The Sand Trap That Started It All

There I was — buried in a greenside bunker, ball sitting down in the sand like it owed rent. My coach had told me something about opening the face, something about swinging through, something about... honestly, I had no idea. My brain was doing that thing where it tries to remember six tips at once and instead remembers zero.

That's the ADHD talking. My brain doesn't do 'recall one thing calmly.' It does 'recall seventeen things simultaneously, panic, then think about what's for dinner.' Standing over that bunker shot, I had more swing thoughts than a Golf Digest archive. None of them were helpful.

So I did what any modern golfer does in a crisis: I pulled out my phone. Started scrolling YouTube for 'how to hit a bunker shot.' Found a video. Then another video that contradicted the first one. Then an Instagram Reel that contradicted both. Meanwhile, my three buddies are standing on the green, arms crossed, offering their own genius advice.

'Just blast it out!' 'No no no, pick it clean.' 'Dude, just hit it.' Thanks, Dave.

I skulled it over the green, into the next bunker. Classic.

But here's the thing — that embarrassing moment was the moment Golf Cheat Sheets was born. Because I realized: I didn't have a skill problem. I had a recall problem. All the knowledge I needed was rattling around my brain somewhere. I just couldn't access it when I needed it, standing over the ball with my heart rate up and my buddies watching.