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!

Well done chris

I had the same target at the start of the year I've had for the past 2 years, get my Handicap down to Cat 2 and if possible be threatning moving into single figures.

Well yet again I'm failing miserably. Handicap keeps floating around the 17 mark. Suppose the positive for me is I've not gone up this year. The rot has stopped it seems. But at the same time I've not really shown much promise to come down. I think I've had more NRs and DQs this year then any other year. Plus I had that 3 month spell where I retired because I was fed up with how awful I was.

I'm hoping a break to Spain next week might just give me a good break from all the stresses and strains and allow me to just have four nice relaxing rounds of golf.

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

Play in five Golfshake events, and score 36 points or more in one of them

PLAYED FIVE, BEST 33 POINTS. THAT WAS A VICTORY IN YOUR SPRINGTIME SEASON STARTER CHRIS, SO THAT COMPENSATES FOR NOT GETTING 36 POINTS!

Play more than 40 rounds in the year

47 SO FAR! 

Go the range at least once a week (it's on my way home from work, so an easy one to keep), and spend 75% of the time on chipping and pitching practice

NOT QUITE, BUT HAVE SPENT A LOT OF TIME ON THE PRACTICE CHIPPING GREEN AND IT'S BEGINNING TO PAY OFF WITH LESS SCUFFED CHIPS AND MORE CONFIDENCE

Reduce handicap to less than 12 (should hopefully happen with more practice and more actual golf)

GOT IT TO 11.9 MOMENTARILY AFTER TWO CONSECUTIVE ROUNDS OF 79. A VISIT TO SHERFIELD OAKS' TWO COURSES LAST WEEK AND I'M BACK TO 12.1!

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/3008/2009ResolutionsTargetsandPlans.h
tml

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

Managed to get most of what I had hoped this year.

First was to play well in the Algarve. 5 good rounds and then a total disaster. Will try harder in 2010

Second was to beat the dynamic duo of Santorini and Hawkins in N v S...That went quite well

Third was that team South would win

Fourth to play as many different courses and meet fellow Golfshakers

Fifth was to win something..Oh well   4 out of 5 ain't too bad

2010 hopes....Same as above

Darren surely you should submit all rounds,if your handicap goes up it goes up,get back on the course and shoot a score your happy with.it isnt realistic if you only submit your good rounds and in a way its cheating,you couldnt do that with a club handicap.i would be down to 4/5 if i only submitted cards when i playd well.I know i can play to 4/5 and its very easy to say i can play to this or that but in reality your only as good as your scores.golfers should let there scoring do the talking..does anyone agree?

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.

Target for the last few years has been to get into single figures - I finally achieve this and feel completely unsatisfied by it..

So...new target is to get to 4, make an ace, and break 70 (must be on a par 71 or 72)

You've got to have a dream

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

Darren, I know I have only played with you once. But you are a very fine player and your handicap is about right. And I am really looking forward to playing with you in Algarve.

Personally I don't put in EVERY round I play either, although it must be around the 95% mark

I don't subscribe to the luck thing, although I know what your saying.

If someone stands on a tee and aims to hole out,  I see that as no different to standing on the fringe and trying to hole a chip, or make a long putt. It's just an extension of that and the variables remain the same.

Probably wrong to call it a target though - it's not something I am aiming for, just something I'd like to achieve - as would we all

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!

In answer to the original question: At first, somewhat terribly, and now somewhat better. It was going so badly I gave up on the target, which was that I wanted to get my official handicap down to 17. I think if I had retained the form of late last year I would have easily done it.

However, I couldn't swing properly until late summer and hooked everything, showing 28 handicapper form.

Now, I'm more 18 handicapper form and, yes, that is my official handicap and I'm scoring better.

I've just remembered that my other target was to get the GS handicap below my official - and I have done that on the decimals (17.6 to 18.2).

"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.

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.

You have to put good and bad in for this to be fair - it's the only way you can have an honest handicap. If you shoot 100, you may not feel like it's a fair reflection of your ability, but the fact you shot it means it's a score you made and so should be entered.

What would you do if you shot a really good round whilst working on your swing? If you don't add those, for the same reason, then I guess that's fair.

Still, nothing beats a real handicap.

Seconded Jonny, even if it hurts going the wrong way