Links beauty

The summer in Scotland (the first for about six years) has been wonderful, producing ideal conditions for hard and bouncy fairways and slick and fast greens. At Muirfield and St Andrews, we saw Majors decided over historic courses that for once, bit back.

Now I know there is a deep love for all things links, but I wonder if our love of salt-laiden air and lively turf is purely derived from the playing experience, rather than aesthetic appreciation. As a photographer, I love shooting all kinds of courses – links, heathland, parkland, clifftop, resort; you name it, I’II shoot it. The objective is to select the features that make each course stand out. For me, a big part of what I do is discovering beauty in what I find in front of me.

A links course that has been exposed to the relentless sun and wind and then exhaustively managed to within an inch of its life, is a spectacle of humps and hollows that conjure up fear and excitement in equal measures. I have just finished processing a batch of images of a course that looks as wonderfully linksy as I have seen for a long time, but I wonder if the viewer sees it the same way.

We all know that seaside turf is special. The fun, difficulty and possibilities it provides makes links golf a joy. But, when you see a true links course, brown and bare, does this titillate like an image of Augusta would?

 

Let me know.

 

In good company

So what is it really like inside the clubhouse at Muirfield? Here is an excerpt from my Golf World article explaining just that.

What lies behind Muirfield’s gates is a club of speed-loving members who would do anything for good lunch as Mark Alexander finds out

As entrances go, Magnolia Lane is special. The colourful blooms provide the ideal lead up to Augusta. Yet despite all its reverence, some would argue it pails into insignificance against the walk from the car park, along Duncur Road and onwards to the gates of the Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers. For some, this is as spine-tingling as it gets.

With the sound of flight bags being dragged across the tarmac and the wind whistling through the trees, the 200-metre walk gives you tantalising glimpses Muirfield’s fluttering flags through the wrought iron lattice. Beyond, groups of traditionally clad golfers stride across the links in jovial form bolstered by the heat of competition.

Only the world’s great golf clubs give you that feeling. The aura of the place takes over and your heart starts to pound and your eyes widen. Pushing against the heavy iron gate, you enter in hushed deference. This is, after all, where Tom Watson and Ben Crenshaw were dutifully vilified for playing a couple of extra holes with hickories on a quiet Sunday evening. The fact that Watson has just won the 1980 Open Championship with Crenshaw coming third was of no interest to the club’s notorious secretary P.W.T. “Paddy” Hanmer, a retired Royal Navy captain.

For more information visit http://www.todaysgolfer.co.uk/magazines/golf-world/2013/golf-world-magazine-open-issue/