It's been a couple of weeks since my last round of the year. Temperatures have fallen and the winter tires are already on the car. Traditionally, that's been the signal for me to sit down and write my year end review. So, without any further ado, here we go.
In last year's review, I described 2014 as a success. After a couple of terrible seasons, I managed not only to stop my game from declining further, but also to return to a semi-respectable level. I'm not talking about anything spectacular, by any means. However, I managed to get my handicap factor down to 19.7 – this after spending a lot of time in the mid twenties. By the same modest standard, I have to say that 2015 was a success as well. My handicap factor currently sits at 17.6 – less than two points off my personal best. In my view, handicap factor is the best indicator of skill, so it feels good to be nearing personal best territory.
I played 40 rounds in 2015, beginning April 28 and ending November 10. That's four fewer rounds than last year, but nine more than in each of the previous three seasons, when my game took a turn for the worse. I need to play frequently in order to stay sharp, and 40 rounds seems to be the magic number. If I can play at least that many over a 6-month season, I should continue to improve. My rounds were played at 32 different courses. Eight of these were the site of two rounds each: Glen Eagle, Mystic, Paris Grand, Bradford Highlands, Piper's Heath, Dragon's Fire, Indian Wells, and Mill Run. The only new course for me this year was Bond Head North. I enjoy playing different courses and was encouraged that my improvement came on a great variety of layouts.
Though handicap factor is the ultimate measure of skill, I was very pleased with another stat this year. Of the 40 rounds played, only three resulted in scores of 100 or more. The century mark has long been the mark of failure for me, and a couple of years ago, I was topping it with regularity. For quite some time, I've been of the opinion that my golf score should never reach triple digits – ever! As a result, it was nice to finally approach that level. One of those 100+ rounds was the first round of the season, played at King's Forest. Considering I hadn't touched a club in over six months before that, I don't even feel too badly about it. The course is no slouch, either.
More than offsetting those poor rounds were five rounds below 90. The best of all was an 84 early in the season at Copetown Woods. It was only my fifth round of the year and it came in a Deepwoods event. Besides setting the stage for a solid Deepwoods campaign, this round may have set the tone for the entire season. Golf is a game of confidence and an early dose of success can go a long way. Mid way through the season, I registered back-to-back rounds of 86 at Dragon's Fire. The second of these was also a Deepwoods event. The first was played in sweltering conditions, with the humidex easily surpassing 40 degrees Celsius. It's remarkable that I finished the round – never mind that I put together one of my best scores. Late in the season, I fired a brilliant 85 at Scenic Woods, followed immediately by a workmanlike 89 at Mill Run.
Though I finished a bit lower or higher a few times, the vast majority of my scores were squarely in the nineties. In fact, my average score was exactly 95. I would prefer to see the average at about 90, but let's not get too far ahead of ourselves. The nice thing about all these scores in the nineties is that they felt easy to me. All season long, I felt like I could score in that range rather easily, just by putting the ball in play. In other words, I didn't have to bomb the ball, or even hit fairways and greens. All I had to do was reduce the miss hits – balls out of bounds or into hazards, duffed shots, topped balls, etc. I can do that, can't I? Sure I can. Towards the end of the season, this approach had me challenging 90 every time out. My scoring range over the last seven rounds was 85-93 and my average over the same period was 90.2 – nice!
Delving a little more deeply into my average stats reveals improvement across the board. My overall average was down 3.1 strokes from a year earlier. Meanwhile, I averaged 34.9 putts per round, down marginally from 35.3 a year prior. I've always averaged just under 2 putts per hole, so this is no surprise. The way to get my putting numbers down significantly is to improve my pitching and chipping. This year, I hit 6.1 fairways per round, up from 5.3 in 2014. The primary change with the driver was to add a hint of spine rotation, while actually shortening the overall backswing. This keeps the arms from becoming too active and throwing the swing out of plane. Greens in regulation also improved – to 3.7 from just 3.3 last season. The improvements are all slight, but they add up to better scores over the long run. Finally, I averaged exactly 3 penalty strokes per round this year.
I'll finish this review with a look at the Deepwoods championship, which I've already hinted at. I had a great year, finishing with scores of 84, 92, 86, and 93. Both scores in the nineties only ended up that way due to some late collapses. The 92 was at Willow Valley, where I got rattled on the final hole by an approaching storm. The 93 was in the final event at Crosswinds, though the collapse occurred over the last four holes. Playing in the final group, I had the championship in my grasp and let it slip away. I allowed two other players to tie me, forcing a sudden death playoff. On the first playoff hole, I had the advantage after two strokes, but couldn't capitalize due to poor pitching and putting. On the second and deciding playoff hole, the eventual winner earned the title with a timely birdie. It was a bitter loss, but I can't really be disappointed with the overall season. It was great to be right in contention up to the very end. I will have to avenge the loss next year!
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