My 10-Point Checklist For The 2026 Golf Season

Fergus Bisset hits a shot — Fergus Bisset has a 10-point plan for 2026 (Image credit: Kenny Smith)

Those who have read my regular rants about the hopeless nature of the World Handicap System (WHS) will know that I no longer care very much about my handicap.

It used to be my objective every year – to end the season with a lower number beside my name than when I started. Now I don’t’ care. It’s irrelevant.

I’ve decided that’s a good thing. There’s more to golf than having a one-dimensional, handicap-focused approach. Of course, given the new handicap system isn’t suited to the competitive golfing culture we have in this country – my colleagues have argued the WHS has ruined golf for low-handicappers and it's the only sport that rewards mediocrity – winning competitions is also off my objectives list.

To be fair, I would like to win a scratch comp but that’s increasingly difficult as I get older. Winning a handicap event is a lottery. I could shoot the round of my life and still lose by a handful.

No, what I want to achieve this year is more personal and wider reaching than just medal golf. Here’s my 10-point checklist for 2026.

Practice and thereby improve putting

I’ve lamented my poor putting for years… decades in fact. But what can I really expect? I never practice.

Nobody ever got magically better at anything without doing something about it. I need to dedicate some time to work on my putting.

I’m going to spend half an hour a week at least doing drills on the practice green.

I enjoy the odd trip to the driving range to smash balls. I’m going to ditch every other one of those outings and replace them with a stint on the putting green.

Play more team golf

Dave Taylor and Alison Root celebrating on the green by high-fiving — Playing as a team is great fun

I’ve been reluctant to put myself forward for team events in the past as I’ve felt I haven’t been playing well enough and could let the side down.

But I really enjoy the camaraderie and competitive nature of team golf. When you win as a team, it feels great! I’m going to put my name down for more matches in 2026.

In fact, I’ve already done it and have a couple of good ones booked up in the diary. I might win my games, I might not. But… you have to be in it to win it!

Stop coming over the top

Tom Motley demonstrating the golf swing plane mirror drill, with the club at the top of the backswing and the alignment stick pointing down towards the floor — Stay on plane!

I know I do it. I know I need to stop it. But when I get lazy, I still come over the top at the ball far too frequently.

I’m a competent enough golfer to correct the mistake but when I lose concentration (and I think sometimes to protect my old man’s back,) my natural inclination is to lunge into it and come down at the ball like I’m swinging an axe.

I need to stay behind the ball, not take the club back on the inside and stop coming over the top!

Learn to chip

Dale Whitnell hits a chip shot — Must learn to chip!

Chipping is my nemesis. I try not to do it. If I can putt it, I will. If I can play a straight-armed bump and run, I will. I’ll only hit a proper chip if the situation absolutely demands it.

As I no longer care about my handicap, or winning anything, I’m going to put myself in the danger zone more often and attempt to chip when it is the correct shot.

Much like with my putting, I’m never going to get any better unless I do it. I can’t dream or think my way to becoming a reasonable chipper of the ball. I have to work at it.

Play more, and so better, away from home

I’m something of a golfing homebird and I love knocking it round my home track of Banchory.

But it doesn’t make you a better golfer to become super-proficient at negotiating a single track.

You must be able to play away from home and, like the putting and the chipping mentioned above, if you don’t do it frequently, you have no chance of getting better at it.

To become a more complete golfer, I must play away from home more frequently this year and learn to put decent scores together at unfamiliar venues.

Play every shot like it’s my last

I am going to endeavour to properly try on every single shot on the golf course this season.

In the past, I’ve been guilty of being dismissive of certain shots – “I just need to get one down there somewhere and then think about the next.” … “If I just get this one somewhere on the green and two-putt, I can think about the par 5 coming up.”

That’s terrible mental play and will only lead to silly mistakes. This season I will focus on every single shot, have a clear strategy and play it like my life depends on it.

I don’t need to take longer to do it, I just need to flip the mindset to concentration, positivity and certainty every time I stand over the ball.

Stay limber

10 Simple Golf Stretch Exercises Everyone Can Try — Stay limber!

I’m not getting any younger. As I venture into my late 40s, I’ve noticed I’m getting a bit stiffer and less mobile (what a shock!)

I didn’t used to need to stretch before a game. I would never even hit a shot or two to warm up – I could just wander onto the first tee and smash one away.

I can no longer do that. I need to give myself 10 minutes pre-game to hit some balls in the nets and have a decent stretch before I head out.

You don’t see any of the top pros running onto the first tee with their laces undone!

Away from the course, I’m going to stretch every day. I’ve had a bad back for a few years and the physio has given me a very straightforward programme of stretches to do every morning and evening. I’m actually going to do it!

Make new friends

Two sets of golfers shaking hands on the 18th green, with one set having taken their hats off in line with the etiquette of the game and another set where only one player has removed their hat — Make some pals!

Golf is my main social activity, and I want to be sociable. All humans need to be, but the modern world can make it difficult at times.

It’s easy to get stuck in a golfing rut and play at the same time with the same people all the time. I do like those people and I like routine.

But I also like meeting new people and doing so can open new doors in your life. This year, I will put myself out there a bit more and try to play golf with some people I haven’t met before.

Focus on Rhythm

Ernie Els "The Big Easy" — What would Ernie do?

I can tie myself in knots thinking about technical tweaks that might just make the difference to my game.

But my swing has been totally ingrained over 40 years, and I really can’t change it now. I know that, when I’m playing badly, it can take me weeks of trying everything to fix it before I remember that it’s all about rhythm.

If I swing slowly, with a nice rhythm, I will produce my best golf. My swing might feel off, I might feel like I’m taking it away wrong, gripping it incorrectly, standing in the wrong place… It doesn’t matter – if I get the rhythm right, the results will speak for themselves.

Enjoy golf

Mark Townsend — I do actually enjoy this game!

That’s it…. There’s no need to expand on it. What’s the point in playing the game unless you enjoy it. I’m going to enjoy golf in 2026.

Fergus is Golf Monthly's resident expert on the history of the game and has written extensively on that subject. He has also worked with Golf Monthly to produce a podcast series. Called 18 Majors: The Golf History Show it offers new and in-depth perspectives on some of the most important moments in golf's long history. You can find all the details about it here.

He is a golf obsessive and 1-handicapper. Growing up in the North East of Scotland, golf runs through his veins and his passion for the sport was bolstered during his time at St Andrews university studying history. He went on to earn a post graduate diploma from the London School of Journalism. Fergus has worked for Golf Monthly since 2004 and has written two books on the game; "Great Golf Debates" together with Jezz Ellwood of Golf Monthly and the history section of "The Ultimate Golf Book" together with Neil Tappin , also of Golf Monthly.

Fergus once shanked a ball from just over Granny Clark's Wynd on the 18th of the Old Course that struck the St Andrews Golf Club and rebounded into the Valley of Sin, from where he saved par. Who says there's no golfing god?

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