Annual Progress Report 2005

When I began golfing in August of 2004, I kept all my score cards so I could enter them into the system once I had a number to track my handicap. By the time I had joined a club and received my shiny new SCGA number in January, I had probably played around 30 rounds. We entered them all in at the same time and my first official handicap was 33.5 in January of 2005. My index for January of 2006 has now been officially posted by the SCGA and is 16.3. So in one year, I have dropped my index by 17.2 strokes. Not bad.

I have now been tracking my scores officially for one year. I count every stroke of every round and have been strict about posting every single one. The one time I took a mulligan during a round when we were wagering and everyone else had taken theirs, the scorecard I entered into the system still reflected what actually happened. I’m the one looking at my stats and they would be meaningless to me if they weren’t accurate. Now that I have a year’s worth of data, let’s take a look at my development as a golfer according to the numbers.

Month	Year	Index	Change
January	2005	33.5
February	2005	32.8	-0.7
March	2005	33.1	0.3
April	2005	32.5	-0.6
May	2005	30.8	-1.7
June	2005	28.8	-2
July	2005	28.9	0.1
August	2005	24.9	-4
September	2005	24.6	-0.3
October	2005	22.7	-1.9
November	2005	19	-3.7
December	2005	18.8	-0.2
January	2006	16.3	-2.5

So, I had two months (March and July) in which my index actually increased (by tenths of a stroke), and the rest of the months I showed improvement. I didn’t play as often from January through March because of the rains and course closures and damage. Frequency of play will obviously effect anyone’s progress. Other than that, I can’t account for the changes. I haven’t had any instruction to speak of that I can point to on the chart. I became a non-smoker in April, but would that make any difference? I could point out that I started competing in May, but who’s to say that had any effect? I’ve always been pretty competitive and tend to increase my focus when something is on the line, but that’s not tangible data. I mean, I started blogging in June and having an outlet to share my passion might have had an effect, too, but we can’t really point to that either. Or can we?

I keep expecting my progress to level off like the rest of the golfers I know. What will be my magic number before I have to take drastic measures (anything other than just playing more) to jump start my development? Or should I take a proactive stance and just plot out a chart for my future now to include lessons, a new fitness plan, a commitment to range time and all that good stuff? I know I should… maybe I could even increase my rate of improvement if I did rather than watch it level off and stagnate before I take action. I was thinking about getting lessons from a local pro that has friends and relatives in my club and social circle. But I just found out he won the Big Break reality show so he'll probably be off on tour or something or at the very least out of my price range. Besides, I think I'd want more of a long term coach than an instructor for a series or two of lessons.

Anyway, I think I need to launch some kind of action plan and the ideas keep brewing in my head. So stay tuned!

Next post.