How to Get 10 Shots Better at Golf in 6 Months... or How I Did, Anyway

You can change your life entirely in six months.
Heck, you could do it in six seconds if you let go and committed now.
But we’ll get there—I’ll start with the version that’s easier to believe.

Six months ago, I was a walking midlife crisis—the epitome of an ineffectual middle-aged loser going through the divorce of a long marriage and finding zero fulfillment in his career, hobbies, or the seemingly endless run of 20-something cuties now vying for his attention.

To paraphrase Hank Williams Jr., “I have loved some ladies, and I have loved Jim Beam—and they both tried to kill me,” well… last year.

I’ve got a journal from around then that I read sometimes. They’d lock me up in a padded cell and throw away the key if I told you the things I’d written in there, but suffice, there was not much light at the end of the tunnel I could see from where I was standing then.

But as is often the case, a major factor was my conclusion that every glimmer of light wasn’t the exit but an oncoming train heading my way fast.

A funny thing about life is that, outwardly, everyone would likely have assumed I was mostly fine. My body is remarkably resilient, and I only told a couple of people about the time I drank my way into the hospital and died there for a few seconds. But mostly, I seemed fine since I was still front and center in my kids’ lives and constantly gushing about how wonderful they were, which they are—but the reality is, they were the only good things I had in my life.

Regardless, a few days past six months ago, I had one thought, and you might say it turned the tide:

I’ve never been sad while playing golf.

My brain doesn’t always work in conventional ways, but the logic made perfect sense then. I would be sad on a golf course if nothing could make me happy. The alternative—perhaps it is impossible for me to be sad on a golf course—was probably the most optimistic thought I’d entertained in months.

So, I put a daily reminder on my phone and set it for 8 a.m. every day:

“Consider playing golf today.”
I told myself each morning.

After ignoring said reminder for a couple of days, I played golf.
I wasn’t sad.
It made me happy.

And just like that, I had proof.
Golf could still reach me—even when nothing else could.

That happiness was fleeting because I also decided to input my scores into the U.S. Golf Association’s Golf Handicap Index Network (GHIN). For anyone unfamiliar, this system lets you log your scores, track your progress, and get a number reflecting your current ability, like a golf GPA.

Thus, six months ago today—I’m writing this on April 21, 2025—the app informed me I had a handicap index of 8.0.

Some people would be thrilled with a single-digit number after mostly not playing the game for two decades. But I was a scratch golfer in high school, and 8.0 wasn’t up to snuff in my eyes.

But I knew: you can’t expect one thing to change without changing another.
That’s sort of the primary law of the universe.
So I went to work.

I’m writing this blog today because after inputting my most recent score into the GHIN this weekend, I opened the app this morning to see this number staring back at me: +2.0.

For anyone unfamiliar with the handicap system, you can expect me to shoot 2-under par in an average hypothetical round under hypothetically average conditions at a hypothetically average golf course.

I’m not saying you should expect that, but it is the gist of the system.

If a single-digit handicapper approaching 50 can trim 10 shots off his average score in six months, there’s no reason anyone else can’t do it, too.

So, stay tuned. I will tell you exactly how I did it—right here.