Golf:

The resolutions I have made with regard to golf last about as long as my chance of breaking 80.

This year, though, is different. Unlike past years when I have said I was going to change, this year I think I might mean it.

Every successful person I have ever met has goals for themselves. They make them realistic, but then try as hard as they can to achieve them. I have done this in other areas of my life, so why not golf.

For whatever reason, though, it seems more difficult to stick with those resolutions. I’m not really sure why, but after talking to a few people, I have mapped out a plan to make 2010 a more successful golf year.

My handicap index is currently a 12.5 and I would like to lower it to single digits by the end of 2010. I look over my scorecard after a round and there are at least five shots that I gave away. I remember one golfing buddy saying one time, “I have never seen someone so adept at turning 78 into 88 in my entire life.”

The first thing I did even before the new year is identify what was killing me on the golf course. My long game was decent. I hit the ball pretty far and somewhat in the fairway. My iron game had problems. My club selection was not faulty, but my accuracy definitely needed fine tuning. I was ending up pin high on a lot of my shots, but 20 to 30 yards to the left or right of the pin. Instead of a birdie opportunity, I was scrambling just to make par.

Which leads to my biggest flaw, my short game. It is not good and it wouldn’t take a lot to make it better. I have soft hands, love the creativity of chipping and working around the green, but don’t work on it nearly as much as I need to in order to break 80.

My sand play also was a problem. It was very inconsistent. There were holes I could get it close and others I sailed the green. That was just a simple matter of mechanics and easily fixable with a little repetition.

My putting game has always been one of my stronger parts of my game, but again, I didn’t practice it. That had to change as well.

The first resolution is of course to practice more. The 10-15 seconds I think about hitting range balls isn’t going to cut it anymore. In 2010 I want to actually figure out where the driving range is and go there.

More importantly, I want to practice smarter. When I go to the range I hit a bucket of golf balls and then maybe spend about 10 minutes on the putting green. I want to reverse the order somewhat. My new plan is to hit half a bucket of balls with full clubs, then take the rest of the bucket and hit nothing more than wedges, picking out a target and aiming at it.

Then going to not only the putting green, but the short-game area and spending double the time that I used to.

What really needs to increase though is how much I play. I am lucky now if I play twice a month. I am going to try and play weekly, with one of those rounds at an executive course to strengthen my short game.

Another improvement I want to make is taking a lesson. I don’t have all the answers, if I did I would be playing golf professionally instead of writing about it. There are several qualified instructors in the area that I can get advice from to make my game even stronger.

The commitment is there, now I just have to work on execution — much like the game itself.

JOHN REGER’S golf column appears Thursdays. He may be reached by e-mail at nolimepublishing@aol.com.