What a year 2025 was. Some rounds were forgettable, a few were quietly excellent, and almost all of them taught me something. It was a year that was interrupted by injury, but where I used that time to better understand my game, my gear and why I keep returning to this game we all love. I also reassessed the direction of my website, www.thoughtsfromthetrain.com, culminating in the launch of www.theclubhouse.blog as the home for all my golf-specific content.
Maybe it was due to my injuries, but looking back now, I know that I struggled to walk my talk in 2025 and spent too much time chasing scores and a handicap number rather than simply letting those things happen. Despite that, it was still a year where I remember conversations, shots, and frustrations just as clearly as the numbers (maybe even more so).
The Headline Numbers (For Context, Not Judgement)
Let’s start with the cold facts:
Rounds played: 138 recorded in Tangent, plus 20 or more that were not recorded. Pretty good for a year interrupted by tendonitis, then a back injury and a hernia.
Handicap (start → end): 3.9 - 4.1 (but got down to 2.7 along the way)
Best score: Counting - Jubilee 73, non-counting Duke’s 71
Most played course: Duke’s Golf Course (now renamed as the Craigtoun Course)
On paper, it was a plateau year, but I think it masks significant progress, especially in the second half of the year. The most important progress is not with my swing!
The High Points (Why I Keep Playing)
Every season has moments that remind you why golf gets under your skin.
Best round of the year: Contenders would include the 73 on the Jubilee in competition, the 71 on the Duke’s and playing the Carnoustie Championship under competition pressure. But the best round of my year has to be my first-ever round at Muirfield. What an amazing day out that was. Playing with members, we had to play foursomes, but the day was possibly even more special for that. We had perfect weather, the company was great, and the lunch afterwards lived up to its legendary reputation. Adding to the experience, my partner and I also played some excellent golf, finishing just a few shots over par!
Best single shot: Driving the green on the 12th hole of The Old Course, St Andrews and then holing the putt for an Eagle 2. What made it even better was that it was in a competition round, the Thistle Autumn Meeting. After holing the putt, the competition was called off due to a thunderstorm. It was like a golfing “mike- drop” moment, holing the putt, putting my waterproofs on and walking off the course!
Best stretch of form: Early in the season, around the time of the Craws Nest Tassie at Carnoustie, before I had to stop playing at the end of May. This is when I got down to my lowest handicap index of 2.7 and was full of optimism (and ibuprofen) for the rest of the season.
These were the days when my decisions felt clear, and my swing felt repeatable and effortless. Time seemed to slow down, and I was aware of everything around me. There was a different connection to the course and the game. Something I’ve tried to talk about before in my Transendental Golf post (HERE).
The Struggles (The Honest Part)
It wouldn’t be an honest review without this section.
The low point came on August 17th at The Duke’s. I was returning from injury, and the competition that day was being played from the 7000-yard blue tees. It got in my head from the first tee. The course felt just a little too long, every miss was punished, and confidence leaked away hole by hole. Nothing catastrophic happened — no snap hooks or shanks — which somehow made it worse. Just enough bad swings, poor decisions, and tentative shots to turn the round into a grind.
That day exposed a few things (can’t hide from the Tangent data):
Where I lost strokes: Approach play and putting were terrible. The former was probably understandable, as I had a lot of long irons, hybrids or even woods for my approach shots. I think the poor putting performance was down to having basically given up by the time I reached most greens!
Bad habits that crept in: My mental game was poor. I hadn’t realised we were off the blue tees instead of the normal white ones (6500 yards), and that was down to poor preparation. I let the length intimidate me from the start and didn’t let myself accept that the tougher course meant I was getting more shots. My ego got in the way, and I let it control my mindset and mood.
What I tried to force instead of accept: Basically, I tried to hit the ball as hard as I could on every shot and made some terrible course management decisions!
Walking off the 18th, the frustration wasn’t about the score. It was about knowing I hadn’t played smart when my best swing wasn’t there. I went out again a few days later with my friend Ian, played from the same blues and shot 76 just by making better decisions and playing smarter golf!
If 2025 taught me anything, it’s that I need to start listening to my own advice and start walking my talk. Get rid of the swing thoughts, the blaming, the excuses and the moaning and JUST PLAY GOLF! After all, it’s just a game, and it should be fun!
What Needs to Change?
This was a year of injury and frustration that has required a subtle rebuild of my swing to improve my mechanics and prevent future issues. Despite my swing being good enough to get me down to 2.7 earlier in the season, little errors ultimately put too much strain on my elbows and back, resulting in injury.
Technical work: Coming back from injury, I joined Liam Robinson’s Tour Golf Network and started working on his drills. I also purchased a Hack Motion sensor to provide feedback on progress. When my hernia repair allows, I plan to work on these technical aspects of my swing ahead of the season starting again. Now that I better understand the issues in my swing that may have contributed to my elbow tendonitis, I hope to build a swing that prevents future recurrence.
Practice approach: I believe I spent too much time playing in 2025 and not enough time doing structured/meaningful practice, despite having great practice facilities at my disposal. In 2026, plan to use my Tangent data to focus my practice on the areas that most need improvement.
Strokes Gained Summary for 2025 I lose strokes Driving primarily down to distance relative to scratch players. But I have to remember that I’m 57 and be careful about the impact on my body that chasing distance could have. The area with the most scope for improvement is Approach play. Drilling into that data further, I can see the culprits are Distance and Mistakes, effectively a combination of course management and strike.
No doubt that I can improve my performance in this area Mental game: I think this is my biggest area for improvement. Self-belief, expectation management, patience and course management. I’ve talked about it in so many of my blog posts, I need to start believing in myself and walk my talk.
The biggest improvement wasn’t technical. It was learning when not to force things, and accepting that some days are about managing misses rather than chasing perfect swings. But I was prone to losing sight of that!
Equipment Reflections
Gear always plays a supporting role, but 2025 had a few standouts.
Best club in the bag: 3 hybrid. This has been such a versatile club for me this year. It’s great from the fairway and first cut of rough as well as off the tee.
Biggest surprise in equipment: Changing my putter to the SeeMore Mini Giant FGP (now swapped to the smaller Nashville mFGP). I used my summer injury layoff to test and review a lot of putters, which was a lot of fun. I wasn’t really looking to change putters, just review them, but I couldn’t deny how well I putted with the SeeMore, so it stayed in the bag.
Biggest golfing surprise: AimPoint! I know there is a lot of hate out there for AimPoint and it has become a bit of a lightning rod for many, but it has allowed me to putt with so much more freedom. Despite good putting stats, I never believed I was a good putter and always suffered from self-doubt on the greens. Not any more! I would recommend AimPoint to anyone (review HERE, progress report HERE).
Putting performance since learning AimPoint At +0.9 for 2025, my Strokes Gained Putting improved by +0.2 from my 2024 performance, all of which I believe is down to the improvement from AimPoint and putting with more confidence and self-belief.
What didn’t last: Despite my excellent driver fitting experience at SGGT (HERE), I ended up switching out the GT3 head for the more forgiving GT2 head partway through the year and didn’t look back. Reviewing the video (HERE), I thought both heads performed very similarly, but went for forgiveness over distance. My Strokes Gained Driving was slightly worse at -0.4 for 2024, compared to -0.3 for 2024. Drilling into that, it’s primarlily distance, but confidence has definitely played a part too.
Other changes: After reviewing driving irons (HERE) I decided to switch my 5 hybrid back to a 5i. I used a slightly lighter version of the shaft in my irons and experimented with a thicker grip. It’s been a good change. After some experimentation thanks to Auchterlonies, I also upgraded my wedges (HERE).
Some clubs earned trust. Others reminded me that marketing doesn’t lower scores — decisions and practice do.
Courses & Experiences That Stayed With Me
Golf is rarely just about the golf.
Favourite course played: Carnoustie Championship (but Muirfield ran it really close). The more I play Carnoustie, the more I love it and want to play it again. It really does test every aspect of your game. I’m lucky to have played it several times with my friend Eben, and I also had the experience of playing the Craws Nest Tassie there this year.
Best playing partners: I played the Speyside 54 Open as a single again this year and was drawn with 4 different players from Kemnay Golf Club. I played with the same pair on days one and three, and a different pair on day two. They were brilliant fun to play with, and despite being pairs, they made me very welcome in their groups. Due to someone unfortunately taking ill, I received a short-notice invitation to join a group golfing holiday in Turkey. I only knew one member of the group before the trip, but they made me incredibly welcome, and it has been great playing and catching up with them again since we returned. Then there are my regular playing partners in St Andrews, your company, friendship and banter make time on the links all the more enjoyable.
Most memorable round (part 1): As above, there are many contenders, but it has to be playing The PGA Centenary Course at Gleneagles back in early October. This was a great fun match between the Keiths and the Ducks. It’s a long time since I’ve played the Centenary, and I produced some of my best golf of the year to finish +3 for the round and secure a strong win for the Keiths. It was one of those days characterised by great company, lots of laughs, spectacular views and some great golf. The Ducks will be looking for their revenge in Spring 26.
Most memorable round (part 2): Panmuir and a near-death experience! I received a late invitation to make up a 4-ball at Panmure. As my friend Eben says, you don’t need to be the first to be asked, just the first to say yes. I was playing with two of my friends and an acquaintance of theirs, let’s call him Dave from Denver (not his real name, but he was American). During the round, Dave told me about his recent heart attack and experience of having been in a medically induced coma. Reports of near-death experiences have always fascinated me. I listened intently and asked questions respectfully. The conversation was deeply personal and emotional. His belief in what he experienced was unwavering, and his determination to live life to the fullest was inspirational. At the end of the round, I thanked him for sharing his experience, and we went our separate ways, but I will always be touched by his story.
These are the moments that stay with you longer than any stat. You never know what you will find on the golf course.
What 2025 Taught Me About Myself Through Golf
If I had to summarise the year in a few lessons:
Consistency beats brilliance. There are no quick fixes in golf, and I spent too much time looking for love in the wrong places. YouTube tips, game improvement gadgets etc. (I do like my HackMotion sensor though!)
KISS - Keep It Simple Stupid! Simple plans survive pressure. The more swing thoughts and technical issues I have in my head, the worse I play. There were too many rounds where they spiralled out of control because I didn’t follow my routines. Routines build confidence and block out noise. I need to recommit and build better routines in 2026. I think the point about AimPoint above is that it gives me a simple, repeatable routine on the green, allowing me to putt with freedom and confidence. I need to take that mindset into the rest of my game. Focus on the process and don’t obsess about the outcome.
Enjoyment and improvement aren’t opposites. Golf is a game that should be played for fun. I’m not good enough to get angry at myself, and at times this year, I was not the playing partner that I want to be. That was disappointing. I double my commitment to mindful golf, gratitude, and being a good playing partner. My injuries have taught me that I should never take golf (or my health) for granted. I appreciate every time I get to play!
Golf was hard at times in 2025, but ultimately, I believe it rewards honesty and has taught me several lessons.
Looking Ahead to 2026 (Quiet Confidence)
Next year isn’t about reinvention. It’s about refinement.
Primary goal: Get healthy and get through the season injury-free! The hernia should hopefully be a straightforward procedure, but it’s the elbow tendinitis that is proving much more problematic. Hopefully, more physiotherapy, working with the HackMotion sensor, and some good coaching can ease the pain.
Secondary, long-term goal: Get to scratch (or better) and play in a Senior Open Qualifier event. That will definitely require a commitment to the Primary goal!
One technical thing to improve: Approach play.
One mental thing to improve: Mindfulness.
One thing to keep: A sense of humour.
If 2025 was about better understanding myself and my game, 2026 is about trusting it and letting it flow. It’s time to walk my talk.
If you played a round with me this year — good, bad, or ugly — thanks for being part of it.
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Hey, great read as alway. How reconcile plateau and progress?