Golf Thread

^ naturally to lower my index which currently sits at 18.1. I'm sick of being a bogey golfer who never knows what swing is going to turn up from one week to the next :p

To that end I've got my first lesson of the year on Saturday. Going to someone new as I'm not sure I ever really gelled with my old coach and he now wants £80/hr! A few years ago now admittedly, but I was paying less than that for private skiing lessons in the Alps. New person I'm trying out is currently training to be a PGA Pro and still isn't cheap at £50/45min but we'll see what it's like. They offer discounted rates for block booking so if it goes well this will bring the costs down further.

My best round from the past year would give a score differential of 12.5 under normal conditions. If I can develop a consistent swing I don't see why I couldn't get my handicap out of the teens, or at least close to it.
 
stephenb said:
^ naturally to lower my index which currently sits at 18.1. I'm sick of being a bogey golfer who never knows what swing is going to turn up from one week to the next :p

To that end I've got my first lesson of the year on Saturday. Going to someone new as I'm not sure I ever really gelled with my old coach and he now wants £80/hr! A few years ago now admittedly, but I was paying less than that for private skiing lessons in the Alps. New person I'm trying out is currently training to be a PGA Pro and still isn't cheap at £50/45min but we'll see what it's like. They offer discounted rates for block booking so if it goes well this will bring the costs down further.

My best round from the past year would give a score differential of 12.5 under normal conditions. If I can develop a consistent swing I don't see why I couldn't get my handicap out of the teens, or at least close to it.
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I would suggest getting something blocked booked in, nothing will be sorted in one lesson so give it time. Be prepared for your game to falter for a while but once it clicks you'll be annoyed you didn't do it sooner!
 
stephenb said:
^ naturally to lower my index which currently sits at 18.1. I'm sick of being a bogey golfer who never knows what swing is going to turn up from one week to the next :p

To that end I've got my first lesson of the year on Saturday. Going to someone new as I'm not sure I ever really gelled with my old coach and he now wants £80/hr! A few years ago now admittedly, but I was paying less than that for private skiing lessons in the Alps. New person I'm trying out is currently training to be a PGA Pro and still isn't cheap at £50/45min but we'll see what it's like. They offer discounted rates for block booking so if it goes well this will bring the costs down further.

My best round from the past year would give a score differential of 12.5 under normal conditions. If I can develop a consistent swing I don't see why I couldn't get my handicap out of the teens, or at least close to it.
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£80 is pricey for sure!!! Not sure I'd want to pay that.

My local pga pro is £45 for 45 minutes....

Get a block booking is a decent idea - but don't get them too close together.... give yourself time to practice from one to the next
 
Yeh I pay £50/hour, he’s a few years younger than me but fully qualified pga pro.

Achieved my goal last year, just, by breaking into the teens and ended 2024 at 18.8.
Think I’d like to drop a few more, maybe aim for sub-15?
 
Goals for last year:

- Break 80 3 times - complete, 2 x 79s and a 78.
- Handicap into single digits - complete, finished the year on 9.9 :D

This year:

- Improve on last year - where I was confidently shooting in the mid-low 80s - to the point where a "bad" round was high-80s. So getting into the 70s more often than not.
- Handicap to 7 or below. Aware that getting lower means undertaking more meaningful practice, not just showing up to the range, smashing some driver and playing loads. So intend on taking a few lessons throughout the year to work on some fundamentals. Perhaps a playing lesson as well, pick up some course management tips.
- Side goal, fitness. My fitness has definitely taken a drop this year, through injury from my other sport (hockey). So getting myself back into better shape is a priority. Flexibility/mobility being important factors I think. Less fatigue on the golf course = more consistency.
 
-westy- said:
Goals for last year:

- Break 80 3 times - complete, 2 x 79s and a 78.
- Handicap into single digits - complete, finished the year on 9.9 :D

This year:

- Improve on last year - where I was confidently shooting in the mid-low 80s - to the point where a "bad" round was high-80s. So getting into the 70s more often than not.
- Handicap to 7 or below. Aware that getting lower means undertaking more meaningful practice, not just showing up to the range, smashing some driver and playing loads. So intend on taking a few lessons throughout the year to work on some fundamentals. Perhaps a playing lesson as well, pick up some course management tips.
- Side goal, fitness. My fitness has definitely taken a drop this year, through injury from my other sport (hockey). So getting myself back into better shape is a priority. Flexibility/mobility being important factors I think. Less fatigue on the golf course = more consistency.
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Good idea, I've not set up the goals yet for this year but this post will push me to do, I'll recap later!
 
Out today for the first round of the new year \o/ Ground was pretty frozen to start with and I didn't really click with it at all, played in the frozen wastelands before but yeah...

There was about 10 holes from the 3rd onwards though where I was striping it! Some of the best ball striking all year, lols. Not that it helped though cause with the ice what I thought were great shots just ended terribly, like a short chip that hits a downslope on a frozen green and shoots forward 20 yards... Landed it exactly where I wanted it to :p

Then of course I voiced that and proceeded to hack it around and even have a shank on the 14th, nice. Overall pretty bad score but it was good to be out at least, although cold the sun was out and I like the cold so I was loving it :D

But now, as the time has come...

SKILL said:
I'm also sad so looked up the stats for the year. I played 142 rounds (including 9-hole rounds) at 22 different courses over the year, that's a fair bit of golf :D

So, onto next year, decided on some goals again cause why not:
  1. Get my handicap sub-25 - currently 32.6, again seems quite optimistic but also doable
  2. Driver Clubhead speed >100mph - currently low-90's I think
  3. 2x UK Royal courses - I ended up playing 2 this year with Royal Cromer and Royal Ashdown Forest and I'm kinda thinking playing 'all' the UK Monarchy Royal courses could be a bit of a bucket list type thing cause why not, that includes the ones abroad but for the next year just play 2 more of the UK based ones.
  4. Break 85 - Feels less overly-optimistic than last years but still a solid goal
  5. Break 40 in 9 holes - Don't really need it for the 85 goal but my best is currently 43 so seems good
  6. Ideally 2 trips abroad - The Marrakech one was my first time but that group has organised a trip for the last 5/6 years so planning to do that again, would like to do a Portugal trip in Feb/March with my normal group but not sure it's gonna happen.
  7. Almost forgot but OcUK Major! :D

I've also kinda decided that if I managed both 1 and 2 then I'll get a proper driver fitting as mine was just off the shelf, but if it's later in the year I might leave it till January 2025 for the new releases...

Anyone else setting some golf goals for the year?
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So, the results are in and:
1) Easy game, from 32.6 to 18.7 over the year, smashed it!
2) Nope, didn't really put any serious effort in, did increase the speed but from ~90 on a 'smooth' swing and 95 max up to 95 'smooth' and highest I saw on the sim was 99mph
3) Done, Royal St. Davids and Royal Ashdown Forest (2023 was the West Course, played the Old Course in 2024)
4) Easy again, knocked in a solid 79 on a day where everything worked! Also shot an 81 on NYE and various others under 85 so all goods.
5) Kinda required for 5 really, but yes, best of 38 I believe.
6) Yep, regretted the one with my normal trip (the people, Amendoeira was lovely though) but enjoyed the Turkey one with the group I went to Marrakech with was great.
7) Um, who was supposed to be organising this again? :cry:

Overall quite happy with the year and still thoroughly addicted to golf so still wanting to keep getting better :)

Also I played 201 rounds of golf (including 9-holes) at 26 different courses :)

Onto 2025 I've got the following currently:
1) Driver clubhead speed >100mph for a 'smooth' swing (carried over)
2) Handicap, which I've split into 'medals', Bronze is <15 (should be easy), Silver is <12 (bit more challenging but I'll be upset if I don't get it), Gold is <10!
3) Gonna start a bit of a light exercise and also golf practice 'habit', definitely need both and probably a lot of the former but want to go in slow and make it a habit rather than the usual 'new years resolutions'
4) 4 Royal courses this year, gonna try to get to Royal Porthcawl, Royal North Devon + 2 others as yet undecided.

Not fully decided if I need to do more :p Was maybe thinking like 'X <80 rounds' (at my easy course) or maybe Break 80 at a harder course maybe, dunno.
 
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booyaka said:
201 rounds - holy cow.... @SKILL

Probably not done that in the last 5 years total.... Wish I had the time for that....
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The 9 hole rounds definitely help with that one :p

In the summer I can tee off at 7 or a bit before do 9 holes in ~1h10 ish and be back home around 8:30 for work.

Then there were a couple of periods I did ~10 days consecutive of 'at least' 9 holes, being a contractor I was working 4-day weeks and playing a full 18 most Friday and Sundays, occasionally 36 on Sundays cause why not, so yeah. Lots of golf :D
 
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This mornings lesson turned out to be a disappointment. After a very quick chat about my game, with no probing from the instructor, he asked what I'd like to work on (irons). He had a look at my current swing which he videoed quickly on his phone. We watched it back and he highlighted my narrow swing, bent arms and said we'd work on getting more width. I then spent the rest of the lesson doing a singular drill with half swings while he continually feed me balls. I don't hit that many balls when I'm just smashing them on the range for fun. There was very little feedback and little further video.

Difficult not to draw comparisons with my previous pro but it felt like there wasn't much instruction taking place, that they needed to get more hands on to get my body moving into the right positions and that something should have been done to break up the monotony of 40 minutes on the same drill. To cap it off when I came to pay at the end the price was £5 more than advertised on their website. I cut my losses and left. Have a couple of other options I'll try but otherwise I'll be back to my original pro.
 
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Played in the Stableford comp yesterday at my local, ground was frozen again which made things so tricky, be interesting to see what the winning scores end up being (it was held Friday and Saturday, both frozen). I scored 26 points with what felt like a solid if unexceptional round, played with 2 other decent players who got 24 and 27 points, so I definitely haven't won but felt better about my score being close to theirs :p

stephenb said:
This mornings lesson turned out to be a disappointment. After a very quick chat about my game, with no probing from the instructor, he asked what I'd like to work on (irons). He had a look at my current swing which he videoed quickly on his phone. We watched it back and he highlighted my narrow swing, bent arms and said we'd work on getting more width. I then spent the rest of the lesson doing a singular drill with half swings while he continually feed me balls. I don't hit that many balls when I'm just smashing them on the range for fun. There was very little feedback and little further video.

Difficult not to draw comparisons with my previous pro but it felt like there wasn't much instruction taking place, that they needed to get more hands on to get my body moving into the right positions and that something should have been done to break up the monotony of 40 minutes on the same drill. To cap it off when I came to pay at the end the price was £5 more than advertised on their website. I cut my losses and left. Have a couple of other options I'll try but otherwise I'll be back to my original pro.
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That's a bit dissapointing, I kinda like focussing on one thing with a drill but not to the extent of just hitting balls constantly for 40 mins with nothing else :/

With the lessons I had last year they included 60-balls and we used maybe 25-30 over the course of the lesson, including the warmup, so really not that many hit overall in ~45-50 mins.

Definitely try some more options, I think lessons are worth so much more when you get on with the teacher/style.
 
Already booked in something for Friday with another golf academy. This one is a 1hr assessment (£29) after which if I want to proceed lessons would be £55 going forwards. Hopefully have more luck.
 
I'm really wanting to try and make this the year I play regular golf. Previously I've only played the odd round here and there. I've loaded £100 on a card for the local range to get some practice in of an evening and once March comes, I want to try and play 18 holes at least once per week.
 
Maccy said:
I love the idea of a black set of irons, and those Callaway Apex in black looked awesome, but...they cost silly money and I can't help but feel the coating will start flaking off.
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The coating won't last. My mate has the copper Cobra irons, and the face and sole are basically the same colour as normal irons now.

3 simple goals for me this year - improve consistency, drop the handicap, and try and get out a bit more to different courses. It's great having the rover ticket that gets me onto 7 LA courses but I really need to start taking advantage of living in Fife and getting out to some of the 'better' courses.
 
Maccy said:
I love the idea of a black set of irons, and those Callaway Apex in black looked awesome, but...they cost silly money and I can't help but feel the coating will start flaking off.
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Not irons but I've had two sets of coated wedges, first were the black Lazrus wedges and now the current Denim Copper T-24's

It doesn't flake as such, but does wear, so on both sets of wedges it wasn't long until the soles were basically bare of any black/copper colouring. I kinda don't like it but also don't think it's a terrible look. Not sure how I'd feel across the board though especially as like the 5/6 irons would be far less worn than the 8/9/PW etc
 
stephenb said:
^ naturally to lower my index which currently sits at 18.1. I'm sick of being a bogey golfer who never knows what swing is going to turn up from one week to the next :p

To that end I've got my first lesson of the year on Saturday. Going to someone new as I'm not sure I ever really gelled with my old coach and he now wants £80/hr! A few years ago now admittedly, but I was paying less than that for private skiing lessons in the Alps. New person I'm trying out is currently training to be a PGA Pro and still isn't cheap at £50/45min but we'll see what it's like. They offer discounted rates for block booking so if it goes well this will bring the costs down further.

My best round from the past year would give a score differential of 12.5 under normal conditions. If I can develop a consistent swing I don't see why I couldn't get my handicap out of the teens, or at least close to it.
Click to expand...

As someone who went from 18 handicap a few years ago to now playing off 7.1 I understand how annoying being a bogey golfer is especially when you partners keep telling you how low you should be.
Im not profesional but..

1. Be realistic the worst thing I did for my game and confidence was to drop too quickly I went from 18 to 10 inside 8 months, this hurt, I cant explain how much and just how hard the next 18months was trying to play to it, chip away at it slowly 1 or 2 shots a season
2. Understand the worse part of your game and try to eliminate it. I spent years fighting a huge slice with the driver, the fix? leave it in the bag. I carry a 3iron and it became my go to club, if you keep it in play you can hit it again and theres a chance to save par
3. Short game, I cannot reinforce this enough, expecting to hit all fairways and greens in reg is a fools way to lead to diassapointment, learn to at worse chip and 2 putt, theres plenty of pars out there get rid of the doubles and the rest will follow.
4. If you do, find a setup to help get rid of the duffs, you dont have to compress into the deck like a pro, but you arnt going to shoot any scores worth a damn if your only moving the ball 10 feet at a time.

5. Finally the big one, stop putting pressure on yourself. Golf used to be my life and Id grind out on the putting green and in the nets for hours, rock up to the first tee with the, todays the day attitude, put so much pressure on myself to shoot 75 that id shoot 90. 5 years ago I had a daughter, golf now doesnt matter, no pressure if I play bad who cares im still going home to a loving family and a decent job. Not saying youve got to have a kid but take some time to get some perspective, if you dont shoot 80 this weekend are you still gonna have a beer, grab a chippy tea and watch a film with the mrs? Is the mortgate paid and the house warm? If so who cares, youl have more fun and with less pressure probably score better
 
As everyone else is doing a 2025 Golf goals ill weigh in

Jan 2025 handicap 7.1

1. Hold my handicap around 7. Last year I dropped a little from 7.8 but I struggled. I had a lot on at work and I was made captain of the interclub A team, this meant too much time organising not enough time playing, tbh im suprised I didnt go up in handicap.
2. Have more fun rounds. Again last year I spent all my time with competition golf being it playing or oganising, Ive passed the mantle over for 2025 so I dont have to worry about it as much, ill still play if I get called up but gives me time to focus on my game
3. Spend more on course time with my daughter, towards the end of last year she came out with me on a couple fun days in the buggy and "helped daddy putt out" Shes asking more and more to spend saturday with daddy at golf, so none comp days I want to encourage that

Simple goals that Im hoping shouldnt be too hard to achieve, but honestly I dont have the time or motivation to be chasing cat1 golf at the moment, so im just aiming to tred water for a bit till things settle down

Not specifically Golf related, but Id like to get my fitness levels back up, 10 years ago i could squat 1.5x bw and jog 4 miles in about 30 min. Ive just turned 40 and 5/6 years of doing sod all I get out of breath squatting my fat ass off the toilet :cry: Not saying ill get back to where I was in my late 20s/early 30's but just being able to keep up with my daughter at soft play without cardiac assistance would be nice
 
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