We are delighted to welcome golf course photographer Channing Benjamin to WomensGolf.com. Here is Channing’s spectacular drone photography and commentary from some great ‘bucket list’ courses to visit in the United States.
Pebble Beach Golf Links
Boca Rio Golf Club
Tradition Golf Club
Ballyneal
About Channing Benjamin
Pebble Beach – Iconic in so many ways
Since 1919, the exquisite beauty and unique challenges of Pebble Beach Golf Links have electrified golfers and spectators alike. As a newly licensed photographer for the Pebble Beach Company, shooting photos of the courses there has been a real treat.
In October 2018, I was able to catch some beautiful light and sunshine while shooting for 3 days straight. The weather in the area can often be unpredictable, but this particular weekend proved to be nothing short of spectacular. I shot every hole on the course from up high and down low, but many of my favorite images often come from the sky.
A couple of my favorite aerial images, in particular, are from the iconic par-3 7th hole, and the often overlooked par-4 4th hole. For me, a good photo always has to have good light. The subject is important as well, but I’ve created some magical images from many places when the light is just right, and the subject isn’t perfect. Here we have the best of both worlds.
The feature image at the top of the page is of the par-3 7th and it is one of my most talked about recent photos. Not too often do you see this beautiful hole from this perspective, but you also get a great view of the par-5 6th and the par-4 8th as well.
At the 4th, the sunrise cast some golden light on the putting surface as well as the adjacent tee box of the par-3 5th hole making for what I call a “Glory Shot”.
What a place!
Boca Rio Golf Club is unlike any other course I’ve photographed in South Florida.
Situated on 200 acres of native Florida wilderness, Boca Rio is a magnificently lush, rolling golf course featuring impeccable fairways, quick, undulating greens and gleaming white sand bunkers with no developed real estate.
I usually have an opportunity to scout a location and meet the client before committing to a photo shoot, but that wasn’t the case here. The client actually follows my work and hired me to capture the beauty of this place. So, I was over the moon when I played the course and toured the facilities in an effort to get the “lay of the land”. The golf course layout and overall perfect condition made for exceptional aerial imagery from the drone and from the ground.
I was able to find some unique angles while flying just high enough off property to photograph holes that are hard to capture otherwise. The first image you see here is of the stunning 9th hole from just above the beautifully renovated clubhouse.
The second image is from the fairway of the 9th looking toward the clubhouse at typically beautiful Florida sunrise. Daunting bunkers guard the approach here at both the 9th and 18th holes, allowing for dramatic photos from above!
The King’s iconic desert home – Tradition Golf Club
Just through the unmarked front gate, past Arnold’s cottage and Winnie’s pool, you begin to get a glimpse of the majestic collaboration of desert and mountain, water and sky — all experienced through 18 holes of Championship golf he created. So when given the opportunity to photograph this golf course for the club, I didn’t think twice.
Before shooting (as a guest playing the course) I’d always said that “Tradition Golf Club is a photographer’s Paradise.” Every time I was on the property I was blown away at how beautiful and how well maintained the place was. I imagined taking pictures from above and from the ground but I never imagined they turn out as well as they did.
The two images you see here were from Winter 2016 and Spring 2017. Many mornings and many evenings on the property were spent looking for the right angle or the right light. The first image is a shot high above the clubhouse looking at the beautiful 18th hole. A stunning view to say the least.
This par-5 is surrounded by beautiful flowers and water, making for great eye candy and a memorable finishing hole.
The next image you see has to be one of the most beautiful par-3s that I’ve ever photographed. This 5th hole is surrounded by flowers that are designed to create a replica of the American flag. Hundreds of flowers in the red white and blue colors. The blue part of the flag is deep blue Violas and the white and red are Violas as well. It is roughly 1,000 flats of 4-inch pots….16 pots per flat!
Ahhhh-mazing and truly a place fit for The King!
Ballyneal was created for golfers that appreciate and respect the traditions, the camaraderie and the challenge of golf.
Located in the high plains of eastern Colorado near Holyoke, Ballyneal offers a true inland golf experience that is reminiscent of the great links courses in Scotland and Ireland. When I was asked to photograph this course, the answer was an immediate and resounding yes!
As a fan of famed architect Tom Doak, I’d heard plenty about this place and his design. The images featured here were photographed late in the summer of 2018. Part of this commissioned photoshoot was to highlight the brand new Mulligan Course (which is Ballyneal’s 12-hole short course) and the other part was to capture landscape imagery that can be used to update the club’s website and the lodging facilities on property. During my week-long photoshoot, I realized that the best light is in the evening. Most of my images from this shoot were at dusk and it’s a magical hour at Ballyneal.
In the right light, everything is accentuated and the chop hills are no exception. The first image you see is a wide aerial landscape shot of those chop Hills from about 250 feet up.
From this perspective, you can see that for a walking golfer (Ballyneal is walking only), it can be a true test. The golf hole in the middle of the image is the 7th hole, which is said to be one of the best short par-4 holes in golf.
The next image you see is an aerial image of one of the holes on the Mulligan Course. It is an amazingly fun tee shot into this green an sets up perfectly for a photo from above.
Ballyneal is truly special!
I hope you have enjoyed seeing these photos of wonderful American golf courses as much as I enjoyed the experience of capturing them.
Pebble Beach and Pebble Beach Golf Links are the registered trademarks of Pebble Beach Company. Used with permission.
