About

Like most golfers, I am bad.

Like most golfers, I want to get better.

I am starting this journey with a 17 handicap and 92.7 scoring average in my maximalist career.

I am “handicapping” myself with a 7 club limit.

I am focused on minimalism from my clubs to course management.

I am going to be a single digit handicap by the end of 2026.

About My Game

I’ve always loved golf, but I always came up with excuses to not play or practice. Spending $15 to go hit 70 duds of golf balls seemed ridiculous especially considering you’re driving 15 minutes to get there and back. Even if I did that 1-2 times a week it never felt like I could improve with 140 shots across 14 clubs. 10 shots a week with each club? That doesn’t instill any confidence in me.

But now I live in the ideal environment to improve. 12 months of golf weather, tons of amazing courses and a garage big enough to house a hitting net.

My game in a past life was “hit it as hard as you can, then get to inside 100 yards ASAP before I lose any more golf balls”. For every 250+ yard drive down the middle there were 13 other duck hooks, sky slices, and worm burners. I never felt comfortable with a club longer than a 9 iron. I tried One Lengths and it only exacerbated the problems I had. The only thing that bailed me out was my wedges and putter. I credit my putting to my love for mini-golfing.

My game going forward will be different. I’m only going to be using 7 clubs. My driver, a mini, will double as my tee-off club and a 3 wood. Then from there I’ll have a 5,7,9,PW,SW and putter. The loft’s aren’t optimized right now, but that can come later after I get better. You can see the current state of my WITB.

I will play smarter. Burning through a couple of hours of Golf Sidekick will get you thinking about the course differently. The average 6500 yard and less layouts almost never require a carry great than 200 yards so my goal is to get “confidential” with those 7 knowing I can always hit them straight.

Practice is a non-negotiable and even just one session a week will be way more than in year’s past. The goal for practice right now is getting reps in and “feeling” my way to a better swing. In my mind, I know this will plateau and lessons will be needed, but for now intentional practice should be enough to shave a few strokes.