What'd You Shoot Today? (Golf BBV Thread)

99(50/49) meh. Mostly a lot of double bogeys with a couple pars and disaster holes tossed in.

Dense fog early. Had to guess where driver went based on feel. I was 105 from the center of the green on my second shot on hole 1. Couldn't see the green.

Played a course I've never played before. Fun course but the greens were horrendous. Big areas of no grass where they just threw that repair dirt down. And they were tiny. One hole was cut on a very steep slope. If you were above it and missed the hole you ended up 30 ft away off the green.

I can't use any of that as an excuse. I couldn't hit anything right. I managed to find everything bit of water on the course. Shot 116 (58/58)

You don't really want to be near water on this course. Lots of these big lizards.

perhaps another case of us creating our own negative destiny?

Posting here for accountability.

2026 golf goals

50+ 18 hole rounds played
100+ total birdies across all non scramble rounds
3+ eagles
12 sub par 9 hole scores
6 sub par 18 hole scores
Get the index to a legit 2.0 or less(currently a less than fully legit 4.3)
Walk 15+ rounds

Ambitious, but as long as I stay mostly healthy and commit to putting in regular practice, I think most are doable. #timetogrind

Hmm.... Some of mine are not really measurable.

Find a comfortable swing.
Better consistency.
Narrow my cone of uncertainty.

For the measurable ones.

Break 90.
Establish an official handicap.
Increase club head speed by 25%
Bring my typical round down from around 100 to around 90.
Get an eagle.

Strongly recommend process-based goals over outcome-based. Goals you ultimately can’t control are sources of anxiety and frustration.

A couple targets that are the motivation for the process are fine/good.

Maybe but also people have literally been killed by golf balls. Pretty hard for me to get to “well f them then, shouldn’t have been standing there”

What would you suggest for someone like me trying to learn?

A big idea would be HOW you're going to meet your targets rather than simply WHAT targets you're going to have. Like a goal of "shoot X score" or "drop your cap Y strokes", well without a plan that's just wishcasting right? I can say I wanna make 20 birdies this year or 2500 birdies this year, it's all the same to just say that. So I'd go with things that will result in those targets being reached like:

Take X number of lessons
Get fitted for clubs
Visit the range X number of times
Play X number of rounds of golf
Have a committed plan for every swing on the course
Track strokes gained and use that to make an improvement plan
Develop and implement a consistent pre-shot and post-shot routine
List 3 things that went well and 1 thing to improve after each round
Read books like The Four Foundations of Golf and Every Shot Counts
Self-talk yourself on the course like you would to a friend you are caddying for
Implement a fitness/mobility plan and/or a swing speed improvement plan

One size doesn't fit all. Set whatever goals you want to set. Goals that you believe are achievable with practice and hard work. Then put in the work. It's no deeper than that.

Mine are:

Break par
Get below 5.0 HCP (8.0 currently, got down to 6.1 all time low in '25)
Make 2 eagles (none sadly in 2025)
Make an ace (stretch goal)

>40% GIR (38.9 last year)
>40% FIR (38.5 last year)
>30% scrambling (23.8 last year, will be harder to achieve)
>1 birdie per round (made 50 in 52 rounds last year, but that was way down from 74 in 55 rounds in '24)
<2 doubles or worse per round (was at 136 doubles or worse in 52 rounds)

If I can achieve the last goal I imagine I almost surely will achieve my handicap goal.

I also just thought as I was typing that, I should join and invest in DECADE.

Didn't want to tie my goals to bulk numbers, as I expect with family commitments I may not play quite as much this year.

Sure! Everyone should do what works for them. I definitely have read some mindset books and discussed with a golf mental coach, and have felt a big shift in moving from outcome-based to process-based.

That said, some people with outcome-based goals also just internalize the steps they need to get there. Others just say the goals and then do exactly what they've always done, which there is no reason to believe will give any different results than they always have.

GLGL!

also FWIW, my list was meant to be a menu of examples, not a specific regimen for biggerboat or anyone

Some of that I already do so I didn't mention it. I hit balls 3 or 4 times a week and get a lesson about once a month. I play 3 times a week.

I need to work on getting a consistent pre-shot routine for sure. I have one, but I tend to leave out a step or two sometimes.

I like the one about listing things I did and didn't do well every round.

I'm all for reading books and I'll try those. But there's quite a few "every shot counts" books. Which author?

I lift weights and do mobility and core anyway. I could add a few exercises specific to golf, though.

Thanks for the suggestions!

On with today's round.

94 (48/46) 3 pars, 3 triple bogeys and everything in between. Driver OK, irons, meh. Still struggling with those 6 to 12 foot putts I think I should be making more of. Speed isn't really an issue but reading the greens and aiming properly seems to be. I lost two strokes trying to get out of a bunker. Bunker play is not good. I'm pretty good with a sand wedge if I need it to get over the lip and not go far, but if the ball is 10' back from the lip I rely on just trying to chip out with a pitching wedge. Not great strategy but part of the problem is our bunkers are hard packed sand. They never replenish them.

OK, here's one I didn't think of to put on my list of goals, but I met it today.

Play a round without losing a ball. SUCCESS!!!! I'm really happy about this one. Never happened before. Great way to start the new year.

Putting in on 18 with the same ball you teed of with on 1 is a great feeling for sure and correlates great to scoring!

The book I meant was by Mark Broadie and is about strokes gained concepts. Similar on your putting, what percent of 6-12 foot putts do you think you are making? What percent do you think you should be making?

And I really love a post-shot routine. If the shot was good, tell yourself, even out loud. I will tell myself "Nice drive, B" or whatever under my breath. It helps positively reinforce that you hit good shots and helps defeat the "oh I always blow my wedge after a good drive" negative thoughts. If the shot wasn't what you hoped, decide if it was a plan issue or an execution issue, and then leave it where it lays.

1/4/26
Granite Falls North
Par 72 - 69.0/118 - 6375 yards
38/37 - 75

3 birdies, no doubles. Made 4 putts outside of 15', one of which was outside 25'. Also missed 3 inside 6'. Came the closest to a hole in 1 I've been in many years. 140 to a back pin, firm greens. I landed about 15' short and it rolled right at the stick. Fell off to the right as it ran out of speed and ended up about a cup and a half away. The dew made it easy to see the track the ball took. I should've grabbed a picture.

Lol me bragging about not losing a ball. Lost the first one i hit today.

Driver is just so frustrating. I just can't seem to keep from pushing it right. I'm actually debating just leaving it out of my bag and hitting 3 wood off the tee. Weirdly it is my most reliable club now.

99 (50/49) 1 triple bogey, no pars. Once again those 6 to 10 ft. makeable putts just aren't falling. Several par opportunities missed. Other than that and driver I hit pretty well.

does it go in a straight line right or does it curve right or both?

More straight line than curve. It curves a bit because I tend to have a natural very slight fade with my woods, so that's part of it, but it is definitely not a slice with driver. I've been playing around with an exaggerated closed club face and it helps sometimes but I just feel like something in the swing path is bad. I don't push my 3 or 5 wood right and my irons almost never go right, if anything they either pull or tend to draw just a bit.

Generally, face sends and path bends, so if it’s mostly a straight or lightly curving shot right of target, it’s either an open face or poor alignment.

I might get some heat for watching internet videos but I watch a lot of Danny Maude. He had one about just my problem. He talked about the grip that a lot of golfers with my problem use, and sure enough, I went to the range and my grip was exactly as he described. I changed it per his suggestion and it really helped. A little awkward feeling but everything went straight. We'll see if it translates to the course.

I need to work on my grip. It's way too weak and leads to a lot of my open face problems. But, when you've had the same grip for 30+ years, it's hard to change.

Nice! I think Danny Maude is great also. I think the biggest issues with internet videos are that people get too many voices, some of whom are saying different stuff; some can’t discern issues that apply to them or don’t (I’m not a slicer so I don’t apply anti-slice stuff); and some people can post online and not actually be good teachers.

The problem with youtube is that drills need to address specific swing flaws, and swing flaws can be caused by things other than what the drill is targeting. So if you have early extension due to being too steep through transition, trying to move your hips earlier could make it worse and cause a more severe over the top move, rather than just getting more laid off at the top