Targets - How are you doing?

At the beginning of the year, I set myself three targets: -

Well, like buses you wait ages then two come at once!  I couldn't get out on the Belfry today until 3:20 and wanting to get a full round in I played Pype Hayes muni.  Glad I did as I shot an 84 on this par 70 course.  The resultant cut in my handicap also means I am now playing off 17.9.  The score could, and should, have been better too as I three putted FOUR times, including the par 4 15th where I drove the green but had an adrenalin rush on the eagle putt and missed the return

I was damn close to to my third target too, having no blobs and just two holes with a single point, both on the back.  Those two singles were the result of a drop after leaving myself no shot after hooking off the tee on one hole and leaving my net par putt level with the hole but an inch left on another.  As Meatloaf said, two out three ain't bad! 

So what targets did you set for the year and how close are you getting to them?

Well done Chris. I like to set myself targets at everything I do.

At the beginning of the year a good round for me was mid 90's. I had a series of lessons in January/February (wish I'd done this years ago!) For a while nothing seemed to improve. Then it started slowly coming together, so I set myself a couple of targets;

1) Beating 90 for the 1st time.

2) Scoring nothing worse than Bogie in a single round.

I managed to beat these targets in the same round at Mount Oswald in June I think it was. Didn't just beat 90, but beat 80 as well, returning a score of 78, all pars and bogies except for the final hole which I birdied. This is still my best ever round.

After this I set myself a target of getting my 1st Eagle. I achieved this with a 50 yard bump and in run into the hole at Whitburn about 6 weeks later.

Now I just want to score under 90 for the rest of the year and hopefully knock another 1 or 2 points off the handicap. Started the year at 25 and I'm now down to 17, if I could get down to 15, I'll be a very happy chappy. Putting and bunker play are still my achilles heals and these are what I'll concentrate on in the winter months.

Can't emphasize enough the way 6 lessons have helped to transform my game along with some very useful advice from you guys in this community.

As a footnote one last target of mine is try and learn how to get backspin on the ball. I think learning spin will improve my game no end and allow to attack the pin a lot more often.

Happy golfing and target beating!

my target at the beginning of the year was to try to get to single figures on my handicap

and although i dont play as often as i would like or as often as quite a few single figure handicappers i dont think i have done too bad to get from 14 in january to my handicap now of 10.3

as well though you might call me daft but my last 3 rounds havnt been entered for handicap purposes

1 round i shot an abismal 18 pts which is well below my standard and i know i can play alot better than i did that day so i just wrote that round off

2nd i shot a gross 94 which was 22 over par again a pathetic round for a 10 handicapper so again just wrote off

and finally the round at the gs open which has been entered but for reasons unknown Darren hasnt put it as a round for h/cap tracking, i didnt hit my handicap as i got 5 blobs but i did score well on the holes i did score on with a total of 28pts off 3/4's

so for the last 3 months remaining of this year i am still hoping for 2 or 3 rounds under par to get me down to that magical single figure then who knows maybe if a play as much next year i could get down to a 5 or 6 handicap or as long as i stay as a single figure i wont have too many complaints

Darren

I'll have to find the post where we all put up our targets for this year, then I can see how I'm doing.

Russ

OK, found it....

http://www.golfshake.com/forums/view/3008/2009_Resolutions_Targets_and_Plans.html

1)  I'd like to get my handicap down to single figures.

Not quite there yet!  At the moment I'm playing off 12 so if I have a spurt over the next three months I could still get there.

2)  Be more consistant.

Success.  I am not much more consistant with my scores

3)  Hole In One

Failed!!!!  Still not got an ace but I've had a few near misses.  It will happen one day.

4)  Make new friends

Success.  Definitely made new friends.

Russ

My targets at the start of the year were the usual, drop handicap, play more courses meet new people etc:

So the half term report to date sees me stubbornly stuck on 19.7 - 20 handicap.  No matter what I do I can't seem to shift it downwards even though I feel I'm playing quite well.  So with some 35 rounds to date I have managed to drop to 19.7 and consistently score 34 - 36 points.  Having said that, I've managed to keep this standard up despite playing 16 new courses, and revisiting 10 after a break of a few years.  Most of them have been competive, not casual, rounds including 2 opens at Conwy and Chapel en le Frith (where my partner and I managed a pretty creditable 11th out of 64).  Unfortunately, the one aberation came at the N v S where despite being thrashed I felt I really didn't do myself justice.  Have had a string of 3rd and 4th places in the CGL society games and finally managed to win something at the Golfshake Open organisers cup.  Have also bagged a couple of nearest the pin pots too boot.  And finally made it too Portugal to play, which is an experience I'd recommend to anyone.

Ah well, there's still time.....

My immediate target is - staying alive to play more golf.

I don't think it's realistic to set yourself a goal of getting a hole-in-one.  Even if you hit it perfectly straight, at the pin with the right amount of power, there are forces over which you have absolutley no control - wind, state of the green, pitch marks, etc.  Chaos theory and all that. 

There's an element of luck involved and I think you're setting yourself up to fail by having it as a goal. It's like a poker player setting themselves the target of getting a royal flush in every tournament.   Doesn't mean I wouldn't love to get one......

@ John

yes i suppose i should submiit all of my rounds but as i say it was a completly terrible round which i was "embarrased" at how poor i played on the 2 rounds which is why i didnt put the scores in no i am not a member of a club due to work priorities and costing but i agree if i was then they would be put in

i think it was John pettit who put it best "your handicap should be a reflection of what you can do" as for the cheating remark personally i resent that as i am not in anyway a cheat or would try to cheat, although not putting my cards in doesnt that mean i am only "cheating" myself as my handicap is lower than maybe it should be but personally i would rather have a lower handicap and try to win than have a false higher handicap and win

regards

Darren

I'm with Darren.  If I have a stinker, I don't put the card in.  This isn't 'handicap snobbery' on my part, I just feel that it's not a true reflection.  If i'm a couple of shots outside my buffer then fine, it goes in, but when I shoot 100+ because I'm trying to work on something on the course then it's not a true reflection. 

I already get berated for being a b##### for my handicap being where it is so if it went up there'd be hell to pay!

"My immeadiate target is - staying alive and playing more "

Dave likes this may it long continue.

Darren I agree cheats very harsh and worthy of dismissing  but i would suggest you log your rounds good or bad as this is the only Hcp you have ,If you only log your good rounds you are flatteing you ability,which you do have plenty of . A club hcp goes up and down it's part of the game of competitive golf .Some people think I should be lower than 8 ( and i would love to) but in reality thats exactly what I am an 8 hcpper even though it lothes me It's what am able to achieve right now.

Chris if your working on something don't log your scores , remember the good shots otherwise the high score will damage you more mentally, if its a practice round then its a practice round don't confuse the two.

Seconded Jonny, even if it hurts going the wrong way