Not long left of the season- how close are you to your target?

[jamielaing]

At this stage of the season I am now trying to reflect on how I have done in comparison to my targets that I set in March-

Bring handicap down to single figures by the end of the club championship- Fail- made it to 9.5!

Bring handicap down to 7/8 by end of the season- currently at 9.7- 7 under for the next 10 medals will get me to 8 so still achievable.

Double bogey free medal- achieved but only once.

Win a trophy- still in the match play comp (quarter finals) so in with a shout. Also we have one major comp left.

Get as close to a level par round as possible- best this season was 5 over in a medal. I feel I should be able to get this down to +2 but time is running out. In the match play comp I was -2 through 12 but it ended there. Additionally there were gimmies so can't consider this hugely. In bounce games I got to +3.

Need to keep going with 10 comps left. I feel I have played better this season but scores are not reflecting this hugely. I have however played consistently and not sailed to far north of 80 in comps, only ever missing buffer by 1 or 2 shots.

How are you getting on?

Any tips or advice to help these targets going forward?

 

[drew83]

How have you failed single figure HC? did you mean you wanted to get to 9? Personally (not being very knowledgeable) I would say 9.5 is single figures. A double figure would be 10.0+.

Is it to do with rounding? so 9.5 would be 10?

My target was to break 100. Down from 141 at start of year in feb to 121. Made some good progress playing forthnightly with some range time between. However, it stalemated just over a month ago. I went on holiday, & came back to various PP injuries meaning I am left to play solo golf which I can't stand. (I am a nomad so nowhere to join up with others & play).

I might still get there if the weather holds through sept/oct.

 

[jamielaing]

How have you failed single figure HC? did you mean you wanted to get to 9? Personally (not being very knowledgeable) I would say 9.5 is single figures. A double figure would be 10.0+.

Is it to do with rounding? so 9.5 would be 10?

My target was to break 100. Down from 141 at start of year in feb to 121. Made some good progress playing forthnightly with some range time between. However, it stalemated just over a month ago. I went on holiday, & came back to various PP injuries meaning I am left to play solo golf which I can't stand. (I am a nomad so nowhere to join up with others & play).

I might still get there if the weather holds through sept/oct.

9.5 is a playing handicap of 10 so not quite there!

Keep going and identify your week areas to work on. You'll get there!

 

[Crawfy]

Started the season on 8.1, however as I was committing to a full swing change, I was not going to measure 2015 success in terms of hcap, but how well I was swinging the club (if that makes sense)
The good news is that I have nailed the new swingpath, and I am now shaping shots as required.
The bonus is that my Hcap has also come down to 7.0
A very happy golfer !!
Credit though goes to the work done by Stuart Williamson PGA.

 

[delc]

My handicap is about the same as it was at the start of the year, but at least it has been reduced after going up due to several 0.1 increases! I am playing a bit better after a couple of lessons with our club pro though.

 

[Oddsocks]

So far away I'd need British airways to get involved with a 24hr stay over!

 

[duncan mackie]

I seem to have got to 12 (11.5) somehow - way too many matches over the last 2 years and absolutely no focus on stroke play.
On the other hand I've actually been receiving shots in senior matches recently 😀 - the downside is when I play well it does look a little ridiculous (why is it that when you are off 9 no one seems to mind the odd good run of holes but off 11 and 12 everything changes and the comments have a distinct edge?

Ah well, it will sort itself out shortly (he keep muttering...)

 

[pbrown7582]

So far away I'd need British airways to get involved with a 24hr stay over!

Or new shinies........

 

[jamielaing]

Started the season on 8.1, however as I was committing to a full swing change, I was not going to measure 2015 success in terms of hcap, but how well I was swinging the club (if that makes sense)
The good news is that I have nailed the new swingpath, and I am now shaping shots as required.
The bonus is that my Hcap has also come down to 7.0
A very happy golfer !!
Credit though goes to the work done by Stuart Williamson PGA.

That's impressive with a swing change! Keep it up!

 

[jamielaing]

So far away I'd need British airways to get involved with a 24hr stay over!

I know the feeling.

 

[Slicer30]

0.1 in every comp so far with a handicap rise from 13.2 to 14.4.

each round has pars/birdies but always manage to blob 2 or 3 holes. Finally gave up trying to fix things myself and have booked my first ever lesson for Monday morning.

Hope to build something for the long term, currently I tend to fix things as I go along and then after a few bad shots start chopping and changing.

 

[jamielaing]

I seem to have got to 12 (11.5) somehow - way too many matches over the last 2 years and absolutely no focus on stroke play.
On the other hand I've actually been receiving shots in senior matches recently  - the downside is when I play well it does look a little ridiculous (why is it that when you are off 9 no one seems to mind the odd good run of holes but off 11 and 12 everything changes and the comments have a distinct edge?

Ah well, it will sort itself out shortly (he keep muttering...)

It's the old when are you a bandit and when are you playing well. I just try to take the comments as compliments. Keep going and give them some more to whinge about.

 

[jamielaing]

0.1 in every comp so far with a handicap rise from 13.2 to 14.4.

each round has pars/birdies but always manage to blob 2 or 3 holes. Finally gave up trying to fix things myself and have booked my first ever lesson for Monday morning.

Hope to build something for the long term, currently I tend to fix things as I go along and then after a few bad shots start chopping and changing.

I've done that before where you just keep changing throughout a round. Worst thing you can do, before you know it you don't know what it is you are supposed to be doing. Get a swing that you are happy with and stick with it. When you can stand on atee and think I am confident that my swing is good you will see huge improvements!

 

[pjacko1983]

How have you failed single figure HC? did you mean you wanted to get to 9? Personally (not being very knowledgeable) I would say 9.5 is single figures. A double figure would be 10.0+.

Is it to do with rounding? so 9.5 would be 10?

My target was to break 100. Down from 141 at start of year in feb to 121. Made some good progress playing forthnightly with some range time between. However, it stalemated just over a month ago. I went on holiday, & came back to various PP injuries meaning I am left to play solo golf which I can't stand. (I am a nomad so nowhere to join up with others & play).

I might still get there if the weather holds through sept/oct.

I know you said you don't like playing by yourself, however, personally speaking, i find this is the best time to learn

My golf is confined to playing society golf and local club rounds with my Dad, which is not the time to be learning and improving

so i took up the idea of instead of spending £7.50 (ish) on 100 range balls, commit to going down to your local club, take advantage of any £9.99 evening tee prices and get out on the course

I am playing off 14.5 at the moment, spent all last winter on the range, when i finally got onto the course, it was alien to me, i felt uncomfortable, knowing its not a practice ball on the 1st tee, chipping onto greens, putting - all felt well out of feel of my hand and mind

I have committed to playing once or twice a week on a course rather than doing an evening hitting 100 balls on the range

started my spring/summer shooting scores like 95, without doing any coaching work (which I am now starting for the autumn/winter) now shooting 80-85 just with what i call "feel" golf - getting rid of nerves, understanding ball reactions on greens, just generally understanding the "feel" of my hands on certain delicate shots

I used to hate playing by myself, but then started to understand the idea of being out on a summer evening, peace and quiet, no care in the world and have a walk (hopefully hitting some good shots as well) as opposed to having a round with mates with the banter and giggles

 

[drew83]

pjacko, I see your point. I really don't like being in my own company. But maybe I should give the solo golf more time...

Well done on your successes this year!

 

[duncan mackie]

It's the old when are you a bandit and when are you playing well. I just try to take the comments as compliments. Keep going and give them some more to whinge about.

Oh I do try - but I'm very sensitive at heart

I also have huge empathy with those playing their socks off but getting beaten!

 

[Jimaroid]

I'm going to fail my target for this year. The goal was to get to a 9.4 by the end of August and the closest I've gotten is 10.9. Dropping nearly 2 shots in the next 11 days seems out of reach even though it's theoretically still possible if I had the time to play in all the remaining qualifiers.

Work/life balance this year has meant I've not be able to play/practice anywhere near as much as I have in previous years. I'm playing about once every 10 days at best and it's not enough for me to progress. It's also frustrated me that for a large part of the season, when I have been able to head out, the unusual amount of wind has caused me nothing but trouble.

Oh well, there's always next year.

 

[FairwayDodger]

I didn't have a set target this year - just to improve, which would hopefully see the handicap come down. I've certainly improved much of my play but haven't put it all together consistently enough. Handicap is down to 4, though, and I feel comfortable playing off that so it's progress. More to come hopefully but greater consistency is the key for me now!

 

[Fish]

My season, or whats left of it is just starting

 

[Stuey01]

I am 0.1 closer to my target.

I started at 11.0, and after playing brilliantly all winter I felt single figures was achievable, but a busy spring and summer of missed comps and little to no practice has got me a cumulative cut of 0.1 to 10.9.
There are 3 comps left, of which I will probably play 2. I'm not expecting much.