Preparing for playing a course for the first time?

[Enno Gerdes]

With Buda just a few weeks away, I am curious how people here prepare (from a GCA perspective) for playing an architecturally notable course for the first time. I have noticed that every time I play such a course, I learn something new, especially if I know what to look for (but also if I don't). On the other hand, I can only focus on that many things at the same time, and I also want to still enjoy the golf itself. How do you approach this? Read as much as possible? Identify one element the course is known for? Try to compare it to other courses you've played? Or just wait and see?

[John Kavanaugh]

Do you read rotten tomatoes before or after you see a movie?

[Mark Pearce]

With Buda just a few weeks away, I am curious how people here prepare (from a GCA perspective) for playing an architecturally notable course for the first time. I have noticed that every time I play such a course, I learn something new, especially if I know what to look for (but also if I don't). On the other hand, I can only focus on that many things at the same time, and I also want to still enjoy the golf itself. How do you approach this? Read as much as possible? Identify one element the course is known for? Try to compare it to other courses you've played? Or just wait and see?

Just turn up and play.  I used to read reviews, look at course planners etc. but the only opinion that really counts is mine and I don't want to miss enjoying a hole because it isn't what I expected.

[George Pazin]

If it works out, timing-wise, I'd say walk the course before you play it (maybe if you arrive late in the day? ). Or at least walk the holes that others consider noteworthy.


I know everyone is tired of my take on Oakmont, but I learned far more from watching the various Ams and Opens and local events than I did playing it. I don't think anyone could learn anything from when I played it, other than I'm terrible.


Have fun.

[John Kavanaugh]

I had one birdie at TOC and it was on the 14th. I was walking past the hell bunker with Rich when he told me to take a look. Could have bit me. Never would had got that birdie had I know it was there.

[cary lichtenstein]

Just play it, it's right in front of you.

[Tommy Williamsen]

I might go the the club's web site and look at the pictures but that is about it.

[mike_malone]

Tabula rasa

[John Kavanaugh]

Tabula rasa

Pre-smartphone. I just joined Instagram and the amount of information is horrifying.

[Jim_Coleman]

   Many listen to the entire score if Hamilton before seeing the show. I went in cold, probably because I’m lazy.

[Ira Fishman]

Since I was a kid, I have been convinced that Golf in the Kingdom was based at RD. No architectural insights, but certainly a must read before going to the Highlands. And for similar reasons, I read The Match before playing CPC although it contains an awfully good description of the course. Not helpful to answer the question except to imply only a few courses warrant pre-play investigation.


Ira

[Michael Felton]

I had one birdie at TOC and it was on the 14th. I was walking past the hell bunker with Rich when he told me to take a look. Could have bit me. Never would had got that birdie had I know it was there.

There is a decent amount of value in "I didn't know where not to hit it"

[Tim Leahy]

I like to look at the satellite picture of the course so at least I know where the hazards and bunkers are even if I can't see them from the tee or approach. Sometimes knowing which direction the dogleg goes and what's behind the greens is good to know too. Wind directions might help too.

[Erik J. Barzeski]

I've done both. When I played at Myopia, I read a bunch so I understood a bit about what to do. But I've also played courses "blind" for the first time to experience it that way, on purpose.

It probably depends on three things, primarily:

• How far out the round is. The farther out, the more likely I am to read up on it.
• How excited I am to play the round.
• How much knowledge I think the course requires (or how much benefit there is to having knowledge).

[Tom_Doak]

It's odd that no one has made any distinction here about their purpose in playing the course.


If you are there to shoot your lowest score, you'd probably want to study up on the course, or walk it beforehand.  Of course, as Michael Felton pointed out, some play better when they don't know where the trouble is, and if that's you, well, you know who you are.



If you are there to study and understand architecture, again, why not read up on what not to miss? 


But, if you are there to enjoy the course -- which most people are -- then why would you want to spoil the experience by knowing everything in advance?  I think this approach leaves you more likely to come away disappointed.  It's not really the same as reading the book before you see the movie -- in that case, the book was a thing unto itself, and the movie is someone else's interpretation of it.  In golf architecture, the course IS the author's original text.

[Peter Sayegh]

Just turn up and play.  I used to read reviews, look at course planners etc. but the only opinion that really counts is mine and I don't want to miss enjoying a hole because it isn't what I expected.

Outside of a cursory aerial look, this is how I do it now.
It took me far too long to accept any review was in unique conditions and given by golfers of greater/lesser skills than I possess.
It's like your first prom date.
Show up on time. Be dressed well. Be respectful to all....and hope for a good time. 

[Rick Sides]

If you have the ability to take a caddy, its worth using!

[Brad Lawrence]

I don’t sweat it too much.  I’ve played a lot of competitive golf, and for the most part, you play zero or one practice round.  I wanna know my options for tee shots - where can I can club back, where risk is rewarded.  I found that much of this preparation was wasted as it’s very easy to make these decisions when it doesn’t matter.  Under the gun, my game plan often goes out the window.  What really matters is being prepared to execute.  Not many holes take deep study to figure out what you’re trying to do.

[Kalen Braley]

Sometimes, its good to do your homework in advance, like recently with a remote course in Utah I intended to play as soon as possible, but delayed until October due to reseeding and grow in.

But if you're trying to shoot a good score, this is the site for that.  https://www.provisualizer.com/

[Steve Lang]

   I get there early, and talk with the pro or guy behind the counter about their take on things to beware of... very fond memories at Ganton, where the pro put a set of sticks together for me and showed me pics on the walls, to get some perspective and at old Mac chatting up George Bahto and almost missing my tee time...


At TOC I studied up by looking at the topo map in museum, but it turned out to be the caddy input that was most helpful... so enjoy and just seek a take-away feeling or thought from the experience.

[Wade Whitehead]

I read The Making of Pacific Dunes before I played it for the first time(s) earlier this year and it made a massive difference in my experience.

It helped me understand routing and design choices (and the history of the property) in a way that I never would have without it.  It also helped me contemplate what wasn't built, and why.

When Tom Doak kindly signed my book, he wrote "I hope you enjoy playing the course more than reading about it."  I ended up enjoying the course more BECAUSE I read about it!

WW

[Niall C]

Enno


Not sure I'd count this as preparation but I might go on the clubs website to see photos of the course but that is really just to give a flavour of what the course is like rather than for any serious analysis. In essence it's just to whet the appetite. If all they have is drone footage I generally give that a miss. Likewise arty shots from oblique angles with a fairway bunker taking up most of the frame. Basically I'm looking for shots from the viewpoint of the golfer.


Once I get to the course I make a bee-line for the pro shop to buy a strokesaver if they have one. That's not to refer to on the course but to look at after the round and to have as a keepsake (along with a ball-marker and possibly a headcover if I like the club logo). Unless press-ganged into it, I don't take a caddy. Why listen to some random bloke you've never met before tell you what to hit when all he's got to go on is how you hit your drive at the first. Likewise taking a bag-carrier. Why make the game much more expensive than it needs to be. But more important than those objections I'm looking to fully engage with the course by playing what I see and intuitively what I think the shot should be. That's much harder to do when you have someone talking in your ear.


No, when all's said and done, the only good preparation is a bacon roll and cup of coffee before you go out and play. Mind you, timing is all important. You need to make sure that by the time you've finished the roll and coffee you don't have any time left for practice so you don't waste any energy and attention span on any of that nonsense.


Hope that helps.


Niall


ps. I used to occasionally play with a teaching pro who swore by tea rather than coffee on the grounds that coffee had more caffeine and therefore made you more jittery over putts. Seeing how he could yip a putt using a broom-handle putter I never taken any notice of that advice.

[Kalen Braley]

Niall,

I think you nailed it on that last post, spot on!

However, I can't resist firing up google earth in advance, but that's just my own personal love of that tool! 

[Jason Topp]

I usually scout it out, simply because I am excited about the round.

• Blue Golf provides excellent aerial maps of most courses.  Wind and slopes are difficult to decipher from the air so plenty of surprises remain.
• I like to read James Finegan books when in the UK but find them more enjoyable after the round rather than as a preview.
• If there is a profile on this site, I will read it. 
• Club websites are hit or miss

I have never found studying beforehand to detract from the experience. 

[David Cronan]

It varies.


When I was playing competitive tournaments, I'd spend practice rounds checking out, as much as anything, where to NOT miss shots. Also, dependent upon weather conditions, practicing different types of shots from different yardages, from different parts of the course....fairways, rough and around the greens. Judging from my anemic record, the preparation seems to have been in vain.


When traveling somewhere to play a course or courses on a golf trip, my research normally consisted of finding a nice place to stay, as well as checking out places to eat. Usually on these golf trips, we played the same course multiple times, so experience and charm was gained with each round. My preparation was hit a few balls and putts, stretch and some caffeine intake. That's about it.


Of course, with the advent and advancement of the Internet, pretty much anything is now available at our fingertips, but a great deal of that information is second or third hand opinions. Sure pictures and Google Earth are great tools, but for me, it can serve up a healthy dose of expectation, which I now try to avoid as much as possible.


I guess it's like having a first date with a beautiful, charming, intelligent person. Why look at their social media presence or what somebody's cousin's co-worker has to say about said person? I'd rather go to dinner and enjoy their company, maybe a 2nd dinner and form an opinion of my own afterwards?