Getting you up to speed

I've been playing golf since I was a child, but only with any purpose for about 10 years. I got my first official handicap during lock-down, which was a few years ago now and it's been moving in the wrong direction ever since!

I've broken 80 once, had one hole in one (that nobody else witnessed) and my handicap has plateaued in the mid-teens. But I'm determined to improve my game, and I'm starting by getting you up to speed with where I'm at right now.

Here are some of my current stats:

* Handicap: 15.7

* Best ever handicap: 12ish

* Best round: 78

As you can see, I'm still a long way from a single digit golfer which is where I want to be. But I'm confident that I can improve with hard work and dedication.

I'm a huge fan of stats and I use Arccos in all my clubs (except putter). Here are some of the areas that I'm focusing on improving and the Arccos stats. As you can see I'm losing ground vs a single digit handicap in all areas at the moment. 

* Driving distance: I'm hitting my driver on average over 260 total yards, which is okay for my handicap, but not for my goal of single digits. I'm working on increasing my distance with my driver, but also accuracy as losing a ball off the tee is a nemesis of mine. 

* Iron play: My iron play is inconsistent. I can have days of being a good ball striker, but others where I struggle. I'm working on hitting more fairways and greens in regulation with my irons with left right consistency an issue. Arccos says I'm losing shots at almost all distances and nearly 2 shots to a single figure player on shots from the rough. 

* Chipping and short game: My chipping and short game is my weakest area in my opinion (although Arccos says it's iron play). I'm not making enough up and downs, and I'm double chipping too often. My bunker skill is one of the few areas I am gaining in strokes gained however. 

* Putting: My putting is arguably one of my stronger areas, but I still have too many three putts, not enough one putts and im losing ground to a 9 handicapper. 

As you can see, my stats are pretty average bogey golf. I'm not hitting a lot of fairways or greens in regulation, and my putts per round are nothing special (if at least not disastrous). I've got a coach, I'm having lessons and I'm working on improving all of these areas. My plan is to use this blog to track my progress and hopefully take some people on the ride with me. 

I know that it's going to take a lot of hard work to improve my game, but I'm confident that I can do it. I'm excited to start this journey, and I'm looking forward to sharing my progress with you all along the way!