When reviewing my 2017 year in numbers, I decided that it would also be beneficial to set myself some goals and targets for 2018. I’ll be the first to admit they are very optimistic given the fact that I don’t tend to practice too much and prefer to be out on the course playing!
In the below list, I have included by 2017 numbers for reference, so that you can see just how much I need to improve some areas!
How many more courses in Sussex can I tick off?
One of the main purposes of this blog is to get out and try and play as many of the courses in Sussex as I can! I felt that playing 30 rounds across 20 courses last year was a good effort, and I’m hoping if I can squeeze another 10 rounds in this year I’ll hopefully play around 25 or so courses.
- Rounds played: 30 ⇒ 40+
- Courses played: 20 ⇒ 25
The big one- Handicap
So I think that this one is going to be a tough ask given my lack of practice time, and playing different courses week in, week out. But hey, gotta aim high!
- Handicap: 13.2 ⇒ 10
Fairways and Greens
I think that these could well go hand in hand for me, and if I can manage to get the ball in play off the tee a little more, hopefully the greens should follow! Again, 45% might be optimistic, but lets work towards it.
- GIR %: 30.93% ⇒ 45%
- FIR %: 32.37 ⇒ 45%
Scoring Averages
Minor improvements across the board needed here, and I am targeting most improvement on the par 5s. Instead of always pulling the big stick, I need to learn to sometimes treat them as clear 3 shot holes, and focus on keeping the ball in play!
- Scoring Average Par 3: 3.62 ⇒ 3.5
- Scoring Average Par 4: 4.99 ⇒ 4.75
- Scoring Average Par 5: 5.91 ⇒ 5.5
- Scoring Average: 86.9 ⇒ 84
Short Game
An area that I feel needs work, and is always the first area of my game to go when i don’t play regularly. If I can hit more greens, I think it will be difficult to expect my Putts per Round to come down as in theory, proximity to the hole is likely to be greater, so I think targeting minor improvements, hopefully holing more birdie putts than 3 putts, and keeping the 3 putts to less than 1 per round on average would be a big step!
- Putts per Round: 32.1 ⇒ 32
- Putts per GIR: 2.01 ⇒ 1.9
- Putts per Missed GIR: 1.68 ⇒ 1.6
- 3 Putt %: 7.59% ⇒ 5.55%
I would love to hear your 2018 goals? Get in contact below or across any of my social media platforms!
The Sussex Golfer 