An Experiment in Viewing
Sketching is how I think; it’s how I listen and it’s how I remember. I’ve had guys talk to me about their golf rounds and reply with amazing details about a round from years ago where they described shots and holes and scenes. I realized that while I love playing golf, I wasn’t capturing it in the ways that were most impactful to me.
I was invited to go a particularly incredible trip to Bandon Dunes Golf Resort in Bandon, Oregon. I knew if I was going to make this trip, that I wanted to capture it in a unique way and in a way that I would remember it best.
The idea came like a lightening bolt. Sketch on the course. Easy enough, there are artists all over the world that “#urbansketchnote”. It’s a thing, but they sit and develop a sketch - no way I could do that during a round with players behind and with me. I’d have to have paper and pencil available and always at the ready.
I developed an option to attach a clipboard to my pushcart at home and tested it out a couple of times. Really fun! And I played better too. :) Bonus! I wasn’t about to ship my pushcart to Bandon though, so I put together another contraption built from a strap-on mountain bike phone holder. It worked like a charm and literally could be attached and removed in a split second. When a heavy storm rolled up on Bandon Trails, I had to remove the setup and stuff it in my bag in seconds to not lose the work I’d already done.
Bandon was as amazing as you either already know or could ever imagine! I thought I knew what to expect, but was completely blown away.
If you know anything about my story, you know I’m relatively new to ‘playing golf’. More on that in another post. So, for me to be playing at Bandon Dunes is beyond anything I could have ever dreamed.
As a first timer to Bandon, I believe my experiment was a complete success. I remember shots, scenes, jokes and moments in a deeper way than I believe I would have without my sketchpad. I played my best golf ever on one particularly amazing day. Putts were dropping - maybe because I was looking at the course with more attention to detail? Not sure. Gotta keep experimenting! I’ll include several images from my walks here…would love to hear any thoughts or feedback. Do you have a particular way of engaging with golf that makes it more memorable?
