Big golf game make over

So 2012 brings big plans for my golf game, right now I'm a 12 handicap, my main goal is to drop down to a 5 handicap by the end of the year. I want to play in tournaments and place well. Over the winter I bought a house with a 20 acre field behind me so that I can hit driver and long irons in my back yard. Around the last month I have been chipping and putting every day inside and going to the range on the weekends. I bought a membership to a indoor golf studio as well as 4-4 hour lessons with a class AA PGA teaching pro. I changed my eating habbits and I'm walking more every day for right now I don't have the time to fit going to a gym in to my schedule. What have you guys done to fix your game to lower your handicap?

Nowhere near what you have done!

I'm lucky to get to chip some plastic balls in the backyard after I get home from work and before it gets dark. Also have a 1 year old now and he keeps me busy!

Good luck with your progress. Keep us updated!

I have a similar goal. I practice every day, or play, or a little bit of both. I work very hard on my short game. I'm playing in about 15 tournaments this year at some very nice courses, some hosted by the New England PGA, and the others by the Massachusetts Golf Association, and a few at my practice facility. I also take lessons.

Good luck!

Most of the tournments in Michigan you have to be a 5 handicap so I may have to look in to the golf channel am tour. Any tips on how to prepare your body, golf game and mental game for tournments?

Good Luck to you. Keep us updated!

I'm working on trying to balance playing w/ practicing. I've had a problem in the past of doing too much of one or the other. I'd get my swing grooved, but it wouldn't hold up on the course, or I would just play non-stop w/ out any time spent improving my game.

As far as tournaments go, I'm trying to get back into playing more (I've only played a few high-stakes individual tournaments since high school - almost a decade ago). But when I did play, I'd try to keep things simple. It helps keeps the nerves down.

Some ways to keep it simple: aim for the fat part of the green, don't go pin chasing and short side your self. Take aggressive swings at conservative targets. Don't get too cute w/ your short game: rather than trying to hit a flop shot to 3 feet, play it safe and hit it to 12 feet. You'll have a better chance of making the 12 footer than hitting the flop shot to 3 feet. And your misses will be better off (not to mention, even if you pull of the flop shot, you still have to make the testy 3 footer).

Hope my advice helps!

Golferman329 said:

Most of the tournments in Michigan you have to be a 5 handicap so I may have to look in to the golf channel am tour. Any tips on how to prepare your body, golf game and mental game for tournments?

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My tournaments are like the AmTour. For me, I work a lot on my short game. The mental game? That's a bit different. As Bobby Jones said, "There's golf and there's tournament golf." I work hard on trusting my swing, and putting myself in pressure situations when I play casual golf. I try to make every shot mean something when I play a practice round. I also practice with purpose. I don't just hit balls. Each shot has a target.

Sean said:

I have a similar goal. I practice every day, or play, or a little bit of both. I work very hard on my short game. I'm playing in about 15 tournaments this year at some very nice courses, some hosted by the New England PGA, and the others by the Massachusetts Golf Association, and a few at my practice facility. I also take lessons.

Good luck!

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Good luck to you!

I have lost 15 pounds since last summer, started an exercise routine to deal with core strength and flexibility, am in the middle of a lesson series and (apparently) have eliminated my evil hook forever, upgraded equipment, do golf drills from my instructor nightly and hit balls every weekend.