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 the golf “burnerverse.” He is referenced by his username and handle in this article in order to protect his burnerverse identity.

Upper East Side Golf is a certified golf sicko. That term gets thrown around a lot, but there are few that embody the term quite like he does.

Each morning, he wakes up around 5:30 a.m. and treks to Five Iron Golf‘s Rockefeller Center location to grind on his game. He often hits balls for 90 minutes and finishes with a lift in the gym before heading to his midtown Manhattan office to start his day job in the financial industry. On mornings when he isn’t grinding on his game in the simulator, you may find him walking the fairways of Pelham Bay golf course in the Bronx.

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

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

Most remarkable of all, golf is a relatively new obsession for the 31-year-old. Although he is a life-long athlete, @UESgolf only picked 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 on lacrosse. Golf simply didn’t pique his interest.

That all changed a little over 18 months ago when he joined a group of friends for a round. After being bested by his less-athletically-gifted compatriots, he decided he to pursue golf to fulfill his competitive drive. It hasn’t taken him long to get the hang of the game. Despite a late introduction to the sport, @UESgolf has already whittled his handicap into the low single-digits, and has a clubhead speed with the driver that is well over 120 mph (seriously).

So, what’s 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 clubface control when he picked up the game. Instead of chasing aesthetic swing changes in those early days, he focused on the most important skill in golf: consistently striking the center of the clubface.

Much of his practice revolved around simple feedback drills. Foot spray on the clubface to reveal strike location or a headcover near the ball to encourage a different club path. Everything he did was with the goal of teaching himself how to hit the center of the clubface.

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

2. Dedicated practice

Rapid improvement doesn’t happen without serious commitment. As @UESgolf can attest, it takes dedication if you want to shave strokes off your handicap.

“I wake up at 5:30 a.m. and head to 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 dedicate that kind of time to golf, but the unfortunate truth about the game is that improvement doesn’t happen overnight. If you want to get better, you’ve got to put the work in.

3. Don’t go down too many rabbit holes

Like many who get the “golf bug,” @UESgolf spends plenty of time obsessing over his swing. But this can be a blessing and a curse. While it’s good to dedicate thought to how you swing the club, you can also drive yourself crazy if you go down too many social-media swing-tip rabbit holes.

“I was DMing with [fellow golf burner Arnie McNair] during one of those swing-rating things he was doing,” @UESgolf says. “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 making all kinds of changes. I even cut down my clubs because I thought I couldn’t get around properly. I was doing all sorts of crazy stuff.’ … Eventually Arnie introduced me to Andrew McCain, who gave me a free swing evaluation, and I’ve worked with him since January.”

Not all social-media golf instruction is bad (in fact, lots of it is quite good!), but if you take every swing tip you see and apply it ad hoc, you are setting yourself up for disaster. That’s why it’s so important to have a professional take a look at your swing. Once you are diagnosed by a pro, fixing the flaws in your swing becomes much easier.

4. Mix up your practice

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

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

5. Remember to play

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

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

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