How do you guys remember ....

[Mike_Cirba]

Wasn't it Sam Snead who said something like, "A golf course is a terrible place to use your mind", or some such thing?

I think Brent and Lou are pretty much on track, especially for the guy who is trying to visually memorize a golf course in terms of details, numbers, features, etc.  That's enough of a job for anyone and then trying to play a very difficult game at the same time can be daunting.

That's why I believe a really good player like Tom Paul now generally prefers to just walk a course to see it architecturally, as opposed to playing it.  There have been multiple times when he's come along with a group I've been playing in, walking with just a putter and a few balls.  Of course, he's also had to suffer by watching my sputtering game while studying the course, so perhaps he hasn't gotten the true architectural benefit he might have otherwise.

For my part, and even though there is some self-deception in this statement, I guess I realized about 5 years ago that no one is paying me to play this game, and when all is said and done, the difference between 75 strokes and 90 strokes is really not all that we make it out to be.  So, I try to do the best I can on each shot, but I'm really there to be as much an observer as participant.  

Unless I'm playing somewhere I've played a couple of times, and involved in some type of match, I'm really just taking a walk in the park, hitting a ball along the way.  

[Andy Doyle]

Card and pencil, course guides with shots and comments noted, course map with compass points shown, various other notes on things such as weather, course conditions, unusual features.

As for me, I remember generalities without notes, but not specifics and small details.  To reflect with any degree of accuracy, I have to put myself in the moment and consult with my notes and other tools.

This is me, too.  And I find it nearly impossible to play well when I'm doing all of this.  I recently played a course that most likely I will only play once.  I got to the third hole, still debating if I should be in "play" mode or "study" mode.  Halfway through the hole I decided I really did want pictures of this hole afterall, turned around, went back to the tee just so I could get pics of the drive and approach shots.  Fortunately, I was playing by myself at the time.

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[Mike_Cirba]

This is me, too.  And I find it nearly impossible to play well when I'm doing all of this.  I recently played a course that most likely I will only play once.  I got to the third hole, still debating if I should be in "play" mode or "study" mode.  Halfway through the hole I decided I really did want pictures of this hole afterall, turned around, went back to the tee just so I could get pics of the drive and approach shots.  Fortunately, I was playing by myself at the time.

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Andy,

We really don't need to hear your onanism stories.  

[Andy Doyle]

Put more simply, being in any sort of flow mode usually results in a sensation of detachment from the details of what's around us.

I think there are golfers and other athletes that have different talents in this way as well.  I think of hitters like Ted Williams that were very analytical and could recall exact pitch sequences years later, compared to other hitters that couldn't tell you the pitch they just hit into the upper deck immediately after returning to the dugout (I'm trying to think of some obvious examples, Andruw Jones, maybe?).

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[Andy Doyle]

... I was playing by myself at the time.

BY myself - not with.  

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[Brent Hutto]

Put more simply, being in any sort of flow mode usually results in a sensation of detachment from the details of what's around us.

I think there are golfers and other athletes that have different talents in this way as well.  I think of hitters like Ted Williams that were very analytical and could recall exact pitch sequences years later, compared to other hitters that couldn't tell you the pitch they just hit into the upper deck immediately after returning to the dugout (I'm trying to think of some obvious examples, Andruw Jones, maybe?).

Most likely, the pitch Andruw hit out wasn't anywhere near the strike zone. Seriously, though...

I think it is entirely possible to play good golf while in a very mechanical or detail-oriented frame of mind. I just think that the number of people for whom that works best are a tiny, tiny minority. If I could ever make just one golf swing where I totally trusted it and swung without trying to steer my body or the club, it would be like a religious experience.

[Mike_Cirba]

Mike - I too sometimes do what you do to try and seal the memory, although with my youthful yet addled memory, the exercise does not work perfectly. But I have only ever tried sequentially - never by the rating of the hole. What is your thinking in this regard?

Philip,

I almost never look at the handicap rating of a hole while playing either.  But, to the peril of oncoming traffic, I will often review the holes on the scorecard in handicap order on the drive home.

I find that reviewing the holes in what amounts to random order makes me think of each of them as discrete elements of a larger whole, and that adds to memory retention.

[Philip Gawith]

Thanks Mike - sounds like a cunning plan, but I fear the traffic volume on the UK roads might render your precise method of implementing it, fatal.