Assessing game potential

This post is just to get general feedback from experiences golfers. I am 25 now and took up golf with friends around 23-24 played last year once a month competitively in a golf society and gained handicap 19!! Is this good for a first year start?? I do personally feel I could reduce this a lot.. One of my main issue but not the only one is the odd duff shot I would say on a good round 1 or 2 will occur what can be done to stop this from occurring in rounds!! In the summer I will prob average 1-2 rounds a week and hope to get 15 by the end of the season..