The most optimistic swing of the year

THERE IS A very special time in a golfer’s calendar when handicaps don’t exist, slices are forgotten, and optimism flows like free beer at a clubhouse prize-giving.

- Rahil Gangjee

It’s called January.January is when golfers across the world wake up convinced that this is the year. The year they finally “fix the swing,’ get “mentally stronger,” and—my personal favourite—“play smarter golf” This is also the month when credit cards take a beating from coaches, launch monitors, fitness trainers, yoga instructors, and gadgets that promise five extra yards and a life-changing ball flight.

I’ve been around long enough to know this ritual well. I’ve made these resolutions. Broken them. Rewritten them. And then blamed my equipment.

New Year’s resolutions and golfers have a complicated relationship. We approach them with the same enthusiasm as a downhill par-5 and abandon them with the same speed as a bad bunker lie.

Resolution No.1: I will practice more

This is the undisputed world champion of golf resolutions. “I’ll practise three times a week.’ “I’ll spend more time on my short game.” “I'll actually work on my weaknesses.”

January rolls in and the range is packed. People are hitting balls with purpose. Alignment sticks are out. Someone is even working on putting instead of smashing drivers like they’re auditioning for a long-drive contest.

By February, reality steps in. Work gets busy. Traffic gets worse. The weather gets hotter. Suddenly “three times a week” becomes “weekends only,” which then becomes “I’ll play instead—it’s still golf, no?”

By March, practice is something you talk about, not something you do.

Let me let you in on a secret from the “old guy” corner: it’s not about practising more. It’s about practising better. Thirty focused minutes beats two hours of beating balls while discussing mutual fund returns with your playing partner.

But “I'll practise smarter” doesn’t sound as heroic on January Ist.