After playing many rounds of golf through my life, the goods, the bads and the uglies run together sometimes. It is not because I am forgetful, but more that my focus on exact details might be clouded. It is like how a fist grows over time into a whopper of a catch. Well, golf shots are like that sometimes too. The hole between trees shrinks and the sand traps become deeper. It seems to be the nature of telling golf stores and for them most part, I am comfortable with the minor exaggerations. It is all in fun and part of being an amateur golfer. There are times when remembering the exact details of a golf shot are important and will make the difference between a par and double bogey. Let me explain!

When I play a golf course multiple times, I try to remember on the advantageous landing areas off the tee, areas of hazard, and how the green slopes. These important factors will make a difference in my score at the end of the round. It helps shape my course management approach to each round. Remembering the macro aspects of a golf course is important; especially in multiple day tournaments.

When playing in 54 hole tournaments while serving in the military, we were always offered a practice round. I would always take this opportunity to scope the course and determine which club to use off the tee, what areas of the green to avoid on approach shots and the location of any hazards. For the most part it worked well and afforded me a regional win back in 2009. Ah, the good ole days ! 😉

There are times when it is important to remember to how to play a specific shot that keeps our score low. The ability to transfer certain situations from one course to another is very helpful to the end result on the scorecard. There are many times where remembering exactly how I played a shot in the past helps a present day shot. This is why we practice, right?

Take the tee shot shown above. This distance is about 160 yards. Due to the elevation, it is should be a natural 8 iron for my game. However, because I played this shot on 3 other occasions, I know I need to drop to a 7 iron because it plays longer than expected. By using the 7 iron, I am assured on missing the water, yet it is short enough not to land in the bunker in the back. This is were remembering what I played in the passed helped the present.

Here is another example where being in a difficult position is aided by past experiences. Because of where my ball is located, I need to play a low punch out of the trees. I used an 8 iron on this shot. I played the ball back in my stance the ball landed short of the green and rolled up about 15 feet from the pin. It was a great shot for sure.

Another factor I accounted for because I remember past errors was where to aim. I selected halfway from the pin and the left side of the green. It made no sense to go pin hunting as the tree offered more of a target than the tiny aimpoint. As stated above it worked out very well and I was happy with the results.

After 50 years of playing golf, the lessons of the past do help shape my future shots. Remembering the successes and failures of my past games shapes my course management strategies for each round. It is important to note that we still have to execute each shot as intended, but that is a factor always present when playing golf. The critical thing is to remember past shots to save some in the future.

I am a grateful golfer! See you on the links!