Down, Down, Down Go My Scores – Finally

Update as of June 1:  Handicap index is down a point-and-a-half which means my club handicap will go down two full strokes.  Woo hoo!

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The whole reason for this blog was to track my progress as I set off on a journey to get serious about my golf game.  I finally had the time to go along with the desire.  I took four private lessons, participated in clinics, read everything I could about the sport, watched videos, memorized terms and understood swing mechanics.  I have been a serious student of the game for the past seven months.

My passion has run so deep that when things weren’t going well, I’ve shed tears, gotten angry, thrown tantrums and melted down in the middle of play.  My expectations have been in the stratosphere all along, as somewhere deep inside me I’ve always believed, known, that there dwells a great golfer.  But I couldn’t figure out why that great golfer failed to emerge in spite of hours of practice seven days a week.

It’s not like I expected to improve without practicing.  I’ve been a stalwart.  Long game.  Short game – especially short game.  I have hit thousands of balls into the target flap of my backyard net.  I’ve pitched, chipped and putted an equal amount at the practice green.  And I’ve played – nearly every day since the second week of March.

But the scoring was not happening.  Still I kept on practicing, reading, watching videos and knowing that eventually my scores would start dropping.

And now it has happened.  My scoring average is not only dropping, but dropping fast.  Many facets of my game are coming together all at the same time.

Drives:  At least once per round I hit it farther than I ever have on any given hole.

Chips/Pitches:  Getting closer to the pin.  Confidence growing.

Greens:  Hitting more of them.  Yesterday I hit three of nine greens!  That is absolutely unprecedented.  I hit the long par 4 eighth green yesterday with a 3-wood.  Ball just kept running right up onto the turtle back green!

Scoring:  I beat my husband at golf for the first time yesterday – by three strokes in a nine hole round (I shot 44.  He shot 47… I hope he will still play with me).  I am shooting mostly bogeys now,  peppered with some pars after long birdie attempts on my hit greens – and now only an occasional triple and a few doubles per nine usually.  Tomorrow my new handicap index comes out.  Should be down and should continue to fall.

This is no fluke.  I have worked my butt off, put in the hours, paid the dues, and I feel worthy of the golf gods smiling upon me – finally.  Best of all, I know what I’ve done to get here and what I need to continue to do.  In no way do I take any of this for granted.  In order to maintain these lower scores and to go even lower, I have to keep my nose to the grind stone and continue the practice and the learning.

The wonderful thing is that I absolutely love to practice.  I look forward to it almost as much as playing a round.

I’ve got goals and I’m just getting started!  Never mind that I’m 55 years old!

~Jillian