I believe that most golfers chase their dreams and goals. Their pursuit of success sometimes over looks the journey, but we can discuss that later. The fact that becoming a better golfer does not always result in your best scores! For the most part, the steady decrease in our handicap index is really the the tell-tale sign that your golf game is getting stronger.

Before my friend Andre jumps in and says that if I am lowering my index, then I am shooting my best golf; I want to cut that conversation off and say Yes, you are right! However, to maintain the lower handicap is where our game grows in strength and consistency.

I borrowed this graphic from Brian Tracy because this is exactly how I approach golf……well, how I approach improving my golf game.

You will notice that there are three steps that focus on doing, doing again, and keep on doing the improvements I want to work on. It is this process that helped me lower my handicap index from 4.6 to 3.4 in the COVID ridden 2020 golf season.

I made great advancements in my golf game for several reasons. First, my recovery from treatments in 2018 is going well; second, I set up some DIY practice areas at my home, and I played golfer over 80 times this year. These were all contributing factors to my success this year. I obviously played many great games this year, but it those scores that sustained my success that are really important for this article.

Basically what happened as my season progressed, I shot more and more games in the 70s. My lowest score was a 1 under par 70, but I had 20 games in the mid and low 70s. Many of those count towards my handicap, but many did not make any dent in my index, but they did sustain my success.

I bet you are saying, that is great Jim, but what is your point. My point is that the scores that did not count towards my index kept my game going so that every third game or so I was able to lower my handicap index, slowly, over the course of the 2020 golf season.

All the time you spend chipping, putting and range work is worth the effort! The hundreds or thousand of ball strikes leads to success. I helps establish the foundation to your game that pays dividends in many of the games that are not used to lower your index. They are the games that help build streaks that propel your game to the next level.

Interestingly, it is those “routine” games that keep my journey towards scratch going. After this crazy 2020 golf season, I embrace routine and look forward to shooting many more scores that keep my journey going in 2021!

I am a grateful golfer! See you on the links!