PRIVATE GOLF CLUBS, INTERNATIONAL
One of the highlights of being a professional golf course photographer is international travel. It can be a bit grueling to take a 20 hour flight to shoot golf courses in Asia, but the payoff is amazing. I have found that golf has its own language, and so does international travel.
On my first trip to China, I photographed two courses in Beijing, designed by Rick Robbins, and another of Rick’s designs in Wuhan… yes, that Wuhan… and nobody spoke English. Nobody. I wasn’t in tourist areas where one might expect to find at least a few English speakers. I was at private clubs. And when I traveled on the High Speed Rail from Beijing to Wuhan, I was on my own. But I enjoyed the experience thoroughly. With no shared language, communication became a matter of clumsy sign language, laughter and pantomime. Incredible fun.
When I arrived in Wuhan to photograph Yishan Golf Club, I stepped off the train into the huge train station without a clue where I would be picked up. Naturally, I stuck out like a sore thumb, so everyone recognized me as needing assistance. Smiles, pointed fingers and one young, English-speaking Chinese woman who approached me to offer assistance got me to the pickup location. Clearly, the train station experience had nothing to do with golf, but it was a part of the experience of international golf photography that makes it such a joy.
At Yishan Golf Club, there were two English speakers. The General Manager spoke excellent English, and a young woman who worked the front desk at the club’s on site hotel, spoke a little. Zhong Hua was her name, and we spent a lot of time using a Mandarin to English translator on her laptop, discovering that Mandarin and English are very different, and translator software bridges the gap clumsily. We laughed endlessly at the results. But a connection was made and we’ve managed to stay loosely in touch ever since.
Hong Kong Golf Club was a very different story. As a former British protectorate, most people spoke English, but it was an incredible experience to photograph the club’s 3 18-hole courses and one 9 holer. It was a great photo shoot, in spite of the heat, the oppressive humidity and the mosquitos, but once again, I made friends I stay in touch with still. What’s not to love?
I hope you can see a little of the joy I felt shooting and editing these projects in these photographs.
10th Hole, Old Course, Hong Kong Golf Club, Hong Kong10th Hole, Yishan Golf Club, Wuhan, Hubei Province, PR ChinaScenic, Hong Kong Golf Club, Hong Kong4th Hole, Yinhong No. 6, Beijing, PR ChinaScenic, Eden Course, Hong Kong Golf Club, Hong Kong2nd Hole, Eden Course, Hong Kong Golf Club, Hong Kong5th Hole, Eden Course, Hong Kong Golf Club, Hong Kong5th Hole, Yinhong No. 6, Beijing, PR China6th Hole, Eden Course, Hong Kong Golf Club, Hong Kong7th Hole, Eden Course, Hong Kong Golf Club, Hong Kong11th Hole, Eden Course, Hong Kong Golf Club, Hong Kong9th Hole, Yinhong No. 6, Beijing, PR ChinaScenic, Hong Kong Golf Club, Hong Kong1st Hole, Yinhong No. 6, Beijing, PR China15th Hole, Eden Course, Hong Kong Golf Club, Hong Kong7th Hole, Yinhong No. 6, Beijing, PR China17th Hole, Eden Course, Hong Kong Golf Club, Hong Kong5th Hole, Yinhong No. 6, Beijing, PR China18th Hole, Eden Course, Hong Kong Golf Club, Hong Kong9th Hole, Yinhong No. 6, Beijing, PR China