This golfer went from beginner to single digit handicap in 18 months
Ed. Note: The subject of this story is user X Upper East Side Golf (@UESgolf), a member of the golf “burnerverse”. He is referred to his username and handle in this article to protect his hot identity.
Upper East Side Golf is a certified golf course culture. This word is used a lot, but there are few who combine this word like he does.
Every morning, he wakes up around 5:30 am and heads to Five Iron Golf’s Rockefeller Center to practice his game. He usually hits the 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 grinding his game in the simulator, you might find him walking the fairways of Pelham Bay Golf Course in the Bronx.
“I played 83 rounds in 2025,” said @UESgolf. “I’d get up at 4:15 or 4:30 in the morning, take an Uber, or drive if 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 golf “sickos” and there is golf diseases. @UESgolf is the latest.
Most notable of all, golf is new to the 31-year-old. Although a lifelong athlete, @UESgolf only took up golf in the fall of 2024. Growing up in a golf-rich neighborhood in Philadelphia, his father played the game, but @UESgolf focused on lacrosse. Golf did not pique his interest.
That all changed more than 18 months ago when he joined a group of friends on a tour. After being admired by his countrymen who were less gifted in sports, he decided to pursue golf to fulfill his competitive drive. It didn’t take him long to start the game. Despite its late introduction to the sport, @UESgolf has already adjusted its handicap to low numbers, and has a driver-friendly speed of over 120 mph (seriously).
So, what is the secret of his rapid development in golf? I just sat down with him to find out.
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1. Focus on the middle contact
Like many new golfers, @UESgolf had poor clubface control when starting the game. Instead of chasing aesthetic swing changes in those early days, he focused on golf’s most important skill: consistently hitting the center of the clubface.
Most of his practice focused on simple ways of responding. Spray the foot on the clubface to reveal the strike zone or cover the head near the ball to encourage a different club path. Everything he did was aimed at teaching himself how to hit the clubface.
“The main thing we have to focus on is pressing the ball and good communication,” he said. “Even today, I’m still trying to get to the center of the field.”
2. Dedicated practice
Rapid development is not possible without great dedication. As @UESgolf can attest, it takes dedication if you want to shave your handicap.
“I get up at 5:30 in the morning and head to the Five Iron and hit balls for an hour or two,” he says. “Then in the spring and summer, as soon as it’s warm enough to play golf, which for me is 40 to 42 degrees, I’ll play before work.”
Not everyone has the flexibility to devote that kind of time to golf, but the sad truth about the game is that improvement doesn’t happen overnight. If you want to get better, you have to put in the work.
3. Don’t go down too many rabbit holes
Like many who get the “golf bug,” @UESgolf spends a lot of time obsessed upon his throwing. But this can be a blessing and a curse. While it’s good to think about your club swing, you can drive yourself crazy if you go down too many social media rabbit holes.
“I was playing with him [fellow golf burner Arnie McNair] during one of those things he was doing, @UESgolf says. “He looked at my swing and said, ‘You’re handicapped now, but you’d be a beginner 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 keep up. I was doing all kinds of crazy things.’ … Eventually Arnie introduced me to Andrew McCain, who gave me a free trial, and I’ve been working with him since January.”
Not all social media golf advice is bad (in fact, most of it is great!), but if you take every golf tip you see and apply it haphazardly, you’re setting yourself up for disaster. This is why it is so important to have a professional look over your swing. Once you’ve found a professional, correcting mistakes in your swing becomes much easier.
4. Organize your practice
Being a better golfer isn’t just about getting better positions that look better on camera. It’s about creating a curve that works in course settings. @UESgolf understands this, which is why he incorporates a combination of practice and dynamic practice into his routine.
“I’d say it’s about 60 percent dynamic and 40 percent block practice,” he says. “There are days when I’m trying to make a kink and I’ll hit a bunch of drivers or a bunch of 7-irons. But the practice that seems to help my hitting the most is the variable practice, working with different yards and conditions. Maybe I hit a 185-yard shot, then I hit a 70-yard shot, and then it’s the best kind of shot for 150. True.”
5. Remember to play
@UESgolf is a self-described mouse that finds hitting balls “here.” But the biggest key to lowering his handicap isn’t yet in the simulator — it comes from learning how to putt 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 score,” he says. “I learned to shoot in the 70s on the white and blue tees. Now I’m playing back and it’s a big challenge. Learning to score is something you can’t do in a match.”
Golf can feel like an impossible sport at times, but as @UESgolf proves, progress can be made with the right dedication, mindset and practice.
