November stats

What is progress? I've been at this golfing malarkey for some time and nearing the end of my first year recounting my experiences on this blog. Personally, I can't see how I have made any progress in the past year. I'm still stuck on a 28 handicap and I'm still working on my swing. I have been reassured in numerous quarters that when it finally clicks it will click massively. I suppose it is that glimmer of optimism that is keeping me going.

The dictionary definition of progress is
n.

1. Movement, as toward a goal; advance.
2. Development or growth: students who show progress.

intr.v. pro·gress (prə-grĕs'), -gressed, -gress·ing, -gress·es.

1. To advance toward a higher or better stage; improve steadily: as medical technology progresses. 

Mmm the stats below would indicate that I am most definitely a student who is not showing progress. However, the stats for this month include my disastrous medal and since then I have had two fairly solid rounds scoring 30 stableford points in each. I have a lot more golf off the whites coming up in December, as well as my first stab at team golf in the Winter League. Hopefully I can finish 2010 on a high.

Practice

Distance	Time (minutes)	% of practice time
Driver	0	0%
Other Woods	30	4%
200 - 250 yards	45	5%
150 – 200 yards	55	7%
100 – 150 yards	220	26%
Short Approach	360	43%
Bunker Play	20	2%
Putting	110	13%
Total	840	100%

Rounds
With the exception of the birdie statistic I am pretty consistent with last month. My scrambling stats also need to be improved although I am giving myself more of a chance of saving par now than I used to. However, at the moment making par is contingent on me hitting the GIR and with my obscenely high number of penalties I can't do this enough to bring my scores down.

Statistic	Performance	SS2 Handicap level
Fairways in Regulation	26% (25%)	23 (24)
Greens in Regulation	15% (12%)	16 (19)
Putts per Round	35.33 (34.88)	19 (17)
Birdie Conversion	0% (25%)	28+ (Scratch)
Par Scrambles	2% (0%)	28+ (28+)
Sand Saves	0%	28+
Penalties per Round	5 (6.19)	28+ (28+)

The SS2 handicap level is a calculation made indicating your performance on different facets of your game.

However, these stats do not reveal what I believe is a marked improvement in my putting. So I looked at my putting and GIR stats. Comparing the past two months with the rest of the year my GIR stats have gone up from 11% to 14%. In that same timeframe my putts on GIR has dropped from 2.33 to 2.08. Hoping that all the work I've been putting into my chipping will start to have an impact on my scrambling stats soon. So progress has been limited but I did start this journey working from green to tee and things are looking much improved with the flat stick!