Last season wound up being pretty successful. My handicap index finished at 10.8, 1.5 strokes lower than it was to start the year. I had a few injuries to work through but overall, I was incredibly happy with my game last season.
Beyond seeing my handicap drop this season, I had a few personal bests for tournament golf. I finished 4th in my home course's Open Championship, with the low net score for the tournament. I turned in my best single-day (79) and two-day (161) tournament scores.
But even with the successes from last year; there's always room for improvement in golf. So let's take a look at what my focus will be this year.
Play More Tournaments
What better way to build off my best-ever tournament finish last season than to go out and play some more?
Last season, I just played in my club's Open Championship & Club Championship. This season I'll be playing those and looking for some other Open Championships to join throughout the year.
Learn to Use My Launch Monitor
I just pulled the trigger on a Garmin Approach R10 launch monitor this weekend. I'm hoping this bad boy will help me dial in some things that I wouldn't have access to before. Maybe getting some of my swing metrics dialled in might help me to get a more consistent swing.
At the very least, this will give me more accurate data on my club distances and dispersion to help me make better club selections and target choices.
Get Some Lessons
I need to make an effort to get some lessons this season. I don't think that I have a ton of flaws in my swing and it can be hard to self-evaluate to figure out what I should be working on to improve. Having a professional there to analyze my swing and give me something useful to work on a few times this year should hopefully help me to better my game.
And, there is a possibility that I might need to make a bigger swing change...
I mentioned before last year that I had developed golfer's elbow. I want to be one of those golfers teeing off first thing in the morning well into the late stages of my life but to do that, I need to take care of myself. If there needs to be a change in how I swing to make sure that my tendons are going to be able to keep doing what they need to do, then I'm going to have to make that change.
Drop That Handicap
Could this year be the year I finally hit single digits? I think it could be...
My 10.8 handicap index is the lowest it's ever been. I'll be starting the year with a bit of a fire under my ass as after the first 2 rounds of the year, I'll lose a round in the 70s from my handicap. So, the pressure is on to start hot and put one in there early to keep my handicap from rising.
But again, why can't I go lower? It usually takes me a while to start putting some good scores in so I'll have to make sure I'm ready to go to start the season. I've been trying to get some rounds in on the simulator lately to ensure my swing is ready to go out of the gate this season. The last round went well, a 73 (+1) on Torrey Pines North, but it is just a simulator and the closest I've ever been to that in an actual round was 5 strokes higher.
Still, if I'm able to keep my swing going well and get a lesson to start the season, I'm fairly confident that I should be able to come out at a high enough level for myself.
One More Long Shot Goal...
I'm going to really need to have a hot start to the year to hit this one. And I'll have to get some nice weather on my side to make it happen. If those two things happen, there's a chance that I could potentially play in my provincial Mid-Amateur Qualifier this year.
Now, to make that happen, I would have to get down to a 10.0 or lower by April 30. The active posting season in Alberta starts March 1 but where I live, I'm lucky to be golfing in the first week of April. That said, I just need 2 or 3 good rounds to drop it low enough to enter.
Will that happen? It would be unlikely. But, that would absolutely be a huge achievement in my quest to start Droppin' Strokes.
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