"Muscle memory for golf isn't lost in Alzheimer's patients"

Lisa M. Krieger files a story both uplifting (Alzheimer patients enjoying golf and retaining muscle memory) and depressing (dementia won't help you get rid of you deadly in-up-and-over move). Besides reporting on what researchers have found, she tells the story of Deep Cliff pro Gerry Benton who works with elders suffering from the various cruel diseases.

"One rule I made for myself: Take the word 'remember' out of my vocabulary," Benton said.

"I used to go into the 'golf teaching mode,' almost reflexively," he said. I would say 'Remember we worked on this? Remember how you put your hands like that?' But, of course, they don't."

Of course, we also know remember is code for: remember what we talked about and what you haven't done a darned thing to fix since the last lesson.

"Now we start new, every time. It is very much 'in the moment.' It's not five minutes from now. It's not building on something we did before. All of my attention is there. I'm not thinking about the future, or past," he said. "It is really refreshing."

Byerlee grew annoyed when a plastic tee tipped over. "What do I do with this?" he asked. Nearby, Don Thor, sharply dressed in Dockers and topsiders, just sat quietly and watched.

But in the warm sunshine, in the late afternoon of their lives, no one fretted about scores, sand traps or hitting par.

"I'm a late bloomer," giggled Annette Hotz, 87. "I really truly love the game."