Club Life/books
international
appeal
The global glory of golf
by David Scaletti
I
n creating Planet Golf, we wanted to present an authoritative reference to the great golf courses that exist beyond the borders of the United States. Darius Oliver and I traveled over a quarter of a million miles, stopped off in more than forty countries and visited in excess of 600 golf courses. The reviews cover both the history and design, and include commentary from leading course architects such as Jack Nicklaus, Greg Norman, Pete Dye, Tom Fazio, Gary Player, Robert Trent Jones, Tom Doak, Tom Weiskopf and Kyle Phillips. Oliver, a noted golf writer and regular contributor to magazine ranking panels, spent several years scouring the globe and researching courses in order to provide an inside guide to the world’s premier golf venues. And my role in the project was equally arduous —golf course photography is not always blue skies and gentle breezes.
Maybe my luck is cursed, or perhaps the truth is that Great Britain and Ireland just have wretched weather, but whenever I have visited their fair shores wind, rain and the inevitable grey skies have made photography difficult. The 6th hole at Doonbeg Golf Club graces the cover of Planet Golf. This photograph was taken on the only occasion I have ever donned waterproof gear while shooting a golf course. The itinerary was tight and I just had to do it. Minutes earlier I had taken an image of the nearby 14th and marvelled at the drama of the storm clouds in the background as I looked through the viewfinder. My attention had turned to the nearby 6th, a par 4 running at 90 degrees to the 14th. To protect the camera and tripod from the wind screaming off the ocean I stood with my back to the water shielding the camera. Unfortunately, I forgot about the approaching tempest. Seconds after the shot it hit with great ferocity. I simply didn’t have time to take my expensive new—and very vulnerable—digital camera off the tripod before the downpour. Because of the near horizontal nature of the rain my body gave some protection to the camera and by folding my arms on top of it I was able to keep the water from causing irreparable damage. After five minutes the tempest had passed. But to this day I am still thankful that, for once, I wore waterproof gear to photograph a golf course.
abramsbooks.com •
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95