‍Which specific parts of your game do you want to improve in 2024 and why?

Margot Rouquette (France), Sacred Heart University: This year my focus will be Off The Tee, especially with my driver, and my longer irons. In my scoring there is a huge scoring difference when I hit the fairway or not. My stats show that when I hit the fairway, my scoring is more than 0.3 better than when I don’t. My Player Quality Off The Tee is also much lower than the LPGA average, so is my Approach Player Quality. There is a direct correlation with my Off The Tee Player Quality. If I hit more fairways, I believe I’ll have a better long iron game since I’ll have easier shots into the green from the fairway instead of from the rough. Obviously, the short game is really important, but it was my biggest improvement last season and the numbers are good as of now.

Charlie Bristow (USA), Touring golfer for autism charities, 14 handicap: Longer drives, more greens in regulation, and improving my proximity to the hole. My short game is good so we can see that improving in these three goals, it will better my game and drive my scores down.

"I want to improve my short game because based on my Clippd data it’s my weakest area" — Sam Mendoza

Lauren Walsh (Ireland), Ladies European Tour pro: My putting is a key area that I would like to improve on this year. It's an area that Clippd has identified as important to my scoring and something I can improve on. It is also something that me and my coach see as important for me as I start out on tour to make as many birdies as possible and capitalise on my good ball striking.

Chris Trott (England), Clippd ambassador, club-fitter and founder of @TrottieGolf: Driving, putting and chipping. Based on the Clippd data, putting is integral to my scoring. My driving has dropped, which feels like an easy fix for me given what I do for a job. I don’t like seeing my chipping trend over the previous 12 months, but again I think this is an easy fix.

Sam Mendoza (England), plus handicap club golfer: I want to improve my short game because based on my Clippd data it’s my weakest area. I’d also like to get my driver back to where it was after a down year.

How do you intend to make those improvements?

Sam Mendoza: I’m going to spend time working on technique changes (Dan Grieve, my coach is a genius) and I also plan to do a lot of randomised competitive practice using the drills available in Clippd.

Chris Trott: With my driving, I want to get into the new Qi10 quickly and find a driver swing and shot shape that I can trust under pressure. For Putting it will be start line drills and pace drills, two to three times a week. I’m also going to explore more of the drills available in Clippd. I have backed away from these in the past but need to change that. I’ve made some technique changes with my chipping, so it’s a case of trusting those and getting more feel into my short game. Again, I’m going to explore the Clippd drills to help with this.

"Putting myself into a tournament situation out on the course is helping my confidence" — Margot Roquette

Charlie Bristow: By playing with my new Ping G430 clubs in 2024! I’ll also be doing drills in Clippd Capture to work on hitting more greens in regulation and improving my proximity.

Lauren Walsh: With my coach Shane O'Grady, I have been working hard this off-season  to improve my technique in my putting, which I hope will translate into holing more putts this year. We regularly train on Sam Lab Putting during these off-weeks to monitor my technique and to see where I can keep improving.

Margot Rouquette: There were little details in my swing that needed to be fixed and I am still working on perfecting them. On top of that, putting myself into a tournament situation out on the course rather than spending hours on the range is helping my confidence, which means I play each shot with 100% engagement. That makes a huge difference. However, I’m having surgery on my knee in January so that will put me out for four to six weeks. A good rehabilitation will be important to keep up with my goals. Hopefully, I will recover in a record time!

What Player Quality do you want to hit in 2024?

Chris Trott: Mid to high 90s for driver, high 90s for the putter, and to see some more rounds over 100 for Average Shot Quality. I also want to get my Around Green Player Quality back into the 90s.

Lauren Walsh: I don't really like to set concrete goals as such in stats, I like to use stats to see the trend lines and to make sure I am consistently improving and getting better to be the best player I can be and contend in as many tournaments as possible. So, I guess I'd like to reach whatever Player Quality number it takes to win tournaments on the Ladies European Tour!

Charlie Bristow: I’d like to improve my Total Player Quality of 70 to 75 or 80. I can do this by improving my Player Quality for Off The Tee and Approach.

Margot Rouquette: I haven’t set a goal on my overall Player Quality but I would like to get both Off The Tee and Arpproach above 80 and Around the Green above 90 and Putting above 95. I think that should make a really good overall Player Quality if I keep up with those goals. 

Sam Mendoza: I’m currently on 93, despite my Around The Green being 83 and Approach being 84. If I can improve both those to get close to 90, I’d like to think I can get my Player Quality up to 95.

What big goals have you set yourself this year?

Lauren Walsh, LET pro: My biggest goal for this year is to win on the Ladies European Tour!

Chris Trott: I want to increase the number of rounds I play and dedicate more time to my game. If I achieve the figures above, then I’ll achieve my handicap goals and, I would assume, win some events. I base all my goals on the data.

Charlie Bristow: I’d like to play further back in yardage and attain the same average scores (86) or lower as in 2023. In 2024, I also want to increase my highest number of birdies in a season (84 in 2022) and highest number of pars (677 in 2022). Finally, I’d like to reach my goal of raising $4,000 for autism charities.

"I want to increase the number of rounds I play and dedicate more time to my game" — Chris Trott

Margot Rouquette: My long term goal is to obtain a category on the LET at the end of the year. Although before that, there is one goal I have wanted to achieve since I started playing college golf. I want to earn Player of the Year in the NEC. For that, winning the Conference title is almost required. It’s not really a goal but more of an end result I expect if I follow my game plan. I don’t want to put too much pressure on myself like I have in past years because it obviously wasn’t the right way to go about it since I haven’t won – yet. I will try to achieve the long and mid-term goals by setting up sub-goals such as improving my Player Quality, scoring average and my greens in regulation. I’d like to hit 75% of greens in regulation and have a scoring average below 74.

Sam Mendoza: I’m going to enter Open qualifying. I may finish last, but I’ve earned the right to say I’ve done it at least once!

Outside of competition, what would you like to do in golf this year?

Charlie Bristow: To meet new people and show them my game in the four new areas – Southern Texas, Southern Utah, Calgary, Alberta Canada & Massachusetts – that we are travelling to in 2024.

Sam Mendoza: I’ve played 80 of the top 100 courses in England. I want to reach 90, though it’s hard work travelling to some of these distant courses now!

Lauren Walsh: Away from competition I would love to encourage more young girls to take up the game of golf. It has given me such incredible opportunities so far in my life and I hope I can inspire more young girls to take it up and grow the game.

"Golf has given me such incredible opportunities. I hope I can inspire more young girls to take it up" — Lauren Walsh

Chris Trott: I want to grow my YouTube following by a certain percentage and improve video quality for the viewer. I also want to be known as the best partner/representative for all the brands I currently work with in the golf industry.

Margot Rouquette, Sacred Heart: Outside of competition, I’ve got a job as an assistant pro at Great River golf course, which I will start after I graduate in May. I will also get certified as a teaching pro to give lessons. My team volunteers to help out with kids' clinics and I really enjoy that. I plan to go to the LET Q-School in December 2024 and already have a few tournaments planned for this summer. I am looking to get a few invitations to some pro events, maybe the Hartford HealthCare Women’s Championship at Great River golf course. Fingers crossed for that one!