thesussexgolfer Uncategorized

2019 Goals Review 31/12/2019

So that’s another year flown by! 2019 will always be a memorable one for me due to a number of things which have happened in my personal life (which we will come on to later!), but I have also managed to experience some fantastic courses along the way! As I write this on the 31st December 2019, it is a great time to look back and reflect on the goals I set at the start of the season.

For those that haven’t seen the original post- you can find that here…

So… how did I do?

How many courses this year?

Unfortunately, 2019 was not the year in which I will complete my ultimate goal of playing every course in the county, but I do continue to get closer! (Check out the course map here to see how I am getting on!). Playing 42.5 rounds across 36 different courses, ultimately I smashed both of my goals I set at the start of the year!

  • Rounds played: Target 40+ : Final 42.5
  • Courses played: Target 25+ : Final 36

As the eagle eyed of you will spot- there are still a few courses across the county I am yet to get to. If you are a member / employee at any of the courses I haven’t played- get in touch, and lets sort something out!

Handicap

So I had hoped that I would be able to try and hold my handicap below 10 come the end of the season.

  • Handicap: Target 9.9 : Final 10.4

In the end, I did miss this goal, however I am still happy to have a playing handicap of 10. I managed to get as low as low as 9.4 (Playing 9) back in February, but ultimately finished the year at 10.4.

Fairways and Greens

An area which I have always felt needs work is getting the ball in play off the tee, and giving myself a decent change at hitting the green in regulation. I have tried multiple approaches over the years, from hitting a lot of irons and hybrids, and trying to sacrifice distance for the sake of accuracy, to just hitting driver or 3 wood and trying to get the ball as far up the hole as possible, which I felt more confident in doing for the second half of the season after a driver and 3 wood change in my bag.

I thought the goals I set were a little optimistic, but there are slight improvements shown from 2018… so at least we are moving in the right direction! Numbers were slightly down for the second half of the season.

  • GIR %: Target 40% : Final 34.6%
  • FIR %: Target 40% : Final 34.8%

Scoring Averages

I was aiming for minor improvements across the board here, and despite my handicap going up, I have delivered on the scoring average front, and feel much of this is down to my game being more consistent.

  • Scoring Average Par 3: Target 3.5 : Final 3.55
  • Scoring Average Par 4: Target 4.85 : Final 4.81
  • Scoring Average Par 5: Target 5.7 : Final 5.53
  • Scoring Average: 86.8 ⇒Target 84.7 : Final 83.35

In the end, my Par 3 scoring average is the essentially same as 2018 (down by 0.01), Par 4 scoring average has come down by 0.18 (and beat my target) and Par 5 scoring average down by 0.29 (again, beating my target). Multiply all of these numbers out against the assumption that the course has 4 Par 3s, 10 Par 4s and 4 par 5s, you would expect a 1.98 reduction in my scoring average. My actual reduction of 3.5 would suggest that courses I have been playing have had a par of less than 72.

Short Game

Putting was one area I targeted for improvement in 2019, but if anything, things seem to have moved slightly in the opposite direction! Whilst I know that not all of these are specifically related to the flat stick (i.e lots of it is to do with approach proximity to the hole!), I don’t feel as confident in the 6-10ft range as I used to. Something to work on!

  • Putts per Round: Target <30 : Final 32.2
  • Putts per GIR: Target <1.95 : Final 1.96
  • Putts per Missed GIR: Target 1.6 : Final 1.64
  • 3 Putt %: Target 5.55% : Final 9.6%

Whilst I haven’t managed to hit my goals in any of the 4 categories, I have managed to at least improve on my Putts per Missed GIR, which would suggest slight improvements in my chipping. I definitely feel more confident just around the greens, and hope that for the rest of the season, these numbers will continue to drop and hopefully I will hit a couple of my targets before the year is up!

Miscellaneous

  • Consecutive rounds below handicap
  • Consecutive rounds in the 70s
  • Treat myself to a round somewhere special for my 30th birthday!

Three big ticks here! Two consecutive rounds in August where the handicap came down at two fantastic heathland courses (West Sussex GC and Piltdown GC. Two consecutive rounds in the 70s were achieved back in July with a 78 at Farleigh GC (Surrey) and a 79 at Piltdown GC again. As for the somewhere special for my 30th? West Sussex was always top of the wish list… and boy did it not disappoint!

thesussexgolfer Goals

2019 Goals Update (01/07/2019)

So we are now officially half way through the year, so I thought it would be a great time to look back on the goals I set at the start of the season, and see how I am getting on against those goals.

For those that haven’t seen the original post- you can find that here.

So let’s see how I’m getting on…

How many courses this year?

So I am working my way through the list of courses slowly but surely… (Check out the course map here to see how I am getting on!). If you are a member / employee at any of the courses I haven’t played- get in touch, and lets sort something out!

  • Rounds played: Target 40+ : Current 22
  • Courses played: Target 25+ : Current 21

Most definitely on track with this one!

Handicap

So I had hoped that I would be able to try and hold my handicap below 10 come the end of the season.

  • Handicap: Target 9.9 : Current 10.7

Slightly missing this goal at this stage, Although I have been as low as 9.4 (Playing 9) back in February, I am now at 10.7 (Playing 11) at the halfway stage in the year. I have been happy with my scoring in general, and happy that all of my rounds so far have been sub 90, with three rounds in the 70s.

Fairways and Greens

I thought the goals I set were a little optimistic, but there are slight improvements shown from 2018… so at least we are moving in the right direction!

  • GIR %: Target 40% : Current 34.85%
  • FIR %: Target 40% : Current 35.08%

Scoring Averages

I was aiming for minor improvements across the board here, and despite my handicap going up, I have delivered on the scoring average front, and feel much of this is down to my game being more consistent.

  • Scoring Average Par 3: Target 3.5 : Current 3.56
  • Scoring Average Par 4: Target 4.85 : Current 4.77
  • Scoring Average Par 5: Target 5.7 : Current 5.61
  • Scoring Average: 86.8 ⇒ 84.7 Target 84.7 : Current 83.27

22 Rounds in and my Par 3 scoring average is the same as 2018, Par 4 scoring average has come down by 0.22 and Par 5 scoring average down by 0.21. Multiply all of these numbers out against the assumption that the course has 4 Par 3s, 10 Par 4s and 4 par 5s, you would expect a 3.02 reduction in my scoring average. My actual reduction of just over 3.5 would suggest that courses I have been playing have had a par of less than 70.

Short Game

Putting was one area I targeted for improvement in 2019, but if anything, things seem to have moved slightly in the opposite direction! Whilst I know that not all of these are specifically related to the flat stick (i.e lots of it is to do with approach proximity to the hole!), I don’t feel as confident in the 6-10ft range as I used to. Something to work on!

  • Putts per Round: Target <30 : Current 31.91
  • Putts per GIR: Target <1.95 : Current 2.02
  • Putts per Missed GIR: Target 1.6 : Current 1.64
  • 3 Putt %: Target 5.55% : Current 9.6%

Whilst I haven’t managed to hit my goals in any of the 4 categories, I have managed to at least improve on my Putts per Missed GIR, which would suggest slight improvements in my chipping. I definitely feel more confident just around the greens, and hope that for the rest of the season, these numbers will continue to drop and hopefully I will hit a couple of my targets before the year is up!

Miscellaneous

  • Consecutive rounds below handicap
  • Consecutive rounds in the 70s
  • Treat myself to a round somewhere special for my 30th birthday!

No luck here! With just the one cut to the handicap (back in February), and 3 rounds in the 70s spaced out (one every 2 months), I have not managed to hit either of the first two. I’m still very keen to treat myself to somewhere special for my 30th, which is coming up in the second half of the year… watch this space!

thesussexgolfer #Goals, Goals, Uncategorized

2019 Goals

photo collage_20190107_011533401-01

A new year, a new set of goals to achieve! After the overly optimistic approach last year, I am hoping that this years goals are slightly more achievable! Who’s going to join me on the journey!?

How many courses this year?

So I am working my way through the list of courses slowly but surely… (Check out the course map here to see how I am getting on!). I’m hoping that 2019 can be a big push towards ticking off as many of the courses as I can, and this is where you can help me! If you are a member / employee at any of the courses I haven’t played- get in touch, and lets sort something out! I’m hoping to play a similar amount of golf to last year, and if I can play those rounds over just as many different courses as last year, I hope to make a real dent and turn more of the blue and red dots orange!

  • Rounds played: 39.5 ⇒ 40+
  • Courses played: 29 ⇒ 25+

Handicap

So I’m not aiming for as big a drop last year. I’m at a realisation that playing different courses week in, week out, is never going to be beneficial to working the handicap down. If I can drop from my starting handicap of 10.4 to 9.9 at the end of the year, I’ll be happy.

  • Handicap: 10.4 ⇒ 9.9

Fairways and Greens

Still perhaps remaining optimistic here, after little to no improvement in these areas of my game last year, I have reined in the targets a little. Lets see how close we can get to 40% across the board!

  • GIR %: 33.04% ⇒ 40%
  • FIR %: 34.21 ⇒ 40%

Scoring Averages

Targeting minor improvements across the board here, having seen last year how difficult it is to drop these numbers! Based on the calculation, assuming the course has 4 par 3s, 10 par 4s and 4 par 5s, if I deliver the reduction in scoring averages, this should equal a drop in average score from 86.8 to 84.7.

  • Scoring Average Par 3: 3.56 ⇒ 3.5
  • Scoring Average Par 4: 4.99 ⇒ 4.85
  • Scoring Average Par 5: 5.82 ⇒ 5.7
  • Scoring Average: 86.8 ⇒ 84.7

Short Game

As my 2018 season progressed, and equipment changes were made, I definitely saw improvements in this area, but there is always room for more! Hoping to maintain the number of putts per GIR, (anything <2 means I am holing more birdies than 3 putting from GIR), but I would like to reduce my putts per missed GIR through improved chipping/pitching. Again, aiming to limit myself to one 3 putt per round if possible!

  • Putts per Round: 31.64 ⇒ <30
  • Putts per GIR: 1.96 ⇒ <1.95
  • Putts per Missed GIR: 1.69 ⇒ 1.6
  • 3 Putt %: 8.95% ⇒ 5.55%

Miscellaneous

  • Consecutive rounds below handicap
  • Consecutive rounds in the 70s
  • Treat myself to a round somewhere special for my 30th birthday!

What are your 2019 goals? Get in contact below or across any of my social media platforms!

thesussexgolfer #Goals, Other

2018 Goals Review 01/01/2019

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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 reviewed my progress vs these goals in May (which can be found here) and September (here).

Throughout the year, I have come to realise that the goals I set were perhaps overly optimistic due to the fact that I rarely practice and mainly play, but it is interesting to see my progress towards them regardless!

I had every intention of practicing significantly more this year, but this hasn’t gone as planned despite investing in some alignment sticks and a Swingyde! And when I say rarely practice, I can confirm that I have been to the range once this year, but I have also invested in a PuttOut training aid, which I do try to spend some time with each week!

So lets see how I managed to get on!

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!  

  • Rounds played: 30  ⇒ 40+
    • 39.5 – So close to my goal! But an increase from last year despite spending 6 weeks away in the United States with work this summer.
  • Courses played: 20 ⇒ 25
    • 30- 23 in Sussex, 1 in Surrey, 1 in Oxfordshire, 1 in Northamptonshire, 1 in Warwickshire, and 3 in the United States!

The big one- Handicap

So this was always going to tough given my lack of practice time and the fact that I tend to play different courses week in, week out…

  • Handicap: 13.2 ⇒ 10
    • 10.4 (Playing Handicap 10) – I reached my my goal following two consecutive reductions of 0.6 after rounds of +7  in each of my last two 18 hole rounds of the year!

Fairways and Greens

I expected that these would  go hand in hand for me, and that If I had managed to get the ball in play off the tee a little more, I would hit more greens! Again, 45% across the board looked to be overly optimistic, but minor improvements nevertheless.

  • GIR %: 30.93% ⇒ 45%
    • 33.04% A slight improvement on last year, but not quite the dramatic increase as hoped! I spent a lot of the year in what I call ‘protect’ mode, where ultimately I am just trying to stay out of trouble, hitting a lot of irons and hybrids off the tee, in order to limit misses, often leaving myself longer shots into the green.
  • FIR %: 32.37 ⇒ 45%
    • 34.21%. Drastic times called for drastic measures! Towards the end of the year I switched back to my old driver and have instantly regained much needed confidence off the tee. In my last 5 rounds, my FIR % has increased from 33.05% to 42.86%.

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
    • 3.56 Marginally improved from last year, but didn’t quite hit the optimistic goal. Continues to be one of the stronger points of my game; on Par 3s this year I average 44.3% GIR!
  • Scoring Average Par 4: 4.99 ⇒ 4.75
    • 4.99 Managed to hold steady with last year in the end!
  • Scoring Average Par 5: 5.91 ⇒ 5.5
    • 5.82 Slight improvement  on last year, which I am mostly putting down to better course management.
  • Scoring Average: 86.9 ⇒ 84
    • 86.76 near identical to last year again! Despite some of the low rounds (four in the seventies this year), there have been a couple of disastrous ones! 

Short Game

An area that I felt needed work, and is always the first area of my game to go when I don’t play regularly. It was also pointed out to me by my lovely lady / caddie / scorer / photographer as one of my weaknesses back in May when I was averaging 33 putts per round. 

  • Putts per Round: 32.1 ⇒ 32
    • 31.64. Since I changed putter, this number is down at 30.38 from upwards of 33 before the switch – so possibly money well spent so far as this is below my target!
  • Putts per GIR: 2.01 ⇒ 1.9
    • 1.96 As long as this number stays below two, I am making more birdies than bogies after hitting the GIR, which is good enough for me! Down to 1.9 (my goal) with the new putter, converting over 22% of birdie chances, as opposed to 13% with the old putter in the first half of the year.
  • Putts per Missed GIR: 1.68 ⇒ 1.6
    • 1.69 – Not much has changed since last year or my September update. Scrambling needs to be a better. My chipping is often one of the weakest parts of my game, not getting the approach close enough. Something to work on! 1.64 since changing to my new flatstick.
  • 3 Putt %: 7.59% ⇒ 5.55%
    • 8.95% – Still a significant increase from last year due to some early season putting struggles.. Since reverting back to a short putter (34″), this number sits at 7.59%,vs 10.49% before, so the change has definitely helped me head in the right direction!

How did you get on against your 2018 goals? Let me know on Social Media or in the comments below!

thesussexgolfer Other

2018 Goals Update 02/09/2018

Shutta_20180816_235228-02

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 reviewed my progress vs these goals in May (which can be found here).

The goals that I set were optimistic (perhaps overly so since I rarely practice and mainly just play..!), but I felt that I had to make them challenging, hoping that it would spur me on to improve.

I had every intention of practising significantly more this year, but this hasn’t gone as planned despite investing in some alignment sticks! And when I say rarely practice, I can confirm that I have been to the range once this year, but I have also invested in a PuttOut (https://www.puttout.golf) training aid, which I do try to spend some time with each week!

All of the information below in blue is the update as of 02/09/2018.

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+
    • 30 – already equalled last years number, so anything from here on is a bonus!
  • Courses played: 20 ⇒ 25
    • 24 – 19 in Sussex, 1 in Surrey, 1 in Oxfordshire, and 3 in the United States!

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
    • 11- reached my lowest point after my last round of 78 (+7) at Pyecombe Golf Club

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%
    • 33.33% A slight increase so far on last year, and increased a little since my last update in May, but I’m starting to think my goal was a little more optimistic than I thought! As before, the above numbers significantly improve when I find the fairway, with last years number being 42.54% GIR per FIR, and this year 41.35% GIR per FIR… which just goes to show I need to hit more fairways
  • FIR %: 32.37 ⇒ 45%
    • 32.05% Poor start to the year off the tee with my review in May being 27.42% . I’ve started to consider strategy a lot more off the tee, and my driver rarely comes out of the bag right now!

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
    • 3.58 Marginally improved from last year. Continues to be one of the stronger points of my game. On Par 3s this year I average 44.8% GIR!
  • Scoring Average Par 4: 4.99 ⇒ 4.75
    • 5.00 After some struggles early season, this has started to return to the levels I set in 2018. 
  • Scoring Average Par 5: 5.91 ⇒ 5.5
    • 5.83 Slight improvement so far on last year, which I am mostly putting down to better course management, and playing some par 5s as genuine three shotters and focusing on getting the ball in play off the tee.
  • Scoring Average: 86.9 ⇒ 84
    • 86.8 near identical to last year after 30 rounds, but I feel that my form is on the up at the minute, which I hope to carry into my next few rounds!

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
    • 32.23. An area highlighted by my lovely lady / caddie / scorer / photographer as one of my weaknesses back in May when I was averaging 33 putts per round. At which point I purchased a PuttOut, and this seemed to have a slight effect! Since I changed putter, this number is down at 30.92 – so possibly money well spent so far as this is below my target!
  • Putts per GIR: 2.01 ⇒ 1.9
    • Still at bang on 2! As long as this number stays below two, I am making more birdies than bogies after hitting the GIR, which is good enough for me! Down to 1.96 with the new putter, converting over 17% of birdie chances, as opposed to 13% with the old putter in 2018.
  • Putts per Missed GIR: 1.68 ⇒ 1.6
    • 1.69 – Very similar to last year! Scrambling could be a little better. My chipping is often one of the weaker parts of my game, not getting the approach close enough. Something to work on! 1.59 (meeting my goal) since changing to my new flatstick!
  • 3 Putt %: 7.59% ⇒ 5.55%
    • 9.07% – Down by 0.8% since my May review, but still a significant increase from last year. In the 12 rounds since reverting back to a short putter (34″), this number sits at 6.94%, so the change has definitely helped me head in the right direction!

How are you getting on with your 2018 goals?

thesussexgolfer Other

2018 Goals Update 13/05/2018

20180428_151846-01

When reviewing my 2017 year in numbers, I decided that it would also be beneficial to set myself some goals and targets for 2018.

The goals that I set were optimistic (perhaps overly so since I rarely practice and mainly just play..!), but I felt that I had to make them challenging, hoping that it would spur me on to improve.

I’ve reach a point in my season where I won’t be playing for a few weeks, so thought it would be a good chance to sit down and assess where I am in terms of my goals, and maybe start to think about where I need to put a little more work in (and maybe do a bit of targeted practising!)

All of the information below in red is the update as of 13/05/2018.

 

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+
    • 9. I’ve made a good start here this year, where I am already up 7 rounds on last year.
  • Courses played: 20 ⇒ 25
    • 8. (Seaford Head Golf Club, Dyke Golf Club, Pyecombe Golf Club, Rusper Golf Club, West Hove Golf Club, Willingdon Golf Club, Rookwood Golf Club, Lewes Golf Club). 

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
    • 12.7. Handicap has come down, largely due to my most recent round (+10), which knocked me down 0.9 after it had crept up at the start of the year.

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%
    • 32.10% A slight increase so far on last year, but plenty of work left to do in order to reach my goal. As you would expect, the above numbers significantly improve when I find the fairway, with last years number being 42.54% GIR per FIR, and this year 38.24% GIR per FIR… which makes the next stat all the more important…!
  • FIR %: 32.37 ⇒ 45%
    • 27.42% Poor start to the year off the tee. I’ve had rounds where I’ve been striking the ball well, and missing the fairways has sometimes been a little unlucky, but this is definitely one area I need to improve, not only to hit my goal, but also to score better. 

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
    • 3.61 Consistent with last year. Continues to be one of the stronger points of my game. On Par 3s this year I average over 47% GIR!
  • Scoring Average Par 4: 4.99 ⇒ 4.75
    • 5.16 This is definitely going in the wrong direction, mainly due to my GIR being down below 25% here. Having to scramble on nearly every hole is tough!
  • Scoring Average Par 5: 5.91 ⇒ 5.5
    • 5.97 Comparable (if not slightly worse) than last year. Par 5s for me are about the second shot, which is useful having only found 17% of fairways on par 5s this year. I need to work on getting the first two strokes solid and in play, and then we can start to think about scoring.
  • Scoring Average: 86.9 ⇒ 84
    • 88.9 I guess I expect my scoring to be a little higher in Winter, with less carry, less roll, less smooth greens and having had a few months off, it takes a while to get back into the swing of things. Lets see where we are at after the next 10 rounds!

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
    • 33 An area highlighted by my lovely lady / caddie / scorer / photographer as one of my weaknesses whenever I am lucky enough to have her join me out on the course. I’ve taken appropriate steps and purchased a PuttOut training aid, so hopefully this number will start to head downwards!
  • Putts per GIR: 2.01 ⇒ 1.9
    • 2 As long as this number stays below two, I am making more birdies than bogies after hitting the GIR, which is good enough for me!
  • Putts per Missed GIR: 1.68 ⇒ 1.6
    • 1.75 Scrambling could be a little better. My chipping is often one of the weaker parts of my game, not getting the approach close enough. Something to work on!
  • 3 Putt %: 7.59% ⇒ 5.55%
    • 9.88% I need to change my mindset on putting at times, and to know when to try to hole the putt, and know when to lag it up for an easy two putt. Mid handicap golfing is all about damage limitation I find, and three putts should (and need to) be avoidable!

 

How are you getting on with your 2018 goals?

thesussexgolfer Other

2018 Goals

Maker:S,Date:2017-9-6,Ver:6,Lens:Kan03,Act:Lar02,E-Y

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!