I've often admired Tom Doak's golf pictures, so I once asked him his "secrets." I hope Tom won't mind my sharing what he wrote:
"I learned everything I know about golf photography from Brian Morgan -- and from having a good enough memory to put myself in the same positions as other photographers on the golf course. (Brian also told me years ago that while I was hopeless technically, I had a really good eye for composition.)
My simple rules:
1. I used to use a 24- or 28-mm wide angle lens and the standard 50 mm issue. The majority of my shots are with the 50 mm that came with the camera, which is optically as pure as it gets (and you can always crop and enlarge if you want a "telephoto" view). My wide-angle lenses got stolen a few years ago and I've never replaced them, but many of my views from behind greens were taken with those.
2. I always use a polarizing filter, which deepens the colors when shooting at right angles to the sun.
3. The best light and color are taken at right angles to the sun, or at 45 degrees INTO the sun. The "Photog for Dummies" mantra of having the sun behind you is to keep shadows out of people's faces, but in a landscape that will give you flat light. Early morning and late afternoon produce far better pictures, unless a course is heavily treed.
4. I try to keep the golfer's perspective in a photo whenever possible, unless I'd be shooting directly into the sun.
5. Take care to frame your pictures for good composition. I usually wind up with the flag either left-center or right-center, depending on what's around it and where I am shooting from.
Hopefully that helps a little. As you say, good light is everything, and I was lucky in my younger years to have the time to hang around great courses until I got something good -- my schedule now is far less forgiving."
In experimenting with Tom's advice, I definitely agree that wider lenses (or, if digital, zoom out as far as possible instead of zooming in) help with perspective and contours, and a polarizer is a must (though they're tougher to find for digital point-and-shoot cameras). I've had better luck with sun light during twilight rounds than early morning; and I'd take a cloudy day over the noon sun anytime.