How photographic is your memory for golf courses?

[Wade Schueneman]

I think that we all tend to remember things that we find interesting.  Therefore, those of us that play courses looking for interest tend to remember a great deal about them. 

[Will Spivey]

Great topic, and something I've long wondered about.

I have an excellent memory, particularly for names, faces, numbers and music.  However, when I walk off a course I can rarely recall more than a couple of the holes (I'm sure if I played CPC I would fare a bit better in this regard!).  The exception is my home course, which of course I know intimately.  I can now easily remember my entire round for days, if not weeks, clearly able to recall nearly every individual shot.

I marvel at my friends, who, even after completing their first round on a course, can walk me through their card.  I wish I could do that...

[John Moore II]

Ally:

I used to be considered to have a photographic memory, but that was when I was younger and had fewer other things going on in my life.  There is a saturation point somewhere in the future for you.  But, I do agree with your point that people who are more focused on their score tend not to be able to remember the course as well, because they aren't looking for it.

Tom-I actually have to disagree with this. I find that I remember the holes and course better when I am trying to score. I actually have to look at the design and intent of the hole in order to score my best. It all depends on the course. On a good course, I can remember the holes fairly well. But on bad courses, I don't remember too much or I do remember stuff, but can't remember which hole I am thinking about because every other holes was similar. But when I am playing a really good course and playing to shoot a good score, I remember most of what I see. I'll use Old Town as an example. With a little thought, I could draw that course out on paper and not miss much, maybe a few bunkers here and there, but the contours, I bet I could get; just one problem, I'm such a terrible artist, not one on earth would recognize what I drew...

[Bill_McBride]

I am a classic MBTI ISTJ. I can frikkin remember individual shots from playing golf at least twenty, maybe thirty and some forty years ago. Doesn't make me a good or bad person, just indicates my brain wiring, I guess.
I will say that I think the best pictures, like listening to the radio, come from the imagination. Until, that is, you get to actually stand on the 16th tee at CPC, of course! Now, there's an eclipsing epiphany.
FBD.

Do you remember the first hole at Lundin Links, Buda Cup, June 2008?  I hope not!

[Jeff_Brauer]

I can tell you mine isn't what perhaps it should be.  Every time I look at a course, I see slightly different things that I never noticed before.

I spent the last few days on a remodel design project.  I finally decided to stay over and draw my maps right there on the ground, rather than make sketches and go back to the office, running back out to verify if necessary.  Little things like where the high and low spots are, good trees, actual view corridors, etc., etc., etc. are easy to forget, even with a good topo map.

I think the same thing is true playing.  It limits what you see.  That is why many gca's like to tour courses rather than play them to assess the course.  There is value in both, of course, but you see some things golfing and some things when studying.

[Dónal Ó Ceallaigh]

I can remember in fairly good detail the courses I played 25 years ago, but it's pretty fuzzy when it comes to courses played only 5 years ago. There are just too many things going on in our lives as adults/parents, so the memory banks are being loaded with a lot of info, most of it useless. I now make a point of taking my camera with me and taking as many photographs as possible of the course. I like to look back over the photos afterwards.

I tend to remember courses I've played better than those that I've just walked/toured; I suppose it has something to do with the amount of time it takes to play when compared with just wandering around a course.

[Andy Shulman]

I'm generally able to recall specifics about the vast majority of the holes on courses (say 80%) I've played even once.  That said, it seems like certain holes (and sometimes entire courses) are not as memorable as others.  For instance, while I can recall architectural features from 15 of the 18 holes on the Old Course, holes 3, 4 and 6 - Cartgate (Out), Ginger Beer and Heathery (Out) - simply blend together in my mind as medium length par 4s.  Is it just me, or does anyone who's played there just one or two times have recollections of these holes that are as vivid and detailed as their memories of, say, holes 1, 7, 11-14, 17 and 18?  And, if you haven't played TOC, do you agree that some holes are simply more memorable than others?

[Matt_Ward]

I keep an extensive card catalog on all the courses I have played.

I agree w Mike N -- the exceptional courses are ones that I can discuss without referring to past notes and the like. I try to keep my catalog updated if/when I return to any course previously played. No course stays exactly the same from year to year. Small things can crop up. I have often made changes in my thoughts after coming back to a course for a second, third or more visit.

Overall, my memory of courses is quite good -- I try to pay attention to what other players are doing and how the course reacts to the various shots they play.

I do agree with a few others -- it helps to be alone to when playing -- for some reason I can really zone into the details and take my time to walk around and see what else is present without solely focusing on what I am doing.

[jeffwarne]

 finally, I'd do it a third time by recalling the holes in Handicap order.
   

really?

[Patrick_Mucci]

In my opinion, there are two categories of golfer:

1. Those who are in to the "course" and how the shots they've played relate to the course
2. Those who are in to fine tuning their scoring and therefore love equipment and coaching tips

There are far more of the latter (hence that's what the magazines are about)

But it's always the former who have a great memory of holes. Still, some memories are better than others.

So many of my friends can't even remember the holes when they come directly off a new course. Whereas I find it hard to forget any hole that I've ever played, even if it was a number of years ago.

What about you?

Ally,

My wife says I have the most fantastic, selective, memory she's ever encountered.

I can remember holes, shots and rounds I played 40 years ago, but, I can't remember where I was last Friday night

[Tom MacWood]

Mine is good, but not great, certainly not photographic. Ran has the best golf course memory I've run across.

[Alex Miller]

Mine is the best out of my friends and buddies. On my HS team I was assigned the duty of describing the holes for matches on courses which we didn't play very often. I'd go through the course on the ride there, too bad most of them couldn't remember the course after playing it, let alone before ever seeing it

[John Kirk]

Pretty good.  Not great.  Like playing a course several times to really understand it.
 You remember some courses better than others.

[Rob Rigg]

Having a selectively photographic memory makes it easy to recall in great detail courses - that you want to remember

[Ron Farris]

My photographic memory is very bad.  Therefore I rely heavily on photography.

[Roger Wolfe]

Ally,

My wife says I have the most fantastic, selective, memory she's ever encountered.

I can remember holes, shots and rounds I played 40 years ago, but, I can't remember where I was last Friday night [/b][/size][/color]

[/quote]

This is very close to home, Pat.  I was at our annual "Ryder Cup" style golf trip last May sitting with my friends
in the Crystal Downs pro shop.  We were reminiscing about 15 years of trips and the few times our team of
misfits beat the pretty boys (3 times in 14 years).  The deciding match that year had been me versus their
"A" player.  I won 1 up with a 40 yard bunker shot on #18 to one foot in the dark at Pinehurst #8.  I was
able to remember every shot before and after a 30 minute rain delay.  OB... bunker shots... missed putts...
his train wreck on #16.  The year was 2001!

One way I judge a course is if I can remember every hole.  However, if my wife asks me to pick up milk on the
way home from work... odds are that ain't happening!

[Jim_Coleman]

    I put myself to sleep two ways.  If I played that day, I replay my round, calculating 2 scores - what I shot and what I should have shot.  If I didn't play, I try to remember the holes on a course I haven't played in a while.  Beats sheep.

[Kevin Pallier]

It's just like my golf - declining as I age

[Mike Cirba]

 finally, I'd do it a third time by recalling the holes in Handicap order.
   

really?

Jeff,

Perhaps you misunderstood, or perhaps I "mis-spoke".

What I mean is that I will go through the scorecard in handicap order, and then when I see that the #1 Handicap hole is number 12, or the #2 Handicap hole is number 3, for instance, I then try to recall the hole to memory just based on mixing up the order.

Make sense?

[R_Paulis]

Resurrecting this thread speculating why my memory is only photographic for golf courses and the shots played. Is it because 18 holes and averaging less than 5 strokes per hole fits nicely into a memory structure? Or is it because a round of golf is enjoyable, relaxing, nearly meditating so it is more likely to be remembered in that state? I can recall most courses, hole by hole, after playing just once, most definitely twice. I would like it if work related or reading tasks would hold the same level of remembrance but they do not.

I do recall (ha!) reading that those with amazing memory skills used techniques which mentally placed items to be remembered into categories, or a simple outline structure. Perhaps 18 holes with standards like par and yardage, combined with feature sets (tees, fairways, greens, hazards, etc.) and short groupings (tee, fairway, approach, putting) makes it more likely to be remembered.

[Alex Miller]

I have a photographic memory as well, unfortunately only for golf holes and shots hit.

Maybe it's easier to recall the good times, and 99% I'm on the course I'm having fun. The most recent example of that other 1% was on the first competitive hole I'd played in 2 years. It took me a while to remember it because I checked out during the triple bogey 7 in which I now recall hitting trees on 4 different shots, twice I hit trunks 20 yards in front of me.

My memory is definitely better suited to remembering the golf holes themselves though. Even courses I've played only once, even many years ago I can sketch to near perfection. I don't know why I can do this, but I wish I could apply it to other tasks.

[Chris Flamion]

My memory of golf courses is very good, especially if I get a second play through.  My one fault is I am a high enough handicap there are a number of holes which I miss entirely despite playing them.  I do admit to having a greater recollection of holes when I am in a group as opposed to just by myself.  Especially if I am talking to them as opposed to silent brooding.

I also remember many other things, such as most of the clothes my wife has worn on dates and what she ordered where.....not that this ability does me any good when I say something I don't remember saying, that gets brought up a couple months later.

[Colin Macqueen]

My photographic memory for holes played is absolutely lousy first time round. It does improve with multiple plays of a course but even then  is still very weak. I think because I get frazzled at poor shots I then do not have the equanimity to internalise the hole as such. I must do better!
I will remember a hole well if it has thrown up a real tussle in the "friendly match play" situation. Or if something admirable or tragic happens on the hole making it memorable to myself or other hapless members of the group. After the event I will often write to the mates I've played with briefly describing such hole and of course embellish as poetic licence allows! Having written it down I then remember the hole's drama for a very long time. Happily quite a lot of my golf is eminently forgettable anyway!

Cheers Col

[Jim Jackson]

The key for me is a 36 hole day.  I find that the first round, especially on a really special course, is rushed and I'm constantly looking to that next memorable moment or tee shot/approach/green complex that I'd read about or seen photos of.  If I'm lucky enough to go around twice that day, I feel like I can really lock it in and my memories become really strong.  That being said, there's nothing better than the first time you personally experience a really special hole i.e. that walk between 14 green and 15 tee at CPC.  I'll remember that walk forever and more so than the shot I hit on the tee, the way I felt as I turned that corner.

[Jason Topp]

My memory is clearly getting worse based on my recent BUDA trip.  I really liked Burnham & Barrow but the only hole I can remember clearly is the 18th.  My memory of Royal Porthcawl and Woking is better but the holes I remember clearly from each course without prompting can be counted on one hand.  I can remember every hole at Pennard but that was after 3 rounds.