Digital Cameras, the Internet, and Perceptions of Golf Courses

[Carl Nichols]

As I trudged 250+ yards back to the digital camera I left on a tee, I started wondering about whether digital cameras, and the ability to disseminate pictures quickly and widely, has affected how we perceive golf courses -- particularly new ones.  I have the sense that 80+ years ago, public perception of a new course was formed through word-of-mouth, limited still photos, and print stories.  Today, you still have all those things, but you also have the explosion in available photographs of (most) new courses via digital photography and the internet.  Has this phenomenon resulted in easy-to-photograph courses getting an additional bump in public perception?  Or was I just making s**t up as I walked back to pick up the camera?

[David_Tepper]

Carl -

I think you were "just making s**t up." 

DT

[Matthew Runde]

The courses may get a boost in the public's awareness of them, but unless the photos are made/enhanced by a skilled person, the courses tend to look very bland.  A skillful photographer/retoucher can do wonders for any course.

[Pete_Pittock]

Carl,
You are parroting Brian Curley' summation in Secrets of the Great Golf Course Architects. 

[Norbert P]

Pictures are instructive, helpful, and highly appreciated but there still has to be some monologue presented from en plein air experiences to express what the viewer saw and feels.

[Rob Rigg]

Carl,

For those of us who have not travelled far and wide (and least not yet) to play every great golf course in the world - photos and commentary are a wonderful introduction to them.

They also provide a means of aiding in decisions about what courses to visit in any given area if we have an opportunity.

Instead of leaving the power of suggestion in the hands of the magazines, where it has resided for a really long time, people now have access to images and opinions at their finger tips for vitually any golf course (or vacation or anything else for that matter) in seconds.

I think it is a pretty awesome situation for any consumer to be in. Especially if you can find some sites or people that you can trust.

[Sean_A]

I agree with Rob.  Instant publication of photos gives me a much better idea from a GOLFER'S perspective of golf courses and whether or not I am enticed to play them.  In the old days I had to rely on mags and far more often than not the photos were/are selected for visual appeal rather than for reasons of playing the game.  Additionally, the accompanying text was/is rarely critical.  Far more often than not you get a one-sided view of a course.  I am very grateful to those who post photos because I use them for decision-making on where to play and where to absolutely avoid.

Ciao

[David_Tepper]

For anyone not familiar with it, www.golfarchitecturepictures.com is the most comprehensive collection of golf course photos I have seen in one place on the web.   

[Scott Warren]

It's great to see pics because you see exactly how a course is looking at a given time, from a golfer's eye view. You see what it looks like to play the course, rather than how the course looks from on top of a dune at sunset before a major re-touch. Just like those guest photos on tripadvisor, it strips away the bullshit and shows what you're really going to get.

[Emil Weber]

Carl,
you certainly didn't make s**t up while you were walking back to the tee.
The bad thing about all the camera and internet stuff is that you sometimes ALREADY know a golf course before you've even played it. That can make expieriencing a new golf course less interesting.
One good thing, though, is that all the photo tours and reviews are really fun to watch at. AND you understand GCA better every time you see photos of a golf course. I could spend HOURS looking at reviews of Bandon Trails, Pac Dunes, Sand Hills and so on, though I will probably never play these courses.

[Matthew Mollica]

Are courses being designed and built differently today, as a consequence of easy digital photography and immage dissemination?

MM

[Jamie Barber]

I think it's great and have really enjoyed some of the photo tours from Sean, Kyle, Scott and others

[Kevin_Reilly]

Speaking of cameras, I hope Evan Craig Faulkner isn't a member of this group!

http://chronicle.augusta.com/stories/latest/lat_700085.shtml?v=0702

[Kalen Braley]

Speaking of cameras, I hope Evan Craig Faulkner isn't a member of this group!

http://chronicle.augusta.com/stories/latest/lat_700085.shtml?v=0702

I love the comments by folks after the article where they try to justify trespassing and otherwise...   

[RJ_Daley]

Would any of the gentlemen, architects, constructors-shapers, and others associated with the build remodel process of golf courses care to share whether they have ever communicated design ideas, changes, or review of work in progress via photos or even video with someone on site sending the pics to someone remote, but needing to review and provide input on the work?

I'm going to google or try to find some information on what exactly the camera requirement is for Google Street View providing those amazing 360* tours of nearly every major city in the US and now around the world.  If that same technology were to be used by one of these 'sky caddie' or other companies, I'd think it would be a smash hit. 

In deed, Mr FRank Pont started posting near 360 views of top golf courses by progressing down fairways on their site http://www.golfarchitecturepictures.com/Pages/countries.html.
Some are better than others, but that site is a wonderful place to go for great pics of courses you may never otherwise see. 

As my personalized message indicates at the bottom of my posts, I love to take pics of golf courses and the pals I play with at them.  For one, I may never get back to some of those places and very much want to be able to call up accurate memories of some of the best times of my golf life.  But, one should always be mindful and considerate that the photo taking isn't getting in the way of other people's enjoyment and pace of play, of course.

[RJ_Daley]

all you have to do is google! 

Here is the dope on the google cameras.  I'm amazed they haven't done this yet on golf courses.  Only softball size cameras!!!  I'd love to have that gig, going to all the major courses and googling and oogling them!!!! 

[Norbert P]

Would any of the gentlemen, architects, constructors-shapers, and others associated with the build remodel process of golf courses care to share whether they have ever communicated design ideas, changes, or review of work in progress via photos or even video with someone on site sending the pics to someone remote, but needing to review and provide input on the work?

Great question Dick.  I can imagine a design associate or shaper sending picts to the archie for approvals or feedback.  

I am concerned though that the long proven effective skill - handed down generation after generation -  of arm waving may become a technique of the past.  

[Richard Choi]

Carl, great topic, but I think you missed one of the most significant technology in this discussion - Video Games!

I have never played Pebble Beach of The Old Course, but I feel like I know the courses intimately as I have played hundreds of rounds on those courses using video games like Links and Tiger Woods Golf. With increadible 3D simulation these days, you can REALLY get a good feel of a golf course just playing those games.

I am planning to go to Pebble in a couple of years for my 40th and I plan to play a bunch of rounds on Xbox before so that I really am fully prepared before I get there.

[Garland Bayley]

Speaking of cameras, I hope Evan Craig Faulkner isn't a member of this group!

http://chronicle.augusta.com/stories/latest/lat_700085.shtml?v=0702

I love the comments by folks after the article where they try to justify trespassing and otherwise...  

I think he got off lucky. Back in the olden days, even if you were nephews of their caddies, they just shot you.