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Resolve to improve your golf game in 2020
By Mike Bailey
Published on
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New Year's golf resolutions can be score-related, perhaps breaking 90, 80 or even 70. Maybe you want to drive the ball better by hitting more fairways or simply hitting it longer.
You can certainly resolve to hit better approaches, get up and down more (short game) or maybe average fewer putts. (This last one is probably the easiest to attain for most players and the fastest way to shoot lower scores). Or maybe your New Year’s golf resolution is simply to play more golf.
Alison Curdt, who is both a PGA Master Professional and LPGA Master Professional based out of Wood Ranch Golf Club in Simi Valley, Calif., says the first step to setting goals to improving performance in 2020 is to take a look back at 2019. If you kept any kind of stats, that’s a good place to start.
“Once you establish what the weak spot is, then you can build a strategy to improve your mechanics and performance,” Curdt says, who also holds a doctorate in psychology.
That strategy could involve seeking an instructor to work on those areas for you or simply practicing the specific areas of weakness. But you have to action to realize your goals, no matter what they are.
Not all golf resolutions, however, involve improving your scores. One goal we should also share is to simply enjoy the game more.
Brian Crowell, PGA director of golf at Osiris Country Club in Montgomery, N.Y., has some great suggestions in this area, and we could probably find applicable correlations to improving our life overall here.
Crowell, who has been a regular contributor to CBS’ Masters coverage as well as other media outlets, says for 2020, golfers could resolve to:
- Embrace the opportunity to play with people they don’t know. “I would say many golfers avoid that. I would encourage the opposite,” he says.
- Play more golf with family.
- Introduce non-golfing family and friends to the game.
- Arrive at the golf course earlier. “It gives you a more relaxed approach to the game, more time to loosen up and get comfortable,” he says. “You’re going to have a more enjoyable experience if you simply arrive at the golf course earlier. “
- Improve your attitude by looking at every bad shot as a chance for a great recovery. “Ever since I started thinking that way, I never seem to get angry after a bad shot.”
- Practice better. “Change your targets and change your clubs more frequently on the range. Rotate through the bag, change lies more often and change ground conditions more often so your practice is more like you play.”
- Take a playing lesson.
- Enjoy the escape. “Try playing without your phone. Maybe not the whole round, but just a hole or two…. If we can keep some level and escape out there, I think that’s really cool.”
