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/
 

CLICK-STARTING 2012 OPEN

After Darren Clarke’s triumph at Royal St George’s on Sunday, preparations for the 141th Open Championship are already underway with the release of the first of a new set of images of next year’s venue. Captured by international golf course photographer Mark Alexander, the images show the stern test that awaits the world’s best at Royal Lytham & St Annes next year.

Commissioned by the club to shoot the course following a preliminary visit in March, Alexander spent three days at the renowned venue in June capturing the early morning and late evening light. Brought up in St Andrews, the award-winning photographer is no stranger to championship links, but even he couldn’t help noticing the challenge presented by the Lancashire course.

“It was a great experience and challenge to shoot Royal Lytham & St Annes,” said the Scot. “The course offers a very stern test of golf which I wanted to capture in the images. The key was to get the right light to show off the strategy and beauty of each hole, which hopefully I’ve done.”

Despite some weather delays and a close encounter with one of the course’s local residents, Alexander said the session went as planned. “The weather had been changeable in the run up to the shoot,” he said. “I watched the forecasts very closely and saw a window of opportunity and went for it. When I arrived at the club I had an evening session followed by a 4.30am start. It was worth it for the incredible light and the welcome I got from one of the big male foxes that lives on the course. At first we stared at each other, and then we got on with our jobs!”

As well as hosting two Ryder Cups, Royal Lytham & St Annes has also welcomed 10 Open Championships with the last one being held in 2001 when David Duval held on to a three-stroke lead to claim the Claret jug. Many things have changed since then including a new look to the clubhouse and numerous on-course developments masterminded by golf course architect Martin Ebert of Mackenzie & Ebert Ltd, who recommended Alexander to the club.

“Mark’s shots of Royal Lytham really show off his skills and our work for the 2012 Open Championship,” noted Ebert, who has advised on five out of nine Opens since 2005. “We have been very impressed with Mark’s photography since seeing his shots of Turnberry which we worked on in preparation for the 2009 Open Championship. Good photographs are of critical importance to showcase our golf course design work.”

To view the initial shots of Alexander’s shoot, visit www.markalexanderphotography.co.uk/RoyalLythamandStAnnes/

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Note to editors:

1) Mark Alexander is an award-winning golf course photographer and established journalist. His work has appeared in consumer magazines, newspapers and b2b titles.
2) Alexander is based in Fife but travels across the world shooting golf courses for resorts, architects and golf clubs.
3) In 2009, Alexander picked up Creativefife’s Best Commercial Photograph award for a portfolio of images depicting Turnberry’s Ailsa course.
4) Royal Lytham & St Annes Golf Club was founded in 1886 with the present course being constructed in 1897.
5) For more information about Mark Alexander, visit www.markalexanderphotography.co.uk.
6) For more information about Royal Lytham & St Annes Golf Club, visit www.royallytham.org
7) For more information about Mackenzie & Ebert Ltd, visit www.mackenzieandebert.co.uk

My take on Royal Portrush

Northern Ireland has been almost invisible to travelling golfers. In 2009, only 34,000 golfers made the trip across the Irish Sea, and while these figures seem healthy enough, they are trifling when you consider the quality on offer. Just ask Darren Clarke, Graeme McDowell and Rory McIlroy.

In between visits to the most exotic golf courses on the planet, the Irish trio like nothing better than returning home and in particular to the two championship courses that weave their way through the dunes at Portrush. In terms of homecomings, this must rank up there with the best of them.

The Dunluce Links at Royal Portrush hosted the Open Championship in 1951. It was the first and only time the event has been held outside mainland UK, and it’s easy to see why. In theatrical terms alone, the course is beguiling as it twists and turns through a warren of high dunes. Add to that the salted blasts gusting off the Atlantic Ocean and you have a track with menace around every corner. Indeed, such is its severity that during the 1951 Open only two golfers broke 70.

Around fifty years later, Rory McIlroy carded an 11-under par 61 at the North of Ireland Amateur Open – quite a feat for the then 16-year-old amateur. “To shoot 61 anywhere is great,” he commented, “but to shoot it around Royal Portrush is even better.”

You can put McIlroy’s achievement into context when you consider the course he was playing. Dunluce Links is a trophy course that is as ferocious as they come. A gentle opener belies the stern test that lies ahead, and by the time you reach the 479-yard fourth, described in the yardage book as a par 41/2, the golfing examination is well and truly under way.

But such is the unrelenting nature of Portrush that this colossus of a hole is followed by a dogleg right that tests the nerve like only the very best holes do. White Rocks begins with a formidable tee shot to a bunkerless fairway shaped only by the dunes that sweep around towards the ocean and on to the cliff-edge green. Hitting the green in two is something that will live with you forever.

And so it continues; a train of exquisite golf holes each providing difficulty and beauty in equal measures. “You have to put yourself in good positions off the tee,” says Patrick McCrudden, a part-time shop assistant at the Portrush pro shop and current holder of the course record since the introduction of new championship tees.

“If you’re going for the greens from the fairway, it’s so much easier because the rough is very thick,” he explains. “Some of the pin positions can be quite treacherous, so you have to think where’s the best place to miss your shot. It’s all about good course management.”

Visit www.markalexanderphotography.co.uk/Portrush-Dunluce/

Celtic shots

I'm currently processing shots I took at Celtic Manor last November when the weather was at best hit but more often a complete miss. As it turns out, the shots are looking good with the course looking spectacular in the late autumn light.

Sitting in front of my screen, I can't help but wish the grass would start to grow again so I could get out to take some more shots like these. The start of the season is just around the corner and with the Open in St Andrews, the 150th celebrations and the Ryder Cup to round things off, it's going to be quite a year.

Bring it on.