This golfer went from beginner to single digit handicap in 18 months

Ed. Note: The subject of this story is X user Upper East Side Golf (@UESgolf), a member of golf’s “burnerverse.” He is referred to by his username and handle in this article to protect his flash identity.

Upper East Side Golf is a certified golf course sick This term is thrown around a lot, but there are few who embody the term quite like him.

Every morning, he wakes up around 5:30 a.m. and drives straight Five iron golfRockefeller Center location to take up his game. He often hits balls for 90 minutes and finishes with a lift at the gym before heading to his midtown Manhattan office to start his day job in the financial industry. On mornings when he’s not doing his simulator game, you can find him walking around in it streets of Pelham Bay streets golf course in the Bronx.

“I played 83 rounds in 2025,” says @UESgolf. “I would wake up at 4:15 or 4:30 in the morning, take an Uber or drive as soon as I got a car, go play in Pelham Bay, finish as soon as possible and get back to the city by 9:30 so I could go to work.”

There is “sickos” golf and there is golf sick. @UESgolf is the latter.

Most important of all, golf is a relatively new obsession for the 31-year-old. Although he’s a lifelong athlete, @UESgolf only took up golf in the fall of 2024. Growing up in the golf-rich suburbs of Philadelphia, his father played the game, but @UESgolf’s focus was lacrosse. Golf just didn’t hold his interest.

That all changed just over 18 months ago when he joined a group of friends for a round. After being beaten by his less talented compatriots in the sport, he decided to pursue golf to fulfill his competitive endeavours. It didn’t take long for him to get the hang of the game. Despite a late introduction to the sport, @UESgolf has already dropped its handicap into the low numbers and has a great driver speed that is well over 120 mph (seriously).

So what is the secret to his rapid golf improvement? I recently sat down with him to find out.

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1. Focus on center contact

Like many new golfers, @UESgolf had poor club control when he started the game. Instead of chasing aesthetic changes in those early days, he focused on the most important skill in golf: consistently hitting the center of the clubface.

Most of his practice revolved around simple reaction drills. Foot splash on the club face to reveal the location of the shot or a head cover near the ball to encourage a different club path. Everything he did was for the purpose of teaching himself how to hit the center of the club face.

“The biggest thing to focus on is compressing the ball and making good contact,” he says. “Even today, a lot of what I try and do is just hit the center of the club face.”

2. Dedicated practice

Rapid improvement does not happen without serious commitment. As @UESgolf can attest, it takes dedication if you want to knock shots off your handicap.

“I get up at 5:30 in the morning and go to the Five Iron to hit balls for an hour or two,” he says. “Then in the spring and summer, as soon as it gets warm enough for golf, which for me is about 40 to 42 degrees, I go play before work.”

Not everyone has the flexibility to devote that kind of time to golf, but the unfortunate truth about the game is that improvement doesn’t happen overnight. If you want to improve, you have to put in the work.

3. Don’t go down too many rabbit holes

Like many people who get the “golf bug”, @UESgolf spends a lot of time fixed on his swing. But this can be a blessing and a curse. While it’s good to put some thought into how you swing the club, you can also drive yourself crazy if you swing too low. social media rabbit holes.

“I was DMing (fellow golfer Arnie McNair) during one of those swing evaluation things he was doing,” says @UESgolf. “He looked at my swing and said, ‘You’re a 6 handicap now, but you’d be a scratch golfer if you stopped doing XYZ and got off YouTube.’

“I was doing all kinds of changes. I even shortened my clubs because I thought I couldn’t move properly. I was doing all kinds of crazy things.” … Eventually Arnie introduced me to Andrew McCain, who gave me a free estimate, and I’ve been working with him since January.”

Not all golf instruction on social media is bad (in fact, a lot of it is pretty good!), but if you take every swing you see and apply it ad hoc, you’re setting yourself up for disaster. This is why it is so important to have a professional take a look at your swing. Once you’ve been diagnosed by a professional, fixing the flaws in your swing becomes much easier.

4. Mix up your practice

Becoming the best golfer isn’t just about finding the best positions that look best on camera. It’s also about building a swing that’s functional in the course environment. @UESgolf understands this, which is why he includes a mix of block practice and variable practice in his routine.

“I’d say it’s probably about 60 percent variable practice and 40 percent block practice,” he says. “There are definitely days where I’m just trying to practice a shot and I’ll hit a set of drivers or a set of 7-irons. But the practice that seems to help me score the most is variable practice, working through different yards and situations. Maybe I hit a 185-yard putt, then a 70-yard putt, that kind of 150-yard putt, then a 15-yard putt. it translates best to the course.”

5. Don’t forget to play

@UESgolf is a self-described golfer who finds hitting balls “therapeutic.” But the biggest key to lowering his handicap hasn’t come in the simulator — it’s come from learning how to put the ball in the hole on the course.

“If you really want to get your handicap down, you have to play golf and learn how to putt,” he says. “I learned how to shoot in the 70s from blue and white tees. Now I’m playing farther and it’s more challenging. Learning how to hit is something you just can’t do in a simulator.”

Golf can feel like an impossible game at times, but as @UESgolf proves, improvement comes with dedication, mindset and the right practice regimen.