It’s that time of the year where we look back at the year that was and prepare for the year before us. Part of that process is setting goals for the New Year. Many refer to these goals as resolutions; behavior modification desired for the advancement of our greater good. Goals work better.
Now if you’re a middling handicap and you fancy yourself content with the way you play the game, now stop and consider how much you love the game. Think about the amount of time you spend practicing, playing or fantasizing about the game. As much fun as you’re having now, wouldn’t you be having more fun if you played better?
Of course, you would. Who wouldn’t feel better about making more pars than bogies? Or reaching the occasional par five in two? Making great shots more often? Winning the odd tournament? Of course, you would.
Which brings us to our first goal for you in 2019—Take lessons.
Many of us just know that we can learn golf from books and videos. Heck, you can learn anything over YouTube these days. But golf is a bit odd in this way. You need another set of eyes to help you with your feel for the game. Often, we think we’re swinging the club one way and it turns out what we’re doing is nowhere close to what we think. Another set of eyes is crucial.
Besides that, the new breed of teaching professionals provides such a good learning experience that you’ll want to take as many lessons as you can. They’re eloquent, have trained in various teaching methods, often apprenticed with some of the biggest names in golf and charge a fraction of what a teaching professional of equivalent ability would do in the United States. They’ll make it fun and you’ll eventually learn to diagnose your own faults and correct them on the fly. If you love golf, you owe it to yourself to learn all you can about the game.
Get your clubs retrofitted to you or get a new set that’s been custom fitted to your swing.
Let’s be honest here. How many of you have been playing with clubs handed down to you by a parent/friend/office mate/homeboy and you’ve continued to play these clubs on faith from the time you got them? If you have a club or clubs that you’re hanging on to for sentiment’s sake, then you’re not doing yourself any favors.
The game is hard enough as it is. Golf designers put all kinds of obstacles in our way to the green, course superintendents set pins in tough spots and play the tees back, the wind picks up during the best times of the year to play. Why handicap yourself with an ill-fitting set of clubs? Would you turn up at a local 5k with running shoes that don’t fit right? Or go to the office in a suit three sizes too big?
Then why play with clubs that offer you no chance to play to your potential?
No, it won’t cost you a second mortgage on your house either. There are many qualified fitters that can do much to help your game. Jake Ong of Custom Clubmakers, Dante Romero of Max Out Golf Stix and Suzuki-san at the Southwoods Golf and Country Club’s driving range are all competent clubmakers that can retrofit you into your current set or fully custom build a new set of clubs for you.
All things being equal, a full set of clubs that fit could be worth five, maybe six strokes a round, depending on your handicap. That’s not insignificant.
Walk while you play
Golfers in the Philippines are among the most spoiled of any in the world. We have caddies, umbrella girls and golf carts. If we could hire someone to swing the club for us, we probably would. But golf can add decades and quality to your life if you do one simple thing—walk.
Now if you’re older/overweight/out of shape, whatever it is, walk a bit of your round. Walk the first nine holes then get a cart on for your closing nine. Work up to it until you can walk a full 18. If you suffer from any health maladies but nothing congenital, then walking will address all of your health issues.
Millennials treasure their Fitbits. It’s become their gps to a healthier body and better quality of life. 10,000 steps a day is their mantra. Walking a round of golf usually results in 15,000 or more steps on the golf course. If you play golf twice a week, you have most of your weekly requirement fulfilled. Walk the course three times a week and you’re set for life.
Our bodies are self-healing machines. Activity is the key. Movement is the way. It will increase your years on this earth and your enjoyment of the game. Get out and walk.
Learn the rules
The new rules of golf go into effect in 2019. The game has been simplified to become more inclusive, easier to learn and to get us all to play faster. Since we are the ones that most stand to benefit, it behooves us to learn just what these new rules are.
Changes have been many, and the number of rules themselves have been reduced from 34 to 24. We’ve gone over many of the changes in previous articles. The new rules are available in apps from the R&A and USGA for your Android or iPhone. Download a copy and read it today. Share your newfound knowledge with your friends and get them to share their knowledge in their other social circles.
Play one round of golf completely by the rules.
Have you ever played a round of golf completely by the rules? No gimmes, no mulligans, no hanky-panky. I’ll wager that most of us have not. There’s always some excuse; it’s just a fun game, we’re not betting or in a tournament, I would have made that seven times out of 10…. There’s always something to excuse ourselves from playing by the rules.
Why is that? As a result, most of us have no idea how to conduct ourselves in a serious tournament. That’s a real tragedy and speaks poorly of us as golfer and as human beings.
So, go out and play one round with your regular group completely by the rules. Use it as a learning experience for yourself and your buddies. Who knows, you might actually enjoy yourselves.
Make yourself a better golfer in 2019.
Accomplish these goals over the course of the coming year and you’ll become a better golfer. You’ll shoot better scores, know more about the golf swing and the game, have clubs that fit and have a good working knowledge of the rules to conduct yourself with distinction on any field of play. Share your knowledge and enthusiasm with others.
Help us all grow the game.