My Year In Golf: 2023
A tradition unlike any other.
The last few years I’ve tried to wrap up my year in golf and look back at how I’ve done with both my handicap and with the courses I’ve played, and reflect a bit.
Mostly it’s a time to realize just how lucky I am to be able to play as much golf as I do, but it’s also a good time to gauge if I achieved my golf goals and what I might want to change up in the New Year.
In order to assess how I did, it’s important to first remember WHY I play golf. There are a few things I think are hugely important in golf and why I love it so much:
It’s a tremendous way to spend time with friends, old and new, and build out relationships and memories that truly last.
It’s a way to see more parts of the country and world, and experience the thrill of playing a course for the first time.
It’s a way of trying to improve and get better at something important to me.
That list is in order of priority for me, but they’re all important.
So, how did 2023 go? Mostly very, very well.
In terms of great memories, I think the answer here is SHEESH. Not only did I take trips to Bandon Dunes, Denver and Ireland but some of my best golf memories happened locally - playing as a fivesome at Corica North as a sendoff to a buddy moving across the country was easily one of the most fun nine holes I’ve played in sometime. (This shot will live in infamy not just with me but with my friends.)
(And yes, I should have just hit out sideways.) Getting up to Northwood and playing with buddies in the redwoods is always a blast and was especially so this September.
And yeah, getting to play some of the worlds greatest courses in Ireland with some of my closest friends? That ruled.
In the photo just above, I’ve known these guys for roughly 20-40 years. Getting them all together and playing great golf courses (if not always great golf)? Quite truly the dream for me.
As always, I like to list out the courses I played for the first time this year, so here goes:
Meadow Club
Lake Merced CC (post-renovation)
Portmarnock Golf Club
Ardglass Golf Club
Royal County Down Golf Club (Championship)
Royal Portrush (Dunluce)
Royal Portrush (Valley
Portstewart (Strand)
Castlerock (Bann)
Ballyliffin Golf Club (Glashedy)
Rosapenna Golf Club (St. Patricks Links)
Narin & Portnoo Golf Club
Enniscrone Golf Club
Carne (Wild Atlantic Dunes, Hackett 9)
Dromoland Castle Golf Club
Ballybunion Golf Club (Old)
Waterville Golf Club
Dooks Golf Club
Lahinch Golf Club (Old)
Tralee Golf Club
Old Head Golf “Links”
The Island Golf Club
Windsor Golf Club
Fossil Trace Golf Club
CommonGround Golf Course
Arrowhead Golf Club
That’s 26 new golf courses, with the majority of them in Ireland and Denver, CO. Overall, I will end the year playing about 80 rounds of golf, which is a ridiculously high number.
But … how did I do? The last metric I gauge my golf game on is how I play, and in this regard the results aren’t ideal. I am ending the season with my index at about 13.5 - which is, roughly, exactly where I’ve finished the prior two years as well. This is a perfectly fine handicap but there’s clearly not a lot of progress being made.
To this, I have some thoughts that I will address in a separate post about how I will improve in 2024. I’m sure you are waiting with breathless anticipation for that one.
Golf is a sport that in professional terms is in utter disarray, and gets less and less appealing with every day for me. But in terms of my own golf game, there’s so much out there to enjoy. 2024 will include golf trips to Utah and South Carolina, and that list of “new” courses should grow yet again. I can’t wait.