The Journey To Scratch: When The Season Gets Away From You

Happy June everyone! Or should I say, welcome to the very delayed start to my season. I know, I’ve snuck out for a few rounds this year already, but honestly, between purchasing a home, the bad weather and a whirlwind trip to Taiwan last month, I’ve really not had much time to donate to my golf game. All of this gets compounded by the fact that I wasn’t able to get enough scores posted for an official handicap this season, so I am on the outside looking in at the regional tournaments this year instead of playing in them. Of course, that’s not necessarily a bad thing, but it’s disappointing based on where I thought I would be. Now that I’m in mid-season mode, I have to reassess my goals for the year and possibly start the planning stages for next year if I intend to pull it together for that.



Starting with this year, my goal is still to have a zero handicap by the season’s end. Currently, I’m sitting at a 2.3, which is just above the bubble for making a run at something like the US Open. Not too shabby for an out of shape, 41 year old that took a significant break from the game. I have a set of top notch blades, wedges and a driver that I am very happy with. My putter is sharp and besides dialing in those 50 yards in shots with the wedges, my bag is 100% solid. This brings me back to the reality of just how good can I play with the time and funding that I have to donate to the game? For this year, the goals are simple, get in more rounds and score well enough to drop below the 1.9 handicap mark. To do this, I need to shoot a 75 from the blue tees at just about any of the normal courses that I play. This will eliminate the 5.6 round from the scores and should drop me below the threshold for “Open Qualifying”. I would love to say that I could shave off the last few shots to get to scratch this season, but in all honesty, if the weather doesn’t hold through September, there’s zero chance of me getting enough rounds or practice in to get that done.

For future goals, well, I’ll have to take a look at that one a bit harder over the next few weeks. Right now, I think it’s more about just getting out and playing than it is about setting any goals. That may sound painful, but my game is as sharp and I can expect it to be without putting in some hard time and some devoted practice hours just to get it a bit tighter. For now, I think just getting a few rounds in during the nicer weather will do wonders for me.