event in my flight

[Golfwarrior355]

To play more golf than once a month and be a more consistent putter

[Groucho Valentine]

Not get hurt and actually win a big tournament this year. State or national - don't care.  I haven't won anything beyond club level in  over 5 years. One of my goals is always to qualify for the US open, but thats a pipe dream. I still attempt, but you usually got to shoot in the mid 130s to advance from sectionals and I'm not sure i have that kind of game anymore. 

Edited January 17, 2018 by Groucho Valentine

[Kalnoky]

• Establish a USGA GHIN, by paying the fee and recording my scores in the computer on league night/men's club
• Hit 51% FIR, by strengthening my legs and core through a weight program for added flexibility and stability
• Hit 33% GIR, continue to practice lagging my irons and eliminating out-to-in swingpath
• Devote more practice time to pitching and 1/2 wedge shots
• To break 90 from the 6400 tees 
• Compete in my first tournament

[Thomas G]

Mine are to 

- play 75 rounds by playing every Saturday and some Sundays

- play 10 amateur tournaments

- hit 60% greens

-  < 30 putts per rounds

- 50% fairways

- 50% scrambling

- Win a scratch monthly medal stroke event

- Handicap back to two

- Win the club championship

- Make a hole in one (thru hitting better approach shots)

This targeted focus on golf will also help me to stay fitter and drink less on weekends

 

[Marty2019]

Time if starting to creep up on me.  I used to feel like I still had time to improve, but when I hit my last birthday, for some reason, for the first time in my life, I became very aware of my advanced age.   It won't be long before I am one of those guys who just whacks it down the middle with no distance at all.  It's inevitable.   Time is relentless.  

My goal for 2018 is to re-dedicate myself to the game.  All phases.   Ball striking, short game, strength and flexibility, fitness, etc etc etc.  

I've been off for the last month because of weather and illness, and it's still too cold down here to play as far as I'm concerned.  But when the weather warms up, I'll be coming back.