25 golf goals for beginners and regular players, from first round to lower handicap

Golf goals for beginners

Beginner goals are about getting around the course and coming back, not about the score.

• Play 9 holes and count every stroke.
• Finish a full 18 holes.
• Hit 50 balls at the range once a week for 2 months.
• Take 5 lessons.
• Get an official Handicap Index.

Golf scoring and handicap goals

Scoring goals are the classic ones, and the round numbers are milestones every golfer knows.

• Break 100.
• Break 90.
• Break 80.
• Lower your Handicap Index by 3 in one season.
• Play a round with nothing worse than a double bogey.

Putting and short game goals

Putting goals are the easiest to practise and the easiest to count, on a green or on a carpet.

• Hole 50 putts in a row from 1 metre.
• Take 2 putts or fewer on all 18 greens.
• Average under 36 putts a round across 5 rounds.
• Get up and down 3 times in one round.
• Chip 7 balls out of 10 to within one club length of the hole.

Long game goals

Long game goals count fairways, greens and penalty strokes. Repeating one swing under pressure is the same problem a server has in tennis goals and a hitter has in baseball goals.

• Hit 7 fairways out of 14.
• Hit 6 greens in regulation in one round.
• Play a full round with no penalty strokes.
• Land 8 drives out of 10 between two targets at the range.
• Use the same routine before every shot for 18 holes.

Practice and season goals

Practice goals count sessions and rounds, and they are the only golf goals the weather cannot touch.

• Play 30 rounds this season.
• Post 20 scores, enough for a full handicap record.
• Practise 2 times a week for 12 weeks.
• Putt for 15 minutes a day for 30 days.
• Walk 18 holes carrying your bag 10 times.

What is a good golf goal?

A good golf goal is specific, and at least half of your goals should be about how you play, not what you shoot. A review of 27 studies of goal setting in sport found that process goals, the ones about how you carry out a skill, had the largest effect on performance. "Same routine before every shot" is a process goal. "Break 90" is the result it serves.

The Handicap Index is the best single number to aim at, because it already smooths out one bad round. Under the Rules of Handicapping, the highest index a player can have is 54.0, so a beginner can get one. Once you have 20 scores on record, it is the average of your lowest 8.

That makes "post 20 scores" a real goal, and a count you control. The research on goal tracking found that keeping a record is what raises the odds of reaching a goal at all.

How to track golf goals

Keep more than the score. Write down putts, fairways hit and penalty strokes after each round. A review of 138 studies found that people who monitored their progress reached their goals more often, and that recording it beat keeping it in your head.

Rounds and practice sessions are a day count. Putts holed and balls hit are amounts. A 12 week practice block is the length of a 90 day challenge, and it is tracked the same way.

Scores jump around from round to round. A picture that fills up one round at a time shows the season, which is the only view where a handicap makes sense.

Frequently asked questions

What are good golf goals for beginners?

Finish 18 holes, count every stroke, and go to the range once a week for 2 months. After that, get a Handicap Index and aim to break 100.

What is a realistic golf goal for a season?

To lower your Handicap Index by a few strokes and to play enough rounds to have 20 scores on record. Pair it with one skill goal, like fewer than 36 putts a round.

How is a Handicap Index worked out?

Under the Rules of Handicapping, once you have 20 scores on record it is the average of your lowest 8 score differentials. The highest index a player can have is 54.0.