Posted by Dexter Francois
| Posted in
Mike Southern,
My Rounds
| Posted on Friday, July 22, 2011
At the beginning of 2011 I set a few goals for myself as far as golf is concerned. I started the year as a 13.6 handicap and my best round as of January 1st was an 81, but I was still averaging around 90 for 18 holes. The goals were to break 80 and to get down to a 12 handicap.
Well, here we are six and half months into the year, and as the title of this post suggests, I have achieved these goals and need to set some new ones. I have since broken 80 twice and and I am currently a 12.4 handicap. I have been as low as a 12.2, but I had a few faulty rounds that set me back a little. My last three rounds however, have me on pace to be at an 11.7 when my handicap index resets at the end of the month.
I was wondering what my new goals should be and Mike Southern suggested that I follow the lead of Heather Anderson Jones, creator of Real Women Golf. Last year her goal was to get down to a single digit handicap and she was able to accomplish this feat after a lot of hard work and dedication.
I think this a good goal for me to achieve and one that I believe that I can attain. In order to do this, I need to average around 82-83 strokes per round for the rest of the year. According to my Stracka stats, I am averaging 84.9 strokes for my last 20 rounds. This is a huge improvement from the beginning of the year when I was still hovering around 90 per.
As far as a new scoring low, I think my focus will remain on averaging between 82 and 83 as I mentioned before. As far a specific number is concerned, I'll say that I want to break 80 at least ten more times this year. If I accomplish this, becoming a single digit handicap will be no problem.
I believe goal setting is important when it comes to golf. If I am serious about improving, I need to have a target at which to aim for. It's like taking a golf shot. If you just go out and swing at the ball without focusing on a target, the task at hand(getting the ball in the hole), will take forever or may not happen at all. The same holds true with my golf game.
Once I set my initial goals at the beginning of the year, my game began to improve. This is because I had a clear cut objective, and with the help of Mike, I practiced the skills that helped me get there. As I talked about in my last post, I'm feeling a lot more confident about my swing and the results are showing in my rounds. I have a ways to go but as Mike always reminds me, I'm close. Soon and hopefully very soon, I will be there. Have a great round and always hit your target.
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They sound like good goals to me, Dex. Once again, you're focusing on consistency rather than just setting new personal bests -- that's the key to steady improvement.
BTW, don't be surprised if you set some new personal bests in the process anyway. After all, it's those inconsistent shots that run up your scores.
I just don't think it's wise to focus on a number right now. Now that I have broken 80, I'm afraid that if I have a bad hole, I will get too upset and throw it all.
I had a 9 on a par 4 about four rounds ago, but still managed to finish with an 84. Par on the hole would have been a 79.
This taught me that short term memory is a good thing in golf. And it also reminded me that this really is a game played one shot at a time.
I'm sure Sean O'Hair would agree. ;-)
Lamkin Grips does a contest on Facebook every week. Whoever picks the winner gets a new set of grips. I picked Geoff Ogilvy to win. Missed it by two shots. I definitely need some new grips. I like Ogilvy's game though. Hopefully he will start winning again.
Don't feel bad, Dex. Geoff missed it by 2 shots as well... and he missed out on a lot more than a new set of grips. ;-)
I guess he has a few more reasons to be upset. 707,200 more to be exact.
Well said article, I found your site very friendly and lots of tips and techniques and very helpful for a newbie golfer like me. Thank you tpgolfonline.
Thanks for the kind words and thanks for stopping by C.B. Keep working on your game.
Dexter,
Happy to hear you have achieved your goals! Not many golfers come close to achieving goals they set out early in the year. Thankfully I have listed a few ways to achieve those goals.
Obviously you worked hard on your game but did you try using any positive affirmations?
I’m glad to find so many useful and informative data on your website.
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