Thursday 21 February 2013

New images posted


In January, I was lucky enough to go the PGA Show in Florida. During my visit I shot a number of courses and thought you might like to see the results. The first link is posted below (the photographs are best viewed by clicking on the full-screen icon on the far right).

Let me know what you think.

www.markalexanderphotography.co.uk/SouthernDunes

Sunday 17 February 2013

Party on!


Here is an excerpt from a Golf Management Europe article I wrote about making the most of a celebration. Enjoy.

CELEBRATE GOOD TIMES


Special anniversaries offer golf clubs a chance to let their hair down. Mark Alexander finds out how to celebrate in style

Every so often there comes a time when you just have to party. At golf clubs, these special occasions suspend normality and generate fervoured activity driven by specially formed committees. Anniversaries or special centenary dates need to be marked accordingly, and these committees are the ones to make it happen.

The team at Montrose Golf Links certainly did that last year when they invited just about everybody to the east coast of Scotland to celebrate 450 years of golf at the historic Montrose Medal Golf Course. “There simply wasn’t a downside,” says Alan Crow, chairman of Montrose Golf Links Limited. “A lot of people went away with smiles on their faces.”

Montrose is home to the fifth oldest course in the world where play was first recorded in 1562. Last year, the 450th Committee masterminded a series of events to mark this historic date including a re-enactment of the first locally recorded golf shot and a weekend of matches in which 450 golfers were invited to play - in the end, 522 took part.

Montrose’s blockbusting programme also included a junior open, a special exhibition in a local museum and the extension of the 11th hole to 450 yards. It was a year-long pageant of fun, but with all that going on, you might expect the coffers to reeling. Not so, says Crow who praises the input of local sponsors. “We got sponsorship from Glaxosmithkline, the local Rotary Club, the Round Table and individual businesses that wanted to make a contribution to our celebrations. Because of our generous sponsors [GSK contributed £4,000], the net costs to Montrose Golf Links Limited was £700 for the whole year.”


The complete article can be found at http://www.golfmanagementnews.com/gme/current-issue.html

Monday 11 February 2013

Jeff Mingay: On Golf Architecture: Ever hear of High Pointe?

Jeff Mingay: On Golf Architecture: Ever hear of High Pointe?: High Pointe, from Doak's infamous book 'The Confidental Guide to Golf Courses' (1996). The educated taste admires simplicity of design ...