[GalasaKoll]

I would love to play this great game 2-3 times a week but family commitments, lack of time and finances make it difficult. I also try to make it to the driving range once a week as well.

So my question is what is a realistic handicap target for a golfer playing only once a week? Not this season but maybe by the end of next season.

I am a pretty good ball striker and come from a fairly sporting background. My chipping and pitching goes from reasonable to good but putting is variable and at times extremely frustrating. My iron play can be good but needs a little more work on consistency.

The weakest part of my game is my driving off the tee and sometimes my 3 wood as well. On a bad day I am a slicer/straight left due to playing across from out to in. I also believe I am prone to hitting my woods like irons which result in skying! My swing speed is between 95-100 mph at about normal power (80-85%). I do generally get more consistent results off the tee when I put less into the shot but obviously lose distance as well. It is a constant battle to hold the fairway from the tee and also not feel compelled to 'go for it' from the light rough. I am working on improving my course management skills!

One of my strengths is an ability to watch and learn from some good players I have seen and make adaptations to my own game to achieve improvements. One simple example of this is playing my sand wedge with an open face to vary the trajectory. I watched some good players do this with very good results and have now reached a point where I feel quite confident in playing a 50 yard pitch to within 10 feet of the hole. Unfortunately I rarely make those distance putts and often settle for 2 putts or on a very bad day 3! Twitching and feeling tense whilst putting can be a problem.

A couple of good players I know have said I am good enough to be a low teens handicap player.

I like the idea of that so my target is 13-15!