The New Year has come and gone. For some, it’s a brand new year, a chance to change, improve, and define our skills and our lives. For others, it signifies that we are going to be one year older. I did a little research on how age reflects on our golf game and came across an interesting article by a Texas A & M Statistics Professor named Dr. Scott Berry.

His study probably isn’t entirely accurate for the recreational golfer, because the statistics he used were based on the top PGA players over the years. But his findings were interesting:

“The older the PGA player, the less chance he has of being a big winner,” and “almost all golfers peak between the ages of 30 and 35″.

He categorized a pro golfer’s career into three stages:

1. Phase One - Development, up to the age of 30.
2. Phase Two - Peak Performance, between the ages of 30 and 35.
3. Phase Three - Decline, after the age of 35.

Now, Dr. Berry used “complex formulas and computations” to arrive at this theory. His study was based on the Top 100 PGA winners of all time. His scoring method places Jack Nicklaus at the top No. 1 spot, and Tiger Woods at No. 14. At the time of the study, he also deduced that Tiger had already peaked at the age of 24, and most likely would not improve as he got older. His scoring model showed that most PGA players increased their score by almost 3 strokes, from the age of 35 to 50.

I’m sure there’s room for error, and there’s even a disclaimer that states that injuries to the players weren’t taken into consideration in the study - which would account for some decline in skill level.

I resolve this year to improve my game, regardless of my age level! Happy New Year, everybody!

Read the full article on Dr. Berry’s report.