So How Has Your 2016 Season Been?

[tannyhoban]

It's been the best weather wise in recent memory around here. Played a fair amount compared to recent years, more than 20 rounds in so far with more to play. No tournanments, but I sub in a traveling league with avid golfers on Saturdays who travel week to week and if not I have a fairly regular group that I play with early Sunday when possible.

 

Equipment wise I experimented a ton and enjoyed every minute, finally arrived back very close to what I started the year with. I've had right shoulder issues nearly all season and thus have adjusted swingwise to compensate. It takes a good 3 to 4 holes to get warmed up, so I've just throttled back to 3/4 all year.

 

No GHIN but I do faithfully enter scores in an old Yahoo tracker. My cap has dropped from 5.9 to 4, if only my putting was consistent - ha. Goes to show how overrated distance can be. Played all manner of lengths, slopes and course ratings on my most favorite tracks here in oHIo and really never felt overmatched, I can play poorly or well on an equal opportunity basis.

 

Played rounds with my oldest son who is coming to the game at 21 and playing more than me. Really great to see.

 

Played in a scramble with my 82 year old Dad and that was big fun. He's still so competitive he actually swore a blue streak after a bad shot. Our playing partners know him well and got a chuckle out of that, he's more of a dang it guy. (Me, not so much - I apparently inherited what my grandma called "earthy" language)

 

As I get older I appreciate the opportunities to get out more than ever. Such a great game. And a group of like minded folks to enjoy it with.

 

2016 has been a great year for me. Looking forward to some fall golf and then shutting it down so my bad wing can mend.

 

How 'bout you?

[fore]

All in all a good season. I managed to get my index down to 4.4 and kept it around there for a couple months.

 

Alas lately I've been getting to some laborious fall chores and my index has gone up a stroke.

 

Still a month of good weather to go. Maybe I can post a few good scores.

[MtlJeff]

The last 2 years prior to this one were terrible for me, very poor play and no confidence. So i was happy this year that some of the stuff i worked on and changes i made really started paying off. I was probably better this year than any in my last 3-4 seasons.

 

Had a few low scores on tough courses, had rounds with 6 birdies and another with 7 birdies. Drove it very well and kept it in play well. Also felt good playing in tournaments for the first time in a while

[jli2636]

Pretty nonexistent with my work and family schedule this summer :( I think I've only played 3-4 times all summer.

[adizero]

Good, Bad, Memorable, Forgettable, Satisfying! Pretty much like any typical round.

[Matchplay10033]

Best season I have ever had! After a 10 year break from taking golf ( only playing in 2-3 scrambles a year) I had enough and decided to try and get as good as possible. I played and practiced 4 days a week and got myself down to a 4... Shot a round in the 60's suffered a few set back rounds where it look like I reverted back and right now am feeling awesome about my game. I am going to play until NOV and then take two months off. Hopefully my minor, nagging case of golfers elbow heals and my back heals. Looking forward to 2017... I plan on starting to prepare in January..

[SBH9458]

Any year on which I get to play is a good year. Didn't play as much as I wanted but still got better. A little better. Hoping to hit it well before the rain turns solid.

[braincramp52]

This year has been my best year in a while. I've got probably over 70 ( 9 hole ) rounds in so far and I've played pretty well after starting out slow. Buying a push cart and club membership helped as it pushed me to play more. Once winter hits I'm going to make a serious effort over the winter to get stronger and more flexible so I play even better next year.

[scomac2002]

It has been an up and down year for me; as much a tale of various minor injuries and swing troubles as anything else. First it was my shoulder, then my hip and finally my lower back. In each instance rest was the only sure cure.

 

I started on March 30 when my club had a soft open with as good a round as I shot all season and that was to be a strange sort of omen as it was almost a month before I got out again.

 

The injuries limited the number of rounds I've played, but I've had a higher percentage of good scores in the mix largely due to pretty consistent play from within 100 yards and on or around the greens.

 

The long part of my game has been another story. I was never a long hitter, but impacts of age and infirmity are really starting to take a bite on distance and that's if I'm swinging well! It changes the makeup of a bag and how you go about playing a round. I'm now playing the gold tees on a full length course and the white tees on a short course as that seems to make the most sense with my arsenal of available tools and shots. Occasionally I still get seduced into thinking that I haven't lost much, but that usually the result of hot and firm August conditions rather than some sort of new found mojo. ;) The plus to all of this is that I don't swing as hard as I once did, preferring to keep things under control with the oft mentioned 85% swing. Way fewer aches and pains after a round. All in all perhaps a positive development.

 

As for the remainder of the year, I doubt I have more the a game or two left, but I'm OK with that. Perhaps it's time to put things to bed and focus on curling. One of the advantages of being a two sport participant.

[2putttom]

I struggled. Ya think working at a course and being able to play as often as I want as long as it doesn't interfere with work or members would be an advantage. I had a disastrous tournament season ( lost 2 k in side bets) League wasn't any better, finished second to last (won the opener and closer) go figure. But hey... my putting stats improved.

[Springsteennut]

i played with a regular group of guys for the first time. i only knew one of the 12/16 that played regulaly and they were all nice people to play with. As far as my game I pretty much eliminated having a slice off the tee. My Scores got lower and more consistant.

[Warrick]

Best of my life at 45. I have 80+ full rounds in for the season, bag was basically the same all year (tinkered a bit). I would say 65-70% of my rounds are now in the 70's (75-73 this weekend). I got my goal from the start of the season (ever par 71), even though it was just a few weeks ago.

 

Driving is better

short game/wedges, improved

iron play, much better

 

more than anything, putting. I have 6 rounds with less than 30 putts, and a lot right there.

 

I shot an 83 last year with 41 putts, I was f-----g horrible on the greens.

 

I am not delusional enough to think i am "good", dont play a difficult course most of the time, but I feel good about my game right now.

[the bishop]

A work in progress. After reaching an all time low index of 3.1 in late 2014, I changed jobs twice since then and practice time plummeted. Ended up climbing back up to 7.7 early this year but am now trending down. 6.1 currently and next index should be around 5.8. Low round of the year was a 1 over 71 at a Phoenix area course last month. If you love golf you gotta love the struggle.

[SetTheBarrHigh]

As far as a season goes, this was probably the least I'd ever played in my golfing life. The course I was a member at was shut down in March so that more apartments could be built on it. I've played a few others and explored options in my price range, but haven't found anywhere I fit in just yet. I had a promotion earlier in the season that forced an adjustment period between golf time and weekend work schedule. It also made me balance my time with my girlfriend and showed me what's truly important when your time isn't unlimited.

 

As far as equipment, everything stayed pretty constant. I found that the less I played, the more I wanted something fairly familiar in my hands. It didn't keep me from experimenting, but it did mean my experiments didn't work out so well. The only legitimate change I made was to switch from an iron to a hybrid in the 4 iron spot.

 

This season wasn't great for golf, but for my personal life it was an under par round.

[Conrad283]

After a lengthy absence from significant playing time because of child one, cross country move, child two, bachelors degree, cross country move, masters degree, it is finally time to play again.

 

Previous irons were blades and I'm having trouble with them. I need something more forgiving as my swing just isn't there yet.

 

Overall, I'm happy to be back out there. Every though there is no offseason in Florida, I plan on dropping some weight to help me with my swing.

[Scooterboy59]

Been a good year. Got my amateur status back. Played in two individual tournaments. Wishing I could play in more, just on a budget with kids in school.

[Scooterboy59]

Been a good year. Got my amateur status back. Played in two individual tournaments. Wishing I could play in more, just on a budget with kids in school.

[WidespreadPanic]

Been a good year. Got my amateur status back. Played in two individual tournaments. Wishing I could play in more, just on a budget with kids in school.

Nice! Fortunately I don't have the kids "problem".

2016 has been the best of season I have ever had. My short game has become an absolute strength, especially my putting. I have lowered my HC to 1.5 and have shot only 1 round in the 80's (80). I have pretty much eliminated the double bogey. I shot under par for the first time. I am now completely and utterly obsessed with playing golf. Cheers!

[swizbeatz]

Lowest index ever, more rounds played than any previous year, won first CC, just got my second hole in one this year. I'd say that's a good year. Besides testing some things out my bag hasn't changed much at all.

[WidespreadPanic]

Lowest index ever, more rounds played than any previous year, won first CC, just got my second hole in one this year. I'd say that's a good year. Besides testing some things out my bag hasn't changed much at all.

Nice handle. ??

[Christen_The_Sloop]

Moved to Asia in 2007. Spent one summer back in Canada where I played golf and got in a few Vancouver Golf Tour events and finished respectably. After that I just kind of played whenever my father in law and his buddies asked. However, after our first of a planned 3 rounds in Maui in January, my father in law was hit by a big wave and he ended up fracturing a few bones in his neck. Thankfully, he's all healed up and back on the course now, but he was my primary playing partner, so I was left without anyone to got out with.... I kind of decided that, for my sanity and as a way for me to work on my Japanese language skills, I would go out and play at a local course that takes walk-ons.

 

From February to mid June I played almost weekly. My goal was to shoot par on a relatively short, narrow course and I actually did it pretty quickly. After that I broke par a few times. Got to play with some amazing junior golfers once and met quite a few nice folks, most of whom recognize me they see me, as I stick out rather like a sore thumb.

 

After June I couldn't bare golfing in the heat. I played 3-4 times and just didn't enjoy it. My scores were unmentionable. This summer here was insane with the heat reaching 38-39 for basically the entire month of August...

 

Hoping to get out consistently after this week until next June. I can take the winter no problem. As long as the course is open I will be out there chasing it around.

 

On the whole a pretty interesting year.

[mguhler]

Was 4.4 at some point this year, but had some nice rounds end of summer to get my index to 1.7. Some of the best golf I have played in 20-ish years.

[DavePelz4]

Very much a mixed bag year. Fewest rounds in a long time with less than 25 compared to a normal 75-90. Got to the range less than 5 times when it used to be 2-3 times/week. Played some phenomenal courses though, including Erin Hills, Chicago Golf Club and Deere Run. Played really well at CGC.

 

The index went up 4 shots mostly due to the inconsistency inside of the rounds and some rounds in the 70's from last year fell off the card. Had some really tough rounds with the driver but putting was better than ever, which is odd. After 15 years finally won our groups' Fed Ex style competition and a lot of it was due to the Stableford format where a bad hole wasn't penal. About a month ago something happened and sand play became a huge plus. Have been hitting more choked down 3/4's shots which helped as well.

 

Hoping that the weather holds out for a while and the number of rounds can be stretched out a bit to 30.

[GHIN n Juice]

The beginning of the season was horrid. It all turned in July though and I finished playing some pretty good golf. I had a streak of 4 weeks and 8 league rounds where I was 1 under cumulatively and helped my team take 1st place in one of those leagues. I made it to the semifinals of the city wide match play, won the 1st flight in another tournament and finished the season with a local Ryder Cup style event win. All in all the best year I've had in a long time.

[Ferguson]

I moved from a 7.4 to 7.1. I am still a friggin' chop but I'll take what I can get playing only once per week.

This year wasn't about me, though. It was about my son.

 

 

He dropped his handicap from an 18 to a 12

He moved back to the "men's" tees

He outdrove me 6 times this year by more than 15 yards (stating on two of these occasions, "I didn't get all of it, either.")

He made it to round three of the drive, chip and putt contest

He made the high school golf team

He played in 6 tournaments and won 4, second in 2

Straight up, counting all shots - he beat me 3 times.

Oh yeah - He's 13.

[Ron Swanson]

Frustrating season for me, at times i've played down to the level of a 7-8 handicap, then i would totally lose my swing, start shanking the ball all over the course and struggle to keep it under 90, (great driving was the only reason it was even that decent). Just got to the point in the middle of the season where i was almost intimidated to approach the ball, think my issue is too flat of a swing but will surely be getting some personal lessons with my club pro to try and get things fixed, because when things went bad, they went really bad.

 

Beautiful weather pretty much all season in Ohio and i had plenty of opportunists to get out and play so all and all another good golf season!

[Roadking_6]

Good year for me. I started playing again after around 10 years

2002-2011 Did not even touch a club.

2011-2015 maybe once or twice a year.

September 2015 started playing more at the end of my softball career (100-150 games per summer).

Worked all winter at an outdoor range with heated bays trying to eliminate a nasty snap hook that developed. I would say I have eliminated the hook and now play more of a controlled fade.

2016 I am able to consistently shoot in the mid 70's, I even broke par for the first time since my senior year high school golf team days (2001).

I still have a ton of places to improve, short game mainly but there have been tremendous strides in 2016.

With baby 3 on the way, I look forward to playing again sometime by 2019.

[rgk5]

My worst year since 1967. I only broke 80 twice (76,76) and my left hip issue, a torn labrum, have cost me dearly. I cannot turn correctly and consequently have no power. A 7-iron is needed from 130 yds.

 

I'm really beginning to hate GI irons so, I'm selling two sets and putting a set of Hogan PCs in the bag effective this Friday. If I can't play well, I must as well love what I'm looking at. :cheesy:

[DavePelz4]

I moved from a 7.4 to 7.1. I am still a friggin' chop but I'll take what I can get playing only once per week.

This year wasn't about me, though. It was about my son.

 

 

He dropped his handicap from an 18 to a 12

He moved back to the "men's" tees

He outdrove me 6 times this year by more than 15 yards (stating on two of these occasions, "I didn't get all of it, either.")

He made it to round three of the drive, chip and putt contest

He made the high school golf team

He played in 6 tournaments and won 4, second in 2

Straight up, counting all shots - he beat me 3 times.

Oh yeah - He's 13.

 

You both had an AWESOME year!!!

[TexasCarlos]

got the HC down to 5.2 at its lowest, year round here in TX but definitely going to take a month away from the game to get hugnry again, ever get that feeling of just wanting to get the round overwith? Started to feel this way lately towards the end of september, short game needs some help, a good month of practice and mental game is due!! I wish everybody a productive off season !