Did your game improve at all this summer?

[Kilroy]

Down 2 to 14.6. Problem is... in 2009 I was a 12.6. Unfortunately 2010 went south due to a kidney stone, so I am dissapointed that this year didn't see a true return to form. Oh well. There's always next season

[jsttaylor]

Last season I hovered between 13 & 14, this year between 11 & 12. A slight improvement. A 78 was the highlight but since I've shot lower than that before in the form of a 75 I wasn't overly impressed this year. I did play less than last year going from 55 rounds to 30 some so I'm not too upset. Going to practice this winter at the OAC so if I can't get below 10 next year and stay there I'll be dissappointed. Overall a good season.

[Marcos]

Up a few points this year. I am hitting the ball good but not scoring very well. The putter has been a big issue with me this year.

[leftylucas]

My index stayed about the same. I did not play as much this year nor did I practice as much as previous years. I will be taking more lessons this winter and use my practice net next year. I will practice more and play less as a rule. More cottage time

[rezadue]

Well, depending on how I look at things this year was either a big success or a small one. Towards july of Last year I was sitting at 13.5, but that is when my game started to fall apart. I ended last year at 16.5 and started this year where I left off. Handicap balooned to a full 18.5 with most days playing much worse than handicap. But I managed to turn things around and am now sitting at an all time low of 12.5 overall:

Driving: B- Went for a fitting and got a new driver which added some needed length
Iron play: C Distance control was terrible and I was mostly short
Pitching: B- Not bad. Not great
Chipping: C Real up and down year with it. I was either good or bad
Putting: A- feel real good about the putting game and have had several rounds in the 20s in total putts taken

Overall: D Very up and down in the round to round consistency department. Go from shotting 82 to 98 in the span of one round.

Highlight of the year: Shotting even par on the last 11 holes of Greensmere Legacy course including 3 birdies on the back 9
Lowlight: shooting 100 at EC with no GIR

Next year's main focus: GIR, I hit nearly 56% of fairways, but only 16% of greens. Pathetic!

[Gropper]

Next year's main focus: GIR, I hit nearly 56% of fairways, but only 16% of greens. Pathetic!

Agreed!!!!

[leftylucas]

Ah nice to see one thing remain consistent from year to year, Gropper giving the gears to Reza!!!

[adam]

I got my handicap to a new all time low in the in June-July at 7.1 and thought that it would just keep on dropping but then I went on tinkering with things in my swing and trying new grips etc and it just came back up into the 9 area. I feel like I've got a lot better and improved some mechanics this season. Next year I need to focus on having a more consistent routine and trying to stick with things that work for longer times to try and get more consistent results. Would go out and shoot 75 one day then 85 the next, such a Jekyll and Hyde season.

[jeffc]

Well, depending on how I look at things this year was either a big success or a small one. Towards july of Last year I was sitting at 13.5, but that is when my game started to fall apart. I ended last year at 16.5 and started this year where I left off. Handicap balooned to a full 18.5 with most days playing much worse than handicap. But I managed to turn things around and am now sitting at an all time low of 12.5 overall:

Driving: B- Went for a fitting and got a new driver which added some needed length
Iron play: C Distance control was terrible and I was mostly short
Pitching: B- Not bad. Not great
Chipping: C Real up and down year with it. I was either good or bad
Putting: A- feel real good about the putting game and have had several rounds in the 20s in total putts taken

Overall: D Very up and down in the round to round consistency department. Go from shotting 82 to 98 in the span of one round.

Highlight of the year: Shotting even par on the last 11 holes of Greensmere Legacy course including 3 birdies on the back 9
Lowlight: shooting 100 at EC with no GIR

Next year's main focus: GIR, I hit nearly 56% of fairways, but only 16% of greens. Pathetic!

that greensmere round was epic! I am similar in FIR and GIR, FIR aroudn 50% but GIR less than 20%. I have been a pretty good iron player in the past but this year was less than spectacular.

[Ruskie]

It's been an interesting year. Index dropped by just over a point to 10.8, but overall my game changed quite a bit. I used to be fairly short, but straight off the tee, but struggled with the irons. Short game and putting usually bailed me out to an extent, but it's hard to score well when you're not hitting greens. This year I've taken a lesson that got me to swing more upright (apparently, I was really flat before, a product of another swing change a few years back). Now my driver is longer, but more erratic, but iron play has improved tremendously. I'm finally compressing the ball and shot dispersion is tighter with fewer disastrous misses. Used to hit a draw, with an occasional hook... now it's a fade with an occasional slice The only real down side is that my short game took a turn for the worse.

Oh, and I finally broke 80 this year, twice. 75 with a quad on #9 at Casselview, and a 78 with 2 birds and an eagle as Equinelle. So I guess I can't really complain

One thing is for sure: moving to San Fran. in January and being able to play year round should do wonders for my game

[Nat Williams]

Played awful golf this year.

Picked up a membership so I could practice, get back to shooting well etc...

I can honestly say I never played the back 9 of the home course outside of the member's opening scramble.

No Effort, No Results - Disappointed in my scores, but know exactly why they are the way they are (even if XTOUR thinks I'm a bagger! )

More or less realized I'll never have the time to commit to golf that I used to...but I'll be hitting every NCGT event, and hopefully all OG events next year now that I don't have the cost of a membership under my belt Time to forget scoring and have fun.

[Wilster]

Bitter sweet for me .
Started the year strong , shot a personal best 77 and even started a round birdie , birdie (finished with an 82).
Had a great showing at Belleville in June ....
And then things started to go wrong , work was hectic all summer long and i hardly played at all , and it showed .
The putter was the worst part . It has generally been i decent part of my game , but i started to change my grip , alignment , stroke , and it went from a little inconsistant , to bloody awful .
However i've worked a few things out and i'm starting to putt well again.
My driving has been pretty decent all season, but my iron play again went from not bad , to bad
I tweaked a few things on my swing and went back to a more forgiving set of clubs , and i'm hitting the ball well again ,however, all just in time for winter
I'll work on a few things over the winter , and hope for sunny days in early spring .

[Big Johnny69]

Didn't really improve or get any worse. Probably had my most consistent scoring year, ever. Even though the scores weren't up to my regular standards, they were not bad. Other than one 71, two 75s and a 90, all my scores ranged from 78-82. I couldn't do better, I couldn't do worse than that range for most of the summer.

It seems getting out only 2-3 times a month has plateaued my game. Would I like to be lower than that, sure. But knowing I'll be right around 80 every time out isn't bad.

Highlight of the season was tying for first place at the OVGA's captain scramble with a team score of -15, parring 3 par threes, all under 150 yards?!?! I don't think I've ever putted better than that day, and I was first to putt for our team.

[Sunny D]

I spent much more time on the practice range and less time on the course this year. Not really a plan it just worked out that way. My high score of the year was a 93 at Disney's Magnolia. The course just beat me up. My best was last weekend at eQuinelle where I shot a personal best 74. I changed clubs 3 weeks ago and the feel of the new clubs is giving me a new confidence. Will have to see how well I play this winter in Florida. Overall the handicap dropped by 2 points to 10.

[mjf]

I feel like my game improved this year, however my index doesn't agree. I started the season with my index at 3.2 and now it's at 3.4. On the upside though, I had my index down to an all-time low of 2.0 at a couple of points this season. The impact of a couple of negative differentials is remarkable.

I'm happy about how much more consistent my scoring has been of late. I think I'm finally making progress on my biggest swing flaw (hip slide) and, as a result (I think), my iron game has been 'on' lately. If I can just get the same degree of consistency with the driver, I think scratch might actually be achievable... albeit perhaps still a stretch objective.

Finally, I think I've improved my putting stroke somewhat after receiving the following frank assessment from jvincent on the 16th green at Loch March after rolling in a 20' footer (paraphrasing here): "You know... considering how far off-line your aim is, you make an awful lot of putts." I've never been a bad putter, but by focusing a bit more on my alignment and a more straight back / straight through stroke instead of my 'cut across' motion, I've definitely been dropping a few more putts.

I'm pretty disappointed the season is coming to a close because I know I've got some good scores in me. Hopefully I don't lose all of my mojo over the winter.

[Samba-Jane]

i think i got my swings figured thanks to some online videos and more trip to the range

[BC MIST]

Started 3.1
Will finish at 2.6
Low for season 1.4

Driving - A
Irons - B
Pitches/Chips - C but improved
Putting - D

Won an OVGA Senior Field Day (69) an invitational (71) and qualified T4 (72) in the OVGA Match Play Ch., so nothing outstanding, but acceptable, I suppose, for someone on OAS. However, enjoyment is still A+.

[byerxa]

Index settled in the high-11 range after being into the 8s a few years ago. Ball striking is not good but I know the issues. Hopefully will be able to sort it out over the winter. Short game started to show some signs of being respectable while putting has regressed.

I hope to play more next year and turn the ship back around. Part of that will be taking some lessons again to clean up some of the nasty habits that have crept back into my swing.

[Gropper]

Had a pretty good year. Started at 8.9 finished at 5.2.

Game was pretty good but more then anything this year I think I finally learned how to play golf instead of just hitting the ball. Realizing that I don’t need to take a rip at everything and some time put an easier swing on the ball with more club helped me a lot. Got to play a few rounds with a couple 1 hdcp and really was able to take away a lot of info on how they play the game. There short game is just so much better!

I would asses my game as follows.
Driving A
Irons B
Chipping\pitching D
Putting C

Drove the ball great most of the year but really saw the difference from 100 yards and in makes. I need to make this a focus for next year. When I hit greens I scored well but when I didn’t my chipping really let me down. I’m just not getting it close enough to take pressure off my putter.

Highlights

Finally shot par and actually did it twice. Once at Stonebridge and once at Trillium woods from the back tees, what made this one really special was this was my first time ever playing the course.

Played the Flagstick Shootout, and although I didn’t play very well that weekend, being my first real tournament golf I took away a lot of good things from the experience and can’t wait to go back next year and give it a better showing.

And as always I have a great group of golfing buddies that make every round enjoyable regardless of the scores!

Bring on next season!

[Gropper]

Ah nice to see one thing remain consistent from year to year, Gropper giving the gears to Reza!!!

This will never change! he just makes it so easy!

[Brewcee]

At end of August I was sitting a 5.4, down from 6.9 in 2010, however September and October were probably the worse two months of golf I have had in 2 years and my index has come to a rest at 7.3. However, my scoring average was down from around 82 to around 80, so there was some improvement there.

[Steveh]

Got my hcap down from 20 to 17.1. Had to change clubs due to loss in a fire and I actually had a bit of trouble getting used to them (burner 2.0) but now I am a lot more comfortable with them. I picked up over 20yds with my driver and am also more accurate. I am a lot more consistent with my woods and hybrids. My putting has also improved. I have been shooting lots in the low to mid 90's and my last game of the year I shot a personal best of 84. Just put new carpet down for my P3proswing so planning on spending some time on it this winter. I am going to try and get away this winter (also not working due to fire) and get some lessons as I have a real problem with my backswing length. I am very happy with my progress as I have just completed my 3rd season since taking up this great game.

[mpare]

When work wasn't interfering with my golf, I played extremely well. I had quite a number of rounds below par, including a 65. My index dropped for a while to 1.8, but then moved up to 3. That said, I have two caps. One at my home course, whose scores I cannot post on the RCGA site, and one on my home course. The RCGA cap is 4.1 and the other is 3.

My distance is somewhat shorter than it has been as a result of not enough exercise. I will remedy that during my three month stay in Alabama. Irons and driver are generally better for accuracy. So too is my sand play. My putting, though, is horribly inconsistent. I either putt the lights out or yip everything in sight. No, it's not pressure. I can yip my way around the course even during a casual round. I have been working on my mechanics by putting 15 minutes a day in my living room. With luck this may well put the yips to bed. This needs to get sorted out. I have no intention of playing poorly at this year's Ryder Cup event.

[nokids]

Definitely improved... I went from losing 3 balls a round to just 1.

[leftylucas]

That is am improvement, I think Craiger keeps finding your lost balls he has found a bunch of ProVs this year

[golfsparks]

Thank God yes! worked on my swing all summer and I think I've improved a lot!

[golfsparks]

Mine is just getting better!