The importance of golf course photography

The natural beauty of a golf course at sunrise makes golf one of the most photogenic sports. Yet even with this in-built publicity advantage, the number of UK golf clubs with a good photography portfolio is critically poor. So says ex-golf magazine publisher Andy Hiseman, who took the photograph shown here.

His claim is backed up by golf magazine and website course editors, and a few minutes spent browsing UK golf club websites at random will reveal the generally unattractive nature of most golf club photography on these shores. Why is this, and what should golf club managers be doing about it in 2012?

“Let’s make this the year that we start to catch up to the USA as regards good golf course photography,” said Hiseman. “From April to September our golf courses look as beautiful as any in the world, and a professional golf photographer can make any course – however unglamorous – look magical. The results can transform your ability to attract customers to your golf club.

“With iPads, smartphones and laptops now so prevalent, golfers have permanent internet access. Images upload quickly and a golfer’s eye is instantly drawn by an attractive golf course photo. A dull photo means they will quickly move on. And golf magazines simply will not print a poorly-taken photograph.

“In my opinion, investing in a photo shoot is one of the most intelligent low-cost decisions you can take as a golf club manager. The shoot should cover the clubhouse and facilities including the restaurant and function rooms as well as the golf course. Your website, brochures, posters, advertisements and emails will be transformed, and the media will love you. The added publicity usually pays for the shoot very quickly.”

Writers at two top consumer golf magazines would seem to agree, highlighting the lack of magazine-quality images from UK golf clubs. Jock Howard at Golf World said: “I find it astonishing how bad course photography generally is in theUKandIreland, especially if you compare it with the States. If I owned a golf club, one of the first things I’d do would be to get a really good professional photo shoot done. Pictures are paramount to a magazine, and beautiful photos make an article. We simply won’t print a bad photograph, and sadly 99 per cent of golf club photos we receive are not up to scratch.”

Kevin Brown, who has been courses editor at one of the UK’s biggest-selling golf magazines, Today’s Golfer, for over ten years, added: “Without question the most frustrating part of my job is sourcing good quality high resolution photographs from golf clubs. It’s the bane of my life: very often it seems virtually impossible to get them, other than from what you might call the international destination type venues. Unfortunately photos taken by somebody within the club are rarely up to magazine quality. It would be a good idea for clubs to commission a specialist golf photographer to shoot at least their signature hole, if not a full course shoot. It’s also vital that we get high quality images of the clubhouse and facilities too.

“We’re here to help get your club’s name and your golf course out there, but even commercially-minded clubs still seem not to have grasped how the cost of a proper photo shoot can be recouped many times over in the increased publicity those photos will generate.”

Andy Hiseman is a former publisher of Today’s Golfer, and runs golf PR and photography agency Hiseman Limited