Project 0: The balance sheet - What a year of "Golf total" has done to Lars Heuer

"I may not have reached my goal yet, but I'm closer every day than I was yesterday." Eleven months after the start of "Project 0", it's time for an honest review. In an in-depth interview, Lars Heuer looks back on a year that did not meet his expectations - but changed his life.

What began as a sporting bet against the odds developed into a philosophical journey. Lars Heuer admits openly: He will not achieve his goal of a 0 handicap in the allotted time. But anyone who speaks of failure here fails to recognize the dimension of the transformation. From the initial naivety of a "business guy" who believed that success could be planned in a linear fashion, he has become a humble golfer who places respect for the game and the professionals above all else.

Project 0 Episode 9: Between humility and gratitude - a journey to the self

The mission: From handicap 20 to the golden zero

"Project 0" is the story of Lars Heuer, a 53-year-old former management consultant who made a radical decision in November 2024: he gave up his job to improve his golf handicap from 20.4 to the level of a scratch golfer (handicap 0) within a year.

This is no ordinary sports project: Lars is taking a financial risk and dedicating his life for 365 days to the dream of making the impossible possible. He trains up to 40 hours a week to achieve this. As he says himself: "I have decided to live my dream, with all the consequences." Experts estimate the chances of achieving this goal as minimal - but Lars is prepared to go the full, holistic way, which goes beyond pure physical training and includes the areas of mental training, nutrition and regeneration.

The realization: golf cannot be owned

Looking back, Lars names the two factors that prevented him from reaching "zero": the lack of sustainability of learning at the age of 54 and the brutal unpredictability of the sport. "It's like electricity in a pipe - one day it's there, the next you drill in and it's gone," says Lars, describing the volatile nature of the golf swing. The realization that even professionals don't "own" this game was the turning point away from pure results sport towards acceptance.

Despite the sporting "failure" to achieve his goal of a 0 handicap, Lars draws a positive balance. He has learned to deal with criticism, made deep friendships and developed a resilience that goes far beyond the golf course. His advice to all dreamers out there: "Go for it! We put off our dreams too often." Lars remains combative for the final weeks of the project: he wants to end the year with dignity, confidence and the joy of "the greatest game in the world".

The foundation: professional support and Sky guidance

Success in this ambitious project is only possible as a team. Lars Heuer is supported by a first-class network of experts who work under professional conditions.

The renowned former professional golfer Florian Fritsch (head and swing coach) is responsible for the sporting management, while Heinz Peter Thül (former Germany's No. 2 behind Bernhard Langer) provides the expertise for the short game. The team is complemented by a putting expert, a home coach, a mental coach, a sports nutritionist and a medical contact point. "Project 0" will also be accompanied by a detailed video diary on YouTube.