Let's Hear'em:

Here are a few of mine entering the new season:

1.) I want to change the top of my swing. I'd like to get my hands much higher than where they were last year and hopefully this should help generate some more leverage on the downswing, which should generate more clubhead speed/distance.

2.) Decrease my 3-putts. At the peak of my summer last year I was hitting 12-14 greens on average but averaging far too many putts (maybe 2-3 3 putts per round) which obviously killed my score. Late in the season I modified my putting stroke and started to see some great results with my lag putting. Hopefully I can carry this forward to the new year.

Happy NYE 2p2

3.) Join a country club. Now that I'm working full-time, the likelihood of me getting out and playing 18 on weeknights is very rare. I want to find a place where I can play maybe 5-7 holes after work and not have to break the bank. Thoughts by ppl who belong to clubs would be most appreciated.

1.) To play more than 2 rounds of golf this year.

I want to win a tournament or at least contend in something important. I need some serious work on my putting and overall short game so I'm going to be spending a ton of time around the putting green. Cameras, alignment sticks/arcs, putting books...the whole works. I'm so sick of not being able to score up to my ball striking capabilities.

This is the first step my friend I'd recommend buying Pelz's Short Game Bible and reading the first 3/4 of it. You don't have to do what he says, but understanding the impact that shortgame has on your score is paramount to learning to score better.

I've already read that and feel like I have a great understanding of how the short game effects my score, the problem is actually doing it and putting in the work to be able to do it. Putting is by far the biggest issue and it absolutely drives me insane. Routinely missing makeable putts to shoot 77-75. It's just a matter of time and getting the right thoughts in my head.

break 85

My putting changed a lot after a mental change in my approach. Despite all I read about the putting stroke being a pendulum... I had always had this mentality of 'hitting' the ball. After approaching it as a true pendulum.. I have seen incredible results in my putting/lag putting.

I was a golf pro for 14 years before changing career. To be a good player you need natural talent, good coaching and practise what you have been taught.

Reading books does help a little bit in golf but not to the same extent as poker. With golf you must hit hundreds of balls on the range and on the putting green.
With poker a bit of theory makes a difference. With golf a bit of theory can help if you implement it properly and how can you do that unless you can see what you are doing?

+1

broke 90 for the first time last year with an 87 so it should be achievable...would also like to get my handicap in the 13-15 range, am currently ~18

Just finished university, looking to throw myself into the game in a big way over the next year.

Hoping to continue the progression in my swing, and the rebuilding of my confidence over the next year. My last 3 rounds of 2009 were my best all year, with all 3 coming in under par - would be nice to pick up right where i left off in 2010.

My first mini tour event is in late April - and if I prove to be reasonably competitive I'll be trying to play the full offered schedule (16 tournies).

I'll be taking the required college courses for Class A certification, and just finished applying for an assistant pro job at a local course.

All in all, im really excited.

Finally figuring out how to hit a 3/4 iron shot consistently. Also, would be nice to shoot another 79.

1) get my body more in shape, including looking into my torn up left shoulder and knees (should allow me to play without so much pain and if nothing else wake up easier in the morning)

2) keep dropping my handicap, 2 years ago im a 25, 18 months ago im a 15, 1 year ago im a 12, and for the past 6 months (or so) I have flirted between 7 and 10.

3) dedicate myself more to practicing short game -- i hit probably 400 balls a week at the range, time to start putting that much.

4) learn how to hit the long irons, i still am **** with them.

1) Sub-18 hcp
2) 1st eagle
3) Break 80 at Pacific Grove
4) Remember it's a game and have fun

don't work in golf! You'll never play golf again!!! haha

I haven't played since June 2008, listen to this man!

1) Take lessons.
2) Break 100.

1) single digit handicap (finished at 11.1 this year)
2) break 80 more than once

I have been a single digit handicap for several years now. My lowest index is 6.2. I would like to get below 5.0 quickly in 2010 and stay there for the season. My goal is to break 80 - - - every time I play. Period. I understand that to achieve this goal what I really need to do is become rock solid off the tee. When I drive the ball 250+ and in play the rest should take care of itself.

So here are the steps I am taking...

1) Strength and flexibility training. I started taking ballet in October. I go to class in the studio once a week and workout at home with a video twice a week. The results already have been amazing(plus I am the only guy in my class). I have even encouraged the instructor to start a class called "Ballet for Better Golf."

2) Practice putting a little over winter, but play more pool. I have a pool table and I think there is a connection between short game play in golf and playing pool. May sound funny but it will keep me sharp for the beginning of the season up here in the north.

3) I have talked with some better players and will be in a group of single digit players once a week next season. I have a regular game with some great guys, but I am clearly the best player in the group. We have a blast but if I am going to improve I need to challenge myself as well.

Hmmm...How long is the course you normally play? Unless we're talking about an old school country club that's tight and full of tree-lined and bunkered doglegs, you'd do well to take that effort to the short game and work a great deal on your course management (not trying to make hero shots, making sure you always have enough club to get to the hole, avoiding sucker pins that are surrounded by steep drop offs, etc). Get better from 120 and in and you'll see a lot more consistency in your scores. If you have a poor driving day, and you pipe 4 balls out of bounds, you still have a chance to break 80 if you're making a birdie or two throughout the round. I see players that work so much on driving the ball all the time. I could put them in the middle of every fairway during a round and they're still going to shoot close to what they normally would.

I play mostly parklands courses ranging from 6,350 up to 6,900 yards.

I could have been more detailed in my OP. I have a very good short game and have for some years. The thing I could work on most is putts in the 15-40 foot range. I lag them up just fine but would like to make more of them!

I lose strokes off the tee more than anywhere else on the course. And after a poor tee shot or two I tend to lose confidence quickly. Bad leak. I think with better balance, strength and flexibility I could get to where I need to be off the tee. More confident and consistent. This will lead to more GIR and better scores.

After playing a ton in '09, I have no idea how much I'll play this year. Assuming that I'll get to play some, I'd say:

1. Get in better shape.

2. Work on short game. I rarely practice & would like to change that this year. If I could approach average at putting I could drop a couple strokes off the handicap easy.

3. Walk more. I don't think I walked a single 18 all year. The occasional nine and five to seven holes in the evening yes, but not a single full round. Stupid mandatory carts.

1.) Practice More. No reason not to stop at the golf course 3 nights a week on my way home from work.

2.) Play in a league

3.) Get to the course at least an hour before each round that I play.

4.) Try to get a partial membership or pass.

SCRATCH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

WTF. 2008?!?

Not being able to play is part of what kept me away from a golf career. Being around the course all the time and locked in a proshop would be torture.