What do you think of driving away?

[Ran Morrissett]

You just played a course for the first time that you really like or perhaps you revisited an old favorite.

As you drive away (apart from wondering if your wife is going to yell at you for being late   ), what do you think of as it relates to that course?

More and more, I find myself thinking just of the property sans golf holes. I think of the property in a broad context (how cool/unique was it?) and then I think of the specific natural features that the architect may (or may not) have incorporated into the design. (One such benefit of that thought process is that it leads one into quering how well the course was routed).

For instance, some properties are memorable in and of themselves (Pine Valley, Yale, Victoria National, Lehigh, Charles River, Eastward Ho!, PacDunes, Lancaster, Lookout Mountain, etc.) You don't even need a golf club in hand to appreciate being there.

Other properties are less endowed with specific features (Winged Foot West, Pinehurst No. 2, Chicago GC, Skokie, GCGC etc.) but your focus then turns to the specific design features that allow such courses to appeal just as much as courses that had a greater head start through nature.

Admittedly, for some courses, it is difficult to picture just the property but almost 100% of the time, these tend to be real estate courses that wind all over the place.

So, does anyone else just think of the property without the golf holes? Otherwise, what occupies your mind the most driving away? Certainly for some, it is the conditioning and for many it's their score  

What is it for you?

Cheers,

[Patrick_Mucci]

Ran,

An important moment for me, one that heightened my appreciation for architects was when we left YALE.

I was mystified by how the architect/s was/were able to visualize that golf course in it's raw land state.

In looking through "The course Beautiful" there is a picture of an architect shooting a transit, finding or creating holes through thickets and woods.

All too often we think of courses in their pre development form, with the land just lying there with "golf course" written all over it, when quite the opposite is often the rule.

Today, with massive movements of earth and unlimited budgets, I guess one could say you can create what you want, even if you can't visualize it in its current state.
How these men had the vision to see through woods, rock and other hostile landforms to see the routing and the individual holes, never ceases to amaze.  

I also reflect back on my feel of the course, how it played, how I liked/evaluated the holes and their design components, and throwing everything together, the acid test for me is:
Do I want to play it again, and how soon.

[A_Clay_Man]

One thing I've realized is my attitude is different at different times of the day. I know if I leave a place with the sun setting I will have a more meloncholy feeling as I drive away. But if I leave at high noon or someother time when the sun is still high I will probably be too distracted to reminesce. The winter is always great light.

[Mike Cirba]

I swear that someday I'm going to get in an accident doing this, but my first exercise upon leaving is to just try to mentally recall each individual hole.

Memorability is really an important, if underrated criteria in a golf course, so that's where I start.  Then, I go back over the scorecard to once again fill in any gaps.  Finally, I look at the handicap ordering of the holes, trying to understand if that makes any sense or is consistent with my experience.  Having already done a mental re-picturing of each hole, the surrounds, the land, the feature, etc., I begin to think in terms of what I enjoyed and what I thought were limitations of the course.  That process usually takes under a half an hour.  

The rest of the trip I usually think about women.  

[Tommy_Naccarato]

I left St. Andrews in drizzling rain.

It was the first rain I had experienced during the day there during my stay, and where most would go down to see the course one more time just before leaving, I couldn't.

I had the decision of turning right from City Road on to Golf Place, but chose to turn left without ever looking back, but with tears in my eyes saying, "I shall return...."

I know in all earnest that I will.

[Bill_McBride]

Women playing that golf course?

[Mike Cirba]

Bill,

No, just women playing.  One needs to seek balance in life.  

[john_f (Guest)]

I too, like Mr. Cirba, try and remember every single hole (along w/ every single shot I took). I also try and remember the feeling that I had arriving and is the feeling better or worse after leaving?

One othe side note (I know I need to register and get my official GCA rating). Is it kind of funny to all to see a Tommy Nacaratto listed as GCA Junior member? Sorta like saying that Pebble is a nice muni!

[John_McMillan]

Ran -

I assume you actually PLAYED the course before you drove away from it.  If it's a good course, what I think about shortly after the round are the shots I played - both those I conceived and played properly, and those I would have liked to played differently.  It's only when the architecture is poor that I start thinking about the hole lay-outs and the property.

[Tommy_Naccarato]

John,
Hopefully replying to this will help me add to that all important post total that will deliver me from such a humbling title.

[Bill_Coggins]

Tommy,

Just more proof that technology is disrespectful.  


Driving away?  I think about the holes I can remember.  I have generally found that the more I remember, the more I enjoyed the course.  The most tedious courses lodge one hole in my short term memory (they were all alike anyway).

[BillV]

I pretty much always remember all the holes and specific details.

I think of what I really liked, why I liked it, what I didn't like, why I didn't like it and what I personally compare the course to in general and specifically.  

I also think of what I would do differently, not that anyone would ever ask my input!

[RJ_Daley]

If it was a great course, the process starts before I reach the 18th in that I start wishing I could play it again.  If I must leave after only playing once, like John Mc., I turn my thoughts to the holes that I really liked and usually that involves having discovered on that particular hole while playing it - that there is another way to attack it - and I dream of returning to try the alternate strategy.  I also think of the most satisfying shots I made (usually not more than a small handfull  ) and how they felt striking them, how they looked in the air, and what they did when landing at the right place in fairway or onto the green.  Conversely, I think of the shots I saw how to play yet missed and want to try them again.  I also think of the property as a whole and if I liked how the course was presented in context to the land it occupies.  If the course leaves me full of questions, I sometimes drive by the super's shed and see if there is anyone around to strike up a conversation with...

[Doug Wright]

I used to think about what I shot and how I coulda done better. No more of that...Thanks to the GCA   I think aobut routing, bunkering and greensites. I too try to recall the best and worst features I saw. Yikes, I just saw Dr Katz is in the house. Do I need help ?  

[John_D._Bernhardt]

Hmmm I try to keep the thoughts about women to a minimum if good play is the aim. I am one of those guys who can spot an attractive lady from 4 holes away. I am usually just slightly sadened when I leave a course. The beauty and pleasure of a round of golf will be missed.Some courses make me think of holes or series of holes. Places like the TOC make one want to keep the whole course in your mind forever. The longer one stays off the phone after a round, the longer one can savor the thoughts and holes as well as the natural beauty left behind till the next round.

[ed getka]

My primary thought driving away is if I had fun. If the pace of play was over 4 hours I have a hard time remembering the course in a positive light. I also think back over the holes to see if I can remember each one distinctly which is usually the sign of a course I like. However, if I've played poorly (happens a lot), I usually reserve judgement since I probably didn't see the course as it is intended to be played.

[Ed_Baker]

I think mostly of the land as a whole and try and think of why the holes were laid out the way they were.So I guess the routing is what I think about most as I drive away.

More and more I find myself a "site snob" because my overwhelming preference is for the older courses many of which are blessed with great sites to begin with. I admit that my volume of courses played is much less than some on here but I have had the good fortune of playing most of the "greats" in New England and the rocky,hilly, topography makes for some awesome routings and very interesting golf.
Courses like Myopia,TCC Brookline,Brae Burn, Charles River and Winchester "wander" so brilliantly along ridges and slopes with many green sites "tucked" in to natural positions that it really would be difficult to "manufacture" these features and make them as seemless as they are on these older courses.Several have very non traditional patterns of "par" ie; back to back par fives, or only two par fours per nine ect.The architects routed for the best golf holes and built them as they found them.

GCA has at least opened my eyes to the extent that I can appreciate some very good "manufactured golf" on some difficult sites. I played a challenging and interesting new course in Hudson Mass. this year that is built on a very difficult site called Charter Oak by Robert Trent Jones Jr.I have "replayed" the course in my mind a hundred times and really have to admit that Jones did as much as he could on that site giving the client the product he wanted and needed.

A large parcel of the best land had to be used for the clubhouse,fitness center,pool complex,maintainence buildings and member parking. With out these full service ammentities and given the clubs remote location it would have been financial suicide to do otherwise. Given the amount of ledge on the rest of the property the construction costs for the ammenities would have been prohibitive. Probably four to six holes "suffered" as a result, but a playable and interesting golf course was produced just the same. To me, this course hammered home some of the points the professional architects on here talk about when dealing with the "market place" today and designing for the client and resulting compromises. Will this course ever rival the "classics" in the area? No. Is it a good golf course and fun to play? Yes, in spite of the site that essentially is a giant "cone".

So, to me, the land features,the routing, and the variety of holes is what I think about driving away.

[Scott Wicker]

I often try to imagine what the raw landscape was like before the intial routing of the course was complete.  In my mind, this has always been the most perplexing step in a course's development; the transition from practically a blank canvas to a viable routing.  I think this is where the great ones separate themselves from the average.  The great routings always leave me in a state of awe.

[Scott_Burroughs]

I think of several things when I'm driving away from the memorable features and holes, my score, what could have been, what could have been worse, playing partners, post-round conversation, etc.

But how do I gauge if a course was truly memorable?  By how long after I leave until I turn the radio on.  If I turn it on right away, then the experience lacked big time.  If I wait a half hour or longer or never turn it on at all because the experience was swimming in my mind the whole time, then there was something special.

[BillV]

I also think of how lucky I am to be a part of this great game that has such a varied playing field.