The USGA is sending a little gift to all golfers once again this holiday season. To all golfers who have an official handicap index, that is.
As has become a bit of tradition since the development of the World Handicap System, the USGA is once again releasing its GHIN Rewind feature in the GHIN app. The handy(cap) reference—like what we did there?!?—allows golfers to review their 2025 golf years in a quick and easy, yet informative, way.
If you have a GHIN account but haven’t given this a try in the past, here’s how you can open your present: On the GHIN app, go to the “More” menu and select 2025 GHIN Rewind (if you see 2024 listed, make sure to update the GHIN App). It’s a great feature that allows you to take a smart look back at your year in golf, tracking the good, the bad and the “Boy, I really wish I had a mulligan!”
For the third straight year, we’ve surveyed Golf Digest staffers to share their topline information, along with a tip that helped them in those rounds they were most proud of.
And just in case you don’t think you logged enough rounds to make this all worth your while, I’ll share my GHIN Rewind first. For various reasons, I only got out seven times this past year—although I did get to play an all-time bucket list course however!
Tip that helped: I started to use a trigger—tapping my club in front of the ball—before each shot to locked me into complete focus on my swing. I didn’t hit everything perfect, but I felt like having a consistent routine led directly to more consistent swings.
OK, here are some of my Golf Digest colleagues who played a LOT more than did this year, with their own thoughts about their 2025 golf seasons.
Tip that helped: At 35 rounds, it was a slightly disappointing overall total, but there are probably about 10 rounds it doesn’t account for. Various scrambles, match-play club competitions, and four-hole loops that I do a decent amount of. In all, it’s about right when you’re navigating a full-time job and a couple young kids at home. My game is moving in the right direction, though, mostly because of some targeted time focused on my putting that has worked wonders and a new lifting program that has boosted my ball speed by about 10 m.p.h. I’d like to get back into plus-handicap territory, which I haven’t been since my college golf days, but that will require sharpening my short game. Not exactly sure how we’ll do that without playing more, but we’ll find a way. —Luke Kerr-Dineen
Tip that helped: In 2025, I was more compact with my swing on approach shots, especially with shorter clubs. Early in the season, I made a conscious effort to take long out of play on approach shots. Making the iron/wedge swing more compact minimized errors and allowed for more scoring this year. —Patrick Andrews
Tip that helped: Oddly enough, the tip that helped me the most was one I found on Reddit. In my years-long search for more power, I turned to a video someone shared on the r/golf page titled “Discover the Power of Wrist Hinge: Insider Tips for Perfect Golf Swing Takeaway.” My key takeaway from the video, no pun intended, was to apply a little extra pressure to the grip with your pinky finger on your lead hand. Yes, my handicap may have gone up, but this one little tip completely changed my game this season and has me very excited to lock in for 2026. —Christopher Powers
Tip that helped: This was my best year of golf yet. My driver was finally consistent and that allowed me to put together some great rounds. Developing a true pre-shot checklist, specifically on the tee, reminded me to stay focused over every shot and helped me get into a groove early. —Luke Hooten
Tip that helped: Halfway through the year I had lost a decent amount of distance, which I chalked to my swing getting too hands-y. To fix it, I tried to keep my right palm facing down at the ground as long as possible on backswing. Not only did I regain distance, but my usual draw turned into the straightest trajectory I’ve had in years. —Joel Beall
Tip that helped: I didn’t play much, but when I did play, I played pretty decently. I was losing my driver off to the right for a good chunk of the summer, which was a new and confounding ball-flight for me. I played an evening nine with my mom, a former tour pro, and she told me she’d never seen me take it back so fast. In trying to generate more distance, I’d gotten quick. Rookie mistake. And luckily, an easy fix. —Keely Levins
Tip that helped: It was a great year made even better from a tip to swing up on the driver by thinking of swinging from low to high. Not sure where I saw it (I read and try way too many tips), but it took a lot of backspin off my drives and gave me a lot more distance. —Alex Myers
Tip that helped: I got three shots worse in 2025 so I’m not sure I have a helpful tip but here goes: My bunker play was awful early in the year. Skulls, leaving them in, etc. My pro told me I wasn’t turning and finishing my backswing, which was leading to a choppy deceleration. I made the adjustment, and things got much better out of the sand. Now I only straightening out the iron game was so easy … —E. Michael Johnson
This article was originally published on golfdigest.com