Specific Weaknesses

Golf Digest has been promoting some tools (see the latest at www.golfdigest.com/makemebetter) over the last few years that track your stats based on the notion that each player has two handicaps - a long game handicap and a short game handicap. I tried it for a while last year, entering some basic stats about each round that I played (greens in regulation, fairways hit, total putts etc). According to GD I have a long game handicap of 2 and a short game handicap of 8. I'd have to say the 8 might be a little generous.
First and foremost, my chipping is brutal!! I probably get up and down about 1 out of every 6 or 7 attempts. In order to get to scratch I will need to get this stat to 70%. I can't even describe what the basic technique for a chip (or pitch) shot is. Shameful!!
Probably the next biggest area of concern are pitch shots from 60 yards and in. As often as not, I will skull or blade it to the point where I will lay up to 100 yards rather than be faced with anything closer.
The third focus area would be driving distance. I'm guessing that I average about 240 (yards) off the tee. Admittedly, I do hit a lot of fairways but I really need to get that extra 30 yards or so in order to challenge scratch. I'm hoping that general swing improvements as well as optimizing my equipment (that's right I'm going to get fit for a new driver).
On a recent visit to the PGA Superstore in Roswell my driving specs were 18 degree launch angle with 4000 rpm initial spin. I've been doing some research on this and clearly these figures need to change. That launch angle should be more like 14 degrees and a spin rate of 3000 rpm would be more than acceptable. (Incidentally my club head speed was between 95 and 100 mph) . While acceptable, I'm hoping to get that a little closer to 105 by the summer.

Two other areas spring to mind, putting and sand play. I'm a half decent putter but I simply haven't practiced this element enough over the last few years. Also, I think I have become lazy in terms of executing a repeatable routine.
As for sand play, pretty average but I feel confident that once I address this with Tim, I will see a huge improvement.

To summarize, chipping and pitching are going to be the key criteria to me getting to scratch. I need to get another 20 yards off the tee and dedicate a couple of hours a week to putting and sand play. R

Roll on the warm weather!!