So Dex...What's Next???

After my last post, Mike Southern who publishes Ruthless Golf reminded me of the fact that I had achieved the goals I had set for myself in 2011. Since I had achieved them, his question was, "What's next?" Since this blogs slogan is, "...because golf is all about getting better and having fun!, I thought my new goals should be based on this idea.

Getting Better

The next logical step for me as far as my golf game is concerned is to shoot par which means I have to get better. Or better yet, be more consistent. I have had rounds which I know I should have shot par but because of some of the inconsistencies in my game, I have failed to do so. I need to get to a point where all facets of my game are working together.

There are days when I hit 12 of 14 fairways but I can't find the green with my approach shots. There are other days when I miss every fairway but I am able to scramble to get up and down. Then there are day in which nothing is happening right except for my putter. Somehow the 10 to 15 footers start dropping. In all of these scenarios, I am left with a score between 78 and 82.

My best round of 75 came as a result of hot putter. I had 9 one putts and 27 overall. I only hit 4 of 14 fairways and 7 of 18 greens in regulation and I didn't chip very well, but I holed a bunch of clutch par putts and mixed in a couple birdies. The putts that I did miss, which resulted in bogeys, were burning the edges. So many shoulda-woulda-couldas.

To shoot par, I am going to have to set out a specific game plan. As I get closer to par, it is getting harder to go lower. When I was trying to break 100, once I did so, I made tremendous progress. Once I broke 90, I was able to get down to the low 80's relatively quickly. Now that I have broken 80, I am understanding that nearly everything has to go right during the round to break even. Once I eliminate the majority of my mistakes, par will be realized.

Having Fun!

I am competitive by nature. I grew up playing baseball, basketball, and competed in x-country and track and field as well. As much as I liked to win, it was never my main focus. I was more interested in the fundamentals of the sport. When I watch golf, while everyone else is just watching the results of the swing, I am paying attention to what the golfer did to make the shot possible.

To satisfy my desire to compete and my continued study of the fundamentals, I am planning on entering the 2013 Golfweek Amateur Tour. I was going to sign up now, but there are only a few events left in the 2012 season and I probably would not be able to accumulate enough points to qualify for the National Championships held in Hilton Head, SC. Here's a little bit about The Golfweek Amateur Tour as it reads on their website.

"Established in 1995, the purpose of the Tour is to provide amateurs of all ages, sexes, and handicaps the opportunity to compete in stroke-play golf tournaments on a regular basis in their local area. The Tour concludes with a National Tour Championship in which top players in each flight test their skills against other amateurs from around the country. Through this competition, the Golfweek Tour promotes the sport of golf by providing an atmosphere of friendly, fair, and well managed competition for amateur golfers in the pursuit of excellence."

You can find a tour near you and the events are broken up into five flights. Depending on your current handicap you will compete in the Championship Flight, 0-3.9, A Flight, 4-8.9(which would be me as of the writing of this post), B Flight, 9-13, C Flight, 14-18.9, and D Flight, 19 and above. I want to get my handicap as low as possible and then sign up at the beginning of the year in my appropriate bracket.

As I looked at the scores for my current handicap, I would be right in the mix. The average score of the winner of a given event is about an 82, which is exactly what the low golfer posted to take home the last event. I know I can shoot those scores under normal conditions, but I want to see how I would fair with a little pressure factored in.

So it begins. Over my next few rounds, I will be paying close attention to my stats so that I can pinpoint the areas of my game which need the most work. From there, I can formulate a game plan going forward. Feel free to share some of your goals whether accomplished or still in the works. I would love to hear what other golfers are doing to improve their game. Have a great round and always hit your target.