Calendar release

HOME-GROWN SUCCESS FOR
GOLF PHOTOGRAPHER

International golf course photographer Mark Alexander has made a timely return to his hometown of St Andrews by providing all the images for the official 2013 St Andrews Links Trust calendar. The dramatic A3 publication features a selection of stunning shots of the Old, New, Jubilee and Castle Courses alongside iconic views over the Swilcan Bridge and several distinctive vistas across the famous links.

The Fife-based photographer, who was also commissioned this year to shoot the celebrated Spanish resort of La Manga for its 40th anniversary and Royal Lytham & St Annes Golf Club ahead of this year’s Open Championship, said he was thrilled to be involved in the calendar project. “It was a great honour to shoot the courses for the official Links Trust calendar, but for me it was particularly special because St Andrews is my home town. I grew up there; I went to university there, so it was wonderful to do something that would hopefully capture the essence of golf at its spiritual home.”

The striking calendar has also been a commercial success with stocks already running low. “We commissioned Mark to provide us with iconic views but also some different shots of St Andrews Links,” explained Kevin Liddle, retail manager at St Andrews Links Golf Shops. “We have been delighted with the response of our customers. Mark has captured the spirit of the Home of Golf wonderfully.”

It has been a busy year for the award-winning photographer, whose work regularly appears in golf magazines such as Golf Illustrated, Golf World and Golf Digest. Indeed his images have played a key role in the build-up to both the Curtis Cup at The Nairn Golf Club and the Irish Open at Royal Portrush.

More recently he has collaborated with Golf Course Architecture magazine to produce a series of prints celebrating the art of golf course design. “We were delighted to team up with Mark,” said Toby Ingleton the magazine’s publisher. “His photography captures the very best of golf course architecture. I could stand and stare at his prints all day. They really highlight the character and charm of these wonderful courses.”

Reflecting on what has been a packed schedule of appointments around Europe, Alexander said he was looking forward to an equally busy diary next year. “There is a lot of travelling in my job, but it pays off when you see the client’s reaction to the images,” he said. “This year I have been lucky to work with some great clubs, tourist organisations and magazines, and if I can do the same next year, I will be more than happy.”

To view Alexander’s work, visit www.markalexanderphotography.co.uk

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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) The St Andrews Links Trust calendar features a selection of stunning shots of the Old, New, Jubilee and Castle Courses. Each page also contains an interesting fact about the course featured that month. For more information visit www.standrews.org.uk/shop/Golf-Gifts-Gift-Packs/2013-CALENDAR-63103/BLACK-GOLD.aspx
5) For more information about the Golf Course Architecture prints, visit www.golfcoursearchitecture.net/prints
6) For more information about Mark Alexander, visit www.markalexanderphotography.co.uk.

New images just posted

I have just added some new pics of Comrie Golf Club to my website. I think this club is fantastic - a typical undiscovered beauty that proudly rubs shoulders with its more illustrious neighbours. Located in the centre of Perthshire, this beautiful nine-holer is a pitch and putt from Gleneagles, yet I bet you've never heard of it. If you haven't, I would recommend you play it ASAP.

Check out the images and tell me what you think - http://www.markalexanderphotography.co.uk/ComrieGC/

OPEN DOOR POLICY

As Mark Alexander finds out, the decision to offer up tee times at the Carnegie Club at Skibo Castle provides a rare opportunity to sample the lives of the rich and famous

Although the Home of Golf may be famed for its public links where young and old play the world’s finest courses for next to nothing, there is a new swathe of ultra private clubs which are offering something different to the world’s mega wealthy. It seems that millionaires’ golf is alive and well and flourishing in Scotland.

In fact, there is a splurge of these private retreats coming onto the market. Loch Lomond Golf Club was created in an area of outstanding natural beauty and is famed for its elite membership, while the Renaissance Club near Edinburgh sits alongside one Scotland’s most revered gentleman’s clubs at Muirfield. In Fife, St Andrews International promises to be the first private club in the Auld Grey Toon to have its own course, and next to Gleneagles a new heathland gem (know as gWest) is being created to rival the Queens, Kings and Centenary courses.

What they have in common are business models that rest on the desire of the world’s financially elite to play golf in Scotland safe in the knowledge that their post-match confab will be shared with millionaires and oligarchs in suitably opulent surroundings far from prying eyes. Wealth, privacy and golf seem to be the perfect bedfellows.

In the north of Scotland, near the adored links of Dornoch, another hideaway haven has taken the first tentative steps at reversing this trend by offering a tantalising glimpse of this exclusive world. The Carnegie Club at Skibo Castle, which accommodates around 3,000 rounds a year, is offering eight tee times a week from Monday to Friday until October.

Read the full story at http://www.golfmanagementnews.com/gme/current-issue.html

The truth about photography

The Final Instalment

Creative and striking photography can raise the profile of a club to a new level. It can illustrate all the features that make golf courses special, compelling the viewer to make a booking or renew a membership.

But I would say that - golf course photography is what I do. It’s my passion and it’s my career. I shoot golf courses all around the world and one of the recurring trends I have noticed is that premier league clubs and resorts rarely question paying for good-quality imagery. There are exceptions, but generally they see it as an investment that will inspire visitors and maintain their lofty position. Another returning theme is that new golf developments eager to draw attention to their attributes, readily add photography to their must-do lists and assign a budget to pay for it.

If the big boys and new kids rely on it, why should photography be such an after-thought for everyone else? At a time when attracting visitors and maintaining members are high on everyone’s agenda, shouldn’t photography also be?

To read the whole story in its entirety visit www.golfmanagementnews.com

Why pay someone to photograph your course?

Why photography matters - part four

The idea of making a financial commitment to photography is a notion some clubs find puzzling. After all, why pay someone to photograph your course when a member will do it for free? As a result, the charity of an obliging member is often seized upon by clubs that need good photography but are unwilling to budget for it.

If the same policy was employed on the greenkeeping side, how would the course look if members were to cut the greens with their Flymos? It might save money initially, but the course would suffer in the long run, as would the club’s coffers. Similarly, using sub-standard images to market and promote your club could have a detrimental effect as visitors and potential members look elsewhere for their golfing inspiration.

The significance of photography is also being recognised elsewhere in the golf industry. “Over the years, high-quality photography has become increasingly important to our work in the field of golf course architecture,” explains golf course designer Martin Ebert. “At the initial stage of a project, we often have to use our own photographs but, if professionally taken images are available, they can be very useful in helping us illustrate our concepts. In fact, the better the photography, the more likely we are to convince the client, committee or members that the scheme we are proposing has undeniable merits.”

Ebert, whose work with Tom Mackenzie includes preparatory work at various Open Championship venues including Turnberry and Royal Lytham & St Annes, says the impact of professional photography can be extensive. “Our design input can be shown off in its fullest with inspired shots,” he continues. “That helps more people become aware of our portfolio and assists clubs in marketing their courses and the changes made to them. Not every course is blessed with the setting of the Ailsa Course at Turnberry, but good photographers will find the best angles and make the most of the morning or evening light using their imagination and state-of-the-art equipment.”

Part five follows soon...

To read the whole story visit www.golfmanagementnews.com

Why photography matters - part three

There are a number of techniques I use to generate a response, and none is more powerful than shooting with the right light, at the right time, in the right location. To do this, I survey the course ahead of a shoot to pinpoint angles that show off the course to its best. After that, it’s a matter of timing, and that means early mornings (some of the Renaissance photos were shots at 5am) and late evenings.

It may seem like artistic indulgence to restrict my photography to these daily extremes, but shooting out-with these special times, creates bland-looking shots that do nothing for the course. If I could shoot during the day and still produce images that sing, then I would, but sadly it doesn’t work that way.

For instance, I photographed Tanka Golf Club on the beautiful island of Sardinia just as the sun was reaching the horizon. The saturated colours, fantastic cloud formations and incredible views made for a collection of shots that are now being used to market the resort around the world. As the club’s golf director points out, having access to professionally taken images has a direct impact on his business.

“Speaking as a director of a commercial golf course, I think using a professional golf course photographer means you can produce a high standard of materials that you can send out to existing and potential clients,” explains Richard Cau. “Achieving high standards reflects well on the standard of the golf course which attracts high-quality clients. Ultimately, working with a professional golf course photographer is a good investment for golf clubs and resorts.”

Part four follows soon...

To read the whole story visit www.golfmanagementnews.com

FIRST IMPRESSIONS - part two

Thankfully there are clubs that commission professional photographers and, as a result, readers can enjoy images that transport them to the tee, all in remarkable high-definition. One club that went down this route was The Renaissance Golf Club - a sublime Tom Doak-designed track that straddles an undulating parkland/links site that is full of character and history.

Despite having a portfolio of shots provided by members, the club needed imagery that properly reflected the high standards set by the owners. “We had taken quite a lot of photos ourselves and our members had given us quite a few, but they really didn’t cut the mustard as far as telling the story of the club itself,” explains Simon Holt, membership director at The Renaissance Golf Club. “We didn’t want to put too many words on our website and we don’t do advertising, so the pictures were the only window onto the course and we wanted them to be as good as possible.”

He explains that by studying different websites he was able to get an idea of the kind of images he wanted. “To expose the course in its best light, you need to get a professional in,” he says, “so I researched photographers in the golf industry and found one I liked. Looking at the website, I liked the way the images were set and how they showed the undulations of the golf course. It was different to other professional photographers who didn’t know about golf.”

By a remarkable twist of fate, a drop of luck and a heavy dose of coincidence, Holt selected me to photograph the course last summer. It turned out to be a three-day shoot that despite some iffy weather and on-site construction work produced a decent set of shots.

“We have received lots of positive comments about them,” says Holt. “Before, people would look at the images and think they were nice, whereas now people are drawn into them. They say that they feel like they are there - the pictures tell a story rather than just showing a golf hole - they say so much more about the golf course.”

Holt’s generous comments perfectly sum up what I set out to achieve when I photographed the course. For me, it is not enough to simply create a record of the shape of the hole. The image has to be powerful enough to prompt a reaction and encourage the viewer to play.

Part three follows soon...

To read the whole story visit www.golfmanagementnews.com