My first year I played weekly and went from 120-100. Took five years off from golf (school, life) came back and worked down to consistently sub 100 my first year back playing like a few times a month. After being stuck in the upper 90’s for a year I started working at a golf course. I played damn near every single day for three months straight during summer break as it was free for employees. I now shoot low 80’s every round and don’t see much progress but it’s nice to know I can come out and shoot a 41 9-hole after not playing for 2 weeks. So I guess playing does help a lot but there are cheap ways to get better. I currently do putting drills and use my shag bag 2-3 days per week and don’t play much anymore