2023 Review - 2024 Goals

2023 comes to a close and so I thought I would review how this year has gone, have a look at the targets I set myself and set some new goals for 2024.

Welcome to 54 to Scratch, a personal golf blog following my journey as I navigate through the amazing, frustrating sport that is Golf.

As the who have been following this blog and my various social pages (mainly Instagram) will know, I took the decision this time last year to start all of this!

So the year started out with me focusing on building this site and my instagram page. Learning about all of this stuff was pretty fun and it was definitely fun making content on the course for the first time., especially trying to work out how to film when it’s windy!

From a golfing perspective, I was playing ok and was still being coached by Tom, seeing him quite regularly.

What was surprising was the speed in which the instagram thing kicked off. I started to gain followers quite quickly, largely because of my content from the range. What I wasn’t expecting was the amount of comments that would come through, especially comments on my swing and techniques I was using on the range.

My answer - I’m being taught this by a PGA pro, who seemed to be happy with the way things were going, so it must all be ok!

However, a chance encounter in the clubhouse at the club I’m a member at changed my approach to this year and ultimately has led to me having to revisit some of my goals I think.

Essentially, after seeing my content online, Mark had asked me to have a free lesson with him as he thought there were some fundamentals that I needed to employ to straighten my ball flight and ultimately make my swing a more sustainable practice as I get older.

After seeing him for 1 hour, my swing changed almost completely and I was suddenly hitting the ball with a different flight path.

After this, I decided to switch coach. The way that Mark explained things was a breath of fresh air and less technical. He suggested reading a book called “The Inner Game” which I eventually got round to reading later in the year and he still uses a lot of the techniques in that book, which really helps to learn quickly.

However, the reason why I had to adjust some of my goals was because despite Mark’s coaching techniques, there was a lot to pick apart and adjust.

This is where I found my limitations with this sport. Playing a golf shot is done best when you have a clear mind. What I have found is that after a lesson, I would struggle to focus, instead trying to do every little thing that I’d been told.

So unfortunately, as the year progressed I would get myself into a bit of a mess, resetting back to my older swing on numerous occasions - so it’s definitely been a bit of a journey! I’m happy to say that I’m feeling a lot more comfortable in my swing now and feedback from Mark is good.

Another aspect of Mark’s coaching (and something I’m reserving special mention for) is that he cares enough to pay attention outside of lessons. He watches my content and comments/messages me with tips. I know he is always there to offer advice if I need it, even if I don’t take advantage of that at times through my own stubbornness. I really appreciate all the help that Mark has given this year and I’m looking forward to 2024!

From a purely golfing perspective, I hadn’t set any goals really in terms of where I played or how often, but pretty sure I would have hit them!

I was a member of 2 clubs through 2023, Kingsnorth and Lydd. Both are great courses for different reasons.

Kingsnorth is my home club and is a fantastic little 9 hole course with 18 tees. It offers a really good challenge despite it being quite short, largely because of the positioning and length of the heavier rough - it is like having lakes everywhere!

Lydd definitely has a lot of water… A Par 70 semi-links, its flat but the challenge comes from the wind (being flat, you are exposed pretty much everywhere) and the huge amounts of water that seem to be on almost every hole.

Overall, I managed to play golf about 130 times, and the majority was definitely at Kingsnorth. It’s so easy to get a round in there - on my own I can do 9 holes in about 45 minutes, so convenience is a major factor in how often I played there.

But I also managed to play some decent courses elsewhere, which was an important thing for me this year as 2022 was my first year in the sport, so spent most of my time at Kingsnorth learning. 2023 needed to be about expanding my horizons a little.

In the end, we played a total of 11 different courses, 2 of which (Clyne and Pyle and Kenfig) were in Wales on a golf trip in the summer.

Highlights were definitely playing through the Sand Dunes at P+K, teeing off overlooking Swansea bay at Clyne, getting a par at Tenterden on the most uphill par 4 I’ve ever played and getting my first Par 5 birdie at Kingsnorth playing as a 6 ball at the end of a summers day.

This year has been an interesting journey for me and I’ve come to realise that I think I took things too serious, which means I didn’t have as much fun as I could have. I was WAY too focused on trying to achieve my handicap goal that I forgot why I actually play golf - because I love it!

And that brings me onto my goals.

My goals for 2023 were:

1. Achieve 18 handicap

2. Play in singles comp

3. Launch 54 to Scratch

So although my handicap came down, I didn’t get to where I wanted. Unfortunately, my swing went through a big transition this year and there were key times when I was still finding it during the summer that meant I didn’t capitalise on the better weather. It’s kind of ironic that I’m striking the ball the best I have all year as we close out the year and courses are like swamps…

As a result of my confidence being all over the place, I didn’t enter any swindles or comps this year. I had the opportunity to join a comp at Tudor Park at short notice, but opted not to largely just because nerves got the better of me as I hadn’t been playing well.

The one thing that has been a success though is 54 to Scratch. Although it is nothing more than a hobby, I’ve really enjoyed creating content and writing these blogs. Finding time has been a challenge at times, but overall instagram has been pretty easy to keep updated and I’m intrigued to see if I can continue to grow in 2024.

So - onto my goals for this year. I’ve taken inspiration from others I’ve seen, both professional players and other instagrammers, but I’m moving away from the 3 goals idea and into a less focused approach this year, I want to achieve the following:

1. Achieve 18 Handicap

2. Play in at least 10 swindles

3. Enter a Singles Comp

4. Break 90 at a par 70plus course

5. Break 80 at Kingsnorth

6. Play 20 different courses, including 5 I haven’t played before

7. Launch Youtube Channel Properly

8. Launch T-Shirt designs store

9. Use data to Train smarter - monthly

10. HAVE FUN!

That last one is important, and I’m hoping my content will reflect that more as the year progresses!

Once again, thank you to anyone that has taken the time to read this, it really means a lot!

Happy New Year Everyone!