The Golf Collection

Breaking News: I have teamed up with Golf Course Architecture magazine to create a collection of photography that might interest lovers of golf, design and golf courses photographed first thing in the morning and last thing at night.

The set of four prints have been brought together to "celebrate the best of golf architecture". Each is reproduced on high-quality satin paper and measures 16 by 12 inches.

For more details visit www.golfcoursearchitecture.net/prints.aspx

Course of the week…

... has to be Turnberry, which is hosting the Senior Open Championship this week.

I photographed the course in 2009 for the R&A, the day before all the stands went up for the Open Championship. The pictures were to be used in the Players’ Lounge and Championship rooms in the tented village.

Unfortunately the weather had been awful in April, but I knew this was the last chance I had to capture the course free of workmen and scaffolding (ironically the hotel was completely covered in the stuff due to the ongoing renovation work).

I watched the weather very closely and spotted what looked to be a 24-hour window of opportunity. The drive down to Turnberry wasn’t encouraging. Wiping the rain off my windscreen, I remember telling myself that it didn’t matter what the weather was like now, all that mattered was that it was good when I pressed my shutter.

Let me know what you think of the results - http://www.markalexanderphotography.co.uk/Turnberry/

Course of the week...

has to be Royal Lytham & St Annes.

I shot the course last summer for the club as part of their preparations for this year's Open Championship. In particular, they were looking for some impressive images for their website and recently revamped dinning room.

The course itself is one of the toughest on the Open Championship circuit - whoever lifts the Claret Jug on Sunday will deserve it. Surrounded by buildings and with limited access to high points, it was also a tricky course to shoot.

Over a series of days in June 2011, I photographed the layout in the morning and late evening light. The results hopefully show a course full of twists and turns that will test the very best players in the world.

Judge for yourself - http://www.markalexanderphotography.co.uk/RoyalLythamandStAnnes/

Golf in the Ukraine

There are four golf courses in the Ukraine, and I have photographed one of them.

Take a peek; it might surprise you -

http://www.markalexanderphotography.co.uk/SuperiorGC/

First shots of Cruden Bay

FYI I have just posted the first pics to come out of a recent trip to the beautiful Cruden Bay. The light wasn't brilliant and I was shooting in the evening (ideally the morning would have been better for an East Coast shoot, but I was on a tight schedule).

The course is certainly one of my favourites and I can't wait to get back up there to do some more photography.

Let me know what you think.

http://www.markalexanderphotography.co.uk/CrudenBay/

RANK INSIDER

Fascinating and controversial, golf course rankings are a source of inspiration and debate. Mark Alexander takes a closer look at these contentious rolls of honour

Visit any golf club this weekend and someone, somewhere will be championing the cause of his or her favourite golf course. It could be the one they have just played or the one they are about to play, but you can guarantee the debate will be passionate and lively.

After all, waxing lyrical about trophy courses or hidden gems is par for the course if you are a golfer, whatever your handicap. Debates about ideal links or the preferred inlanders are the bedrock of the après round chinwag. They are fiery and involved, but they are also congenial and helpful but, sadly, rarely resolved.

And so it would remain if it wasn’t for a breed of periodicals that dutifully identify the best of the best. Indisputable and defining, golf course rankings are the holy grail of the armchair debater. They showcase the relative merits of the Top 100 courses and, more importantly, rank them in order. Who could possibly argue with that?

“There are people who question whether you can compare Sunningdale Old with Turnberry, and the truth is you can’t,” admits Jock Howard, commissioning editor at Golf World magazine. “What it does do is promote discussion - there is no right or wrong. It’s about people’s opinions and that’s what magazines are all about.”

Howard edits the oldest GB & Ireland biennial list which has been meticulously produced 15 times over the years. Compiled using input from golf pros, golf course architects, golf administrators and a selected group of well-informed readers, it is one of the most respected and authoritative registers of its kind. So successful is it that in recent years, this 30-year-old record has been joined by country specific rolls of honour and a broader European inventory.

“A successful ranking is an accurate ranking,” says Howard, “but you have to accept you are going to upset some people. You know when a list is successful when people who don’t have an axe to grind, agree with it.”

Despite the controversy, or perhaps because of it, rankings sell. Across the board, magazine issues containing Top 100 lists are perennial best sellers. What’s more, according to Rob Smith, who oversees Golf Monthly’s biennial UK & Ireland listing, they create an important dialogue between the magazines and their readers.

“The Top 100, indeed the Top 200 that we now produce, takes golfers all over the UK and Ireland to places that perhaps they might not have otherwise visited,” he says. “The rankings generate a huge amount of interest in our letters pages, in our online forums and in all our dealings with our readers.”

To read the whole story, please visit www.golfmanagementnews.com

IN THE CANNES

Cannes may be renowned for attracting film stars to the French Riviera, but it also plays host a number of top-quality golf courses. Mark Alexander finds out what Europe’s film capital has to offer both off and on the course

You know you are on a flight to Cannes when you overhear the other passengers debating the relative merits of the latest blockbuster or knowledgably discussing the careers of Tom Cruise and Angelina Jolie. Without doubt, Cannes is a film town and even during a midweek flight from London in March, there is only one topic of conversation.

Apart from the motion picture references and the obligatory name-dropping, another tell-tale sign that Cannes awaits is the number of passengers wearing sunglasses and the plethora of designer labels that make this flight as much to do with fashion as it is about travel. We are, after all, heading for the Côte d’Azur, otherwise known as the French Riviera - a stretch of coastline that has been synonymous with chic elegance and lofty living since the 1950s. The original playground for the rich and famous, Cannes and its surrounding villages have welcomed glamorous film stars, wealthy tycoons and fashion icons, with the town reaping the rewards.

We fly into Nice airport, which is less than an hour from the chic boulevards and beach-front hotels of Cannes. Here, amid the Hollywood murals, cherry red supercars and opulent jewellery shops, the city has embraced its starlight status ever since the first film festival took place in 1946.

The breath-taking super yachts anchored in the marina and the manicured beaches with near-by cafes and restaurants make this a wonderful place to people watch. But Cannes offers much more than just the opportunity to overindulge in celebrity spotting.

The steep hills and tranquil villages that surround Cannes are home to 12 18-hole golf courses all within a 60-minute drive of the beach. Indeed, since many are found on the outskirts of the city, the idea of playing a morning round followed by an afternoon soaking up the Mediterranean sun is a very real possibility. More importantly, the courses are as diverse as they are beautiful ensuring the range of golfing challenges will keep you engrossed throughout your stay.

For the full story, please visit www.hkgolfer.com/issues/may-2012