My Golfing New Year's Resolutions For 2025

Another year dawns and, with it, a bucketful of hope and expectations. 

Do you make resolutions? And, more importantly, do you keep them? 

Without fail, I draw up a list every December 31. And without fail, I have broken most of them by January 2. But 2025 is going to be different.

I just passed a significant milestone birthday. My best days are behind me, of that I am sure. But there is still much I want to achieve - and much of it is on the golf course.

I recently resolved to give up the dreaded nicotine once and for all, so my very first resolution is to make sure that I don’t break that resolution.

I began 2024 struggling to rediscover my golf game after a long injury lay-off. My playing handicap is now 14, nowhere near where I want it to be and nowhere near where I know it can be. 

Get My Handicap Down

So my first resolution is to get my handicap down to 12 by the end of June and to 10 by this time next year. It is a big ask at my advanced age but I am driving the ball well and finding lots of fairways. And this is an easier game when played from the short stuff.

Change of Putter

(Image Credit: Kevin Diss Photography)

I have always been a half-decent putter, especially from long-range and, let’s face it, when you are playing off 14 you get a lot of practice at long-range putts. But I have started to struggle with short-ish putts, something that used to be my bread and butter. I have long considered changing my putter and I have now resolved to get myself fitted. I was fitted for the Wilson Staff mallet putter I currently use but that was 20 years ago and putter technology has changed.

Buy a GPS Device

I have been threatening to buy myself some sort of GPS device for longer than I care to remember. My playing partners are growing tired of me asking how far I am from the green so I have resolved to finally bite the bullet and get myself a device - and learn how to use it! I received some gift vouchers for my birthday so there is absolutely no excuse. 

Try Different Golf Balls

I have finally reached the conclusion that my loyalty to Titleist Pro V1s is misplaced. Don’t get me wrong - they are fantastic golf balls, but I no longer have the swing speed to get the most from them. And so I have resolved to go for a golf ball fitting to find out which ball I actually should be using.

Spend More Time at The Range

Regular readers of my missives will know that I am a huge advocate of spending time at the driving range, provided you do so with a purpose. I have resolved to spend more time doing precisely that. Now that I have retired, it is all too easy to look outside and decide to stay indoors with my feet up. I will not be doing that in 2025. I will be spending at least two sessions a week at the range, hitting a minimum of 100 balls per visit. And I will be spending more time at the short-game area because that is where I know that I can pick up shots. 

Get Lessons

Rather than trying to fix things myself, I have resolved to have a couple of refresher lessons in 2025. I believe that my technique is pretty sound but when I developed a horrendous dose of the shanks in 2024 I sought out a teacher who had worked with my wife and she sorted me out in minutes. She does not overcomplicate things and I will be asking her to run her eye over my swing again, this time knowing I am in a much better place with my overall game.

Stop Moaning About The World Handicap System

Like many of you, I spend too much time moaning about the World Handicap System. No more! I have resolved to just suck it up. When all is said and done, it is the same for everybody - or should be.

Get Friends Into Golf

I have several other retired friends who are wasting their lives away, doing little or nothing. I have resolved to turn at least one of them into a proper golfer by the end of 2025. One thing I know about golf is that once people are bitten by the bug, they are bitten for life.

Improve My Fitness

When the pandemic struck and we were forced to spend much of our lives in total isolation, only allowed outdoors for exercise, I decided it was time to try to get myself fit. Horror of horrors, I even started running. When I say running, I actually mean jogging, walking, wheezing, coughing, jogging a bit more, wheezing and coughing some more and then doing a bit more walking. After a few weeks I utterly astonished myself by finding that I was doing the running without all the unpleasant side-effects. When the pandemic ended I carried on for a while but then found better things to do. My significant other has always been a fitness fanatic and is currently addicted to yoga. I don’t think that is for me, but I have resolved to adopt some kind of a fitness regime once again. Watch this space…

Enjoy The Game Even More

I have resolved to enjoy each and every team match that I am lucky enough to be selected for. Nothing much more to say on this one really.

I am a grumpy old man. I complain about the price of beer in the clubhouse and the quality of the food. That ends now. I have resolved to stop moaning. It has occurred to me that nobody is forcing me to buy beer at the end of the round or to eat. So if I do have to buy a round of drinks you will not hear me complaining ever again (Ed - some chance).

I am Seniors Vice-Captain at my club from January 1. I have resolved that I will listen when people seek me out to raise legitimate concerns and that I will take these concerns to the relevant people. Unless, of course, it involves the price of beer or the quality of the food!

Funnily enough, I am not especially grumpy when playing golf. I believe it is a fun sport and that we are all privileged to be able to play it. However, I do play with some individuals who are sometimes so miserable that I find myself wondering why on earth they bother. So my final resolution is to remind these people that we are out there having fun. My improved fitness regime should allow me to run for my life when they take exception to my sunny disposition. You just can’t help some people.

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