No map or scorecard needed!

[Jeff Schley]

Man you guys have great memories.  I am no where near where all those in this thread are. Maybe 10 or less.  Probably played 350-400 courses in my life I estimate. I don't have a great memory when recalling certain holes.  Part of it is that I typically play most of my golf on trips with 36 holes not uncommon for multiple days in a row, so they tend to run together.

[Paul Rudovsky]

This is a great question.  OK, so I have played 1208 courses worldwide in my lifetime.  Went thru the list and would say my total is 34 (excluding 9 holers).  Of those 34, I would catagorize them as follows:


--"home" courses and clubs where am/was member--9 (played each well over 100 times)
--played >5x and memory strongly reinforced by TV golf (e.g. ANGC)--6
--played >5x times which was enough to remember--16 (of these 16 I would say 8 were basically because of the sheer brilliance of the design)
--played <6x but fully remember--3


of these 34 the fewest times I have played any is probably 4. 


The last one of these that I played for the first time was Chechessee Creek in 2011.   Being the ultimate in list chasers (and tending to work from the top of the lists down), my courses played for the first time in the last 2 or so years tend to be not a good as those played earlier (with some clear exceptions--e.g. Golf de Fountainebleau, Austin GC, Ohoopee, Mammouth Dunes, Cedar Rapids, Congaree, Huntingdon Valley, Askernish, Brora, etc.).


Of the 34...to me the most visually memorable (and easy routing to recall) has to be North Berwick.


Finally...I find that I do not remember the bad courses at all...I generally tune out after a while and can't wait till the round is over.  With memorable courses, my senses are much more "alive."

[Peter Pallotta]

Was thinking about this some more and realized there is 1 other course that I can play in my head, even though I've only played it 5 or 6 times. And maybe not coincidentally, it is built on a very (and always) hilly site, with constant elevations changes, utilized by the architect in many different ways. I think I can remember each golf hole because what I'm really remembering is the distinct topography of each.
Peter

[Sandy Smith]

You made some great points Paul and get what you’re saying.
I know a lot of us can play a round in our heads of many courses but if we are having a beer in a pub and someone mentions the 7th hole of course X can you go there?
That’s what I was trying to get at.

[Peter Flory]

Was thinking about this some more and realized there is 1 other course that I can play in my head, even though I've only played it 5 or 6 times. And maybe not coincidentally, it is built on a very (and always) hilly site, with constant elevations changes, utilized by the architect in many different ways. I think I can remember each golf hole because what I'm really remembering is the distinct topography of each.
Peter

One of the top memory savants, Daniel Tammet, has synesthesia.  He eventually memorized 22K+ digits of pi because his synesthesia caused him to see various 3D landscape formations when he sees a number- i.e. for each number, he sees a different shape and with its own distinct combo of color, texture, and sound.  When he's reciting the digits of pi, he's really just flying through the trail that he has memorized of that landscape.   This thread just reminded me of him. 

[Sean_A]

I must not be understanding the question because I reckon that I can remember a ton of courses if I can mentally start from the first tee. That number would drop dramatically if I was asked about a specific hole on a course. I usually need to mentally find it from starting on the 1st or another easy starting point. I simply don't mentally see holes as much as I do courses. My brain wants to work from big to small where golf is concerned. I think taking photos and doing tours significantly improves my memory of courses.

Ciao

[Niall C]

I’m completely rubbish at remembering hole numbers, particularly in the middle of a round, but OK in remembering a course hole by hole provided it’s interesting enough. For instance if you mention the Pit or Perfection at NB I know exactly where you mean but ask me there hole numbers and I’d need to go through the sequence in my head to work it out. That holds true even for “home” courses that I might have played hundreds of times. I’ve no idea how many courses I can do that for but it would likely be a fraction of the amount Tom can do.

As an aside, I recall once being asked to pick a hole and describe it. I chose the second on Gullane 3 which is a par 3. At the time I was playing the course on a regular basis and had probably played it over 50 times. I drew a plan of the hole describing in details the contours/slopes etc and was pretty pleased with myself at my powers of recall. The following week I was playing the hole and noted that I’d missed out two bunkers !

Niall

ps. just read Sean's post and he has the same issue re numbering. Is that because we both tend to play courses that don't have a more formulaic routing ?

[Paul Rudovsky]

You made some great points Paul and get what you’re saying.
I know a lot of us can play a round in our heads of many courses but if we are having a beer in a pub and someone mentions the 7th hole of course X can you go there?
That’s what I was trying to get at.

Sandy--


depends what you mean by "get there".  On some of my 34 courses, I cannot get directly there mentally, I would have to think thru holes 1-6 and then be at #7.  Does that "qualify"?


BTW...I cannot remember the names of most people I know...and also have a mild case of a condition known as "face blindness".  So I can play 18 holes of golf with someone for the first time, and see then later in the day and not recognize them!  I call my condition "mild" as there are people who do not recognize their spouses (Pat may sometimes wish I was like that  ) and supposedly one person who does not recognize himself in a mirror!!


Best
Paul

[Paul Rudovsky]

but i could get to the 7th or whatever hole directly if walking for shotgun start

[MCirba]

I've played 1,132 golf courses and for many years I had what I'll call a photographic memory for golf holes in that I could recapture them in my mind's eye on command.   That worked well for about the first six or seven hundred courses (I could recall probably 90%+ of the holes vividly) that took me into my 40s, but in the last 20 or so years I find that a lot of those memories have dissipated.

Honestly, I think I used to spend more time post-round going over each hole (sans map or scorecard) on my drive home and then at least once a year or so I'd go through my scorecard collection for a refresher.   Those reiterative exercises helped to keep those courses/holes in my main memory to use computer jargon.

Now that I'm in my 60s I'd say I could probably do a hole by hole without visual aids for about 150 or so of the courses I've played.  I could worry that I'm losing my memory but I'm finding as I get older that Einstein was correct...why waste brain power on stuff you can just look up?   I'm less about facts and more about research and putting facts together in ways I couldn't do or didn't have insight to do when I was younger.   

[jeffwarne]

I think taking photos and doing tours significantly improves my memory of courses.

Ciao

Interesting-I almost feel like when I take photos I'm more inclined to forget the holes, as my focus tends to wander to taking shots where the light is good or features that are so remarkable I would remember them anyway. Sean tends to take comprehensive photos of the entire course(Thank you!), in sequence which probably helps.
I find I rememebr a course best when I'm simply playing it and the holes blend into one another well. A long walk or cart ride where I might lose my bearings (i,e east/west or wind direction)consistently loses me.

[David Wuthrich]

Interesting topic.
My friends have always said that there is something seriously wrong with me since I can remember every golf hole that I have ever played.  I agree that there is something wrong with me, I love golf courses!
I find that if I walk a course, remembering is much, much easier.
I have to go through the course in numerical hole order if it is not a well known or special course, but I can get there eventually.
I stopped counting after 100 courses.
I find that when I find myself in an MRI tube, which happened 5 times last year, that since I don't like closed spaces, it is a great time to "play" all of my favorite courses in my mind!
Hope the older I get I don't start to forget courses, which will probably happen!

[JMEvensky]

I find that when I find myself in an MRI tube, which happened 5 times last year, that since I don't like closed spaces, it is a great time to "play" all of my favorite courses in my mind!

Same here--it was the only solution I could think of where my level of concentration would be greater than my claustrophobia. Luckily I've only had to use this trick twice in 20 years--don't even want to think about 5 times in a single year.