Three years ago, I went through a three-month game-improvement program that saw me slice my handicap in half from an 8 to a 4. It was a drastic mid-life measure to help a dad who was struggling with his golf. After sticking to the plan from the fine folks at the Golf Performance Center for 12 weeks, I was ecstatic to suddenly be playing arguably the best golf of my life at 40, and it was effective enough for me to win several more buddies trip titles in recent years. Yet I’ve reached another point of wanting—no, needing—to get better. And once again, I convinced my bosses to let me do this under the guise of work.
But here’s where things get different. This time, instead of 12 weeks, I’ve pledged to put 12 months into the project. Since we’re focusing on handicaps, and Nov. 14 was the last day for me to post a score in New York, we’ll assume a similar cut-off date for 2026 as the end date with this experiment. And unlike three years ago, I’ve assembled my own team to help me answer the age-old question: “How good could you get at golf if you really practiced?”
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I say “you” and not just “I” because the hope is that my personal journey can benefit others just as much. As the weeks and months go by, I’ll tackle different topics that have the potential to lower our handicaps.
What am I focusing on?
OK, now for the important part: HOW are we going to get better? The plan is to work with my team (I love saying that) to improve in four main areas: Golf swing, putting, fitness and mental game/strategy. The working theory is that if I can shave a stroke in each of these areas, I could get close to being a scratch player. It’s still an ambitious goal, but breaking it down like that makes it at least seem more attainable.
It’s also very possible one category winds up making more of a difference, causing me to focus more in that area. But as my experience three years ago taught me, a holistic approach is most effective. For instance, my power gains from working out more wouldn’t have done me much good if I hadn’t also worked with a sports psychologist to overcome a bout of driving yips under pressure.
Who will be helping me?
Anyway, my new terrific team starts with Mario Guerra, head golf professional at Quaker Ridge Golf Club and one of Golf Digest’s Best In State Instructors for New York. Mario will serve as my swing whisperer and he has some interesting methods to get me to shoot lower scores that I’m excited to try (and tell you about). I will also continue to work with Bill Smittle, a former 30-year head pro at Scarsdale Golf Club, on putting. I wrote a couple stories based on my work with Bill last year.
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But golf is so much more than swinging and putting as I learned three years ago when I improved my fitness and thinking on the course. To take my fitness to another level, I’ve enlisted Mike Carroll, a trainer who has worked with more than a dozen PGA and DP World Tour pros and the creator of the Fit For Golf app. And to cover the mental game, I’ll be consulting with golf psychology coach Josh Nichols.
But don’t I have my regular job still?
Let me also explain the parameters for this project a bit more. As much as I’d love for playing golf to be my full-time job, that is still not the case for this father of two young kids. But I am attempting to put at least an hour into improving every day during these 12 months. Like Golf Digest’s One Percent Challenge in 2024, the thought is that even someone who doesn’t have a ton of free time can make significant improvements by consistently stacking small gains over time.
Whereas I usually stash my clubs in the basement for about five months, this year, I’m going to try to keep the momentum from a career season going through trips to the (heated) range, simulator time, lessons, workouts, speed training and practicing on a great putting mat from PrimePutt. The success of this endeavor will rely heavily on my “grit,” which Sam wrote about in a recent Low Net. Although, Sam also wrote recently about the benefits of taking a break. Barring (another) injury, I will NOT be doing that. And, once the weather gets warmer, I plan on playing more (At least 2 times per week) so that hour per day will go way up.
Along this journey, my hope is to find little ways to get better that perhaps you haven’t thought of from different types of practice and training to equipment optimization. Little ways that when all added together can equal big changes to your scores. Like I said, I want this to be inclusive and feel like something that’s possible for any golfer out there. I’m confident that no matter someone’s skill level, we can all exhibit grit and improve.
However, I do recognize my job affords me some advantages. Being able to say, “It’s for work!” makes it a lot easier for me to get practice, training, and, eventually, playing in. But this is more attainable than enrolling in the program I did three years ago. And there’s nothing keeping an average golfer from getting help as well. This guidance is crucial because you can go to the range all you want, but if you’re not practicing the right things, you’re not going to get better. As Nichols said, “The emphasis is on quality, not quantity.” I will get more into specifics of how I plan to try to improve within each category down the road, but in the meantime I’ll keep stacking days of putting in (golf) work through the long winter—and sharing what I’m learning.
How much better can we get?
Interestingly enough, both Carroll and Nichols have gone on similar golf journeys to what I’m attempting and have achieved incredible transformations. Carroll once went from a 5 handicap to a plus-one in a year’s time, and Nichols improved to a plus-five after college, making it all the way to the finals of the 2017 U.S. Mid-Am Championship.
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But those two had more time and more talent (Carroll already had tour-level ball speed and Nichols was a Division I golfer at Appalachian State). They also had much less wear and tear on the body than this soon-to-be (gulp) 44-year-old golf writer coming off a torn meniscus in my right knee and a torn labrum in my left shoulder over the past two years. I’m not sure what’s possible for myself. I’m not even sure Oz the Mentalist knows the answer to that question. But I know I’ll have fun trying. And I hope you enjoy—and benefit—from following along.
This article was originally published on golfdigest.com
