1. Portstewart Golf Club, in the weeks before the Irish Open, looked magnificent. For a photographer, the light was glorious. I could have chosen all 10 'best' photos from those taken in these towering dunes... but I've landed on two. The angle for this shot of the 6th green is unusual (the tee is to the right of the sand, about 2 o'clock) but the flag, overwhelmed by the dunes, demonstrates perfectly what you will face at this links.
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| The 6th green, Portstewart Golf Club |
2. The 2nd hole at Portstewart is a short par four. This lone golfer shows the scale of
what is widely acclaimed as the best front nine in Ireland.
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| The par four 2nd on the Portstewart Strand course. |
3. Still in Northern Ireland, this is a misty sunrise over the 15th hole at Galgorm Castle, outside Ballymena. The colour of the light tells you everything you need to know about the 'golden hour'.
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| Galgorm Castle Golf Club at sunrise. |
4. More soft sunlight, this time spilling through the trees onto the par five 18th green at Bray Golf Club. The shapes of the green are what makes this photo.
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| The 18th green at Bray Golf Club. |
5. Golf course landscapes typically fall into easy categories of parkland and links, but every now and again something very different comes along. This photo of Bearna Golf Club's par three 14th (there's an 'a' and a 'b' hole) displays one of the more remarkable and natural landscapes that plays host to an Irish golf course.
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| Bearna Golf Club, with its rocky, gorse and heather drenched landscape. |
6. After the rain. Sunrise hits the 17th green at the beautiful Dooks Golf Club links. The views are spectacular.
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| Dooks Golf Club. Sunrise on the 17th. |
7. Dublin's sweetest suburban parkland is Castle Golf Club. This is the opening hole hitting towards the Dublin Mountains. The trees are big and dense.
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| Castle Golf Club, Hole 1. |
8. As the sun drops down behind the town of Portrush, the 16th flag (the par three 'Calamity') on the Dunluce sits high above Royal Portrush's Valley course... with several flags visible. It's a touch dark but it enhances the mystery of the dunes.
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| Royal Portrush's Dunluce course possesses one of the mightiest par threes in Ireland. This is Calamity, the famous par three 16th. |
9. Roe Park was selected as IAGTO's Golf Resort of the Year. This is the par three 6th which rises up through the hotel's grounds. The rectangular shadows on the green come from old castellations just to the left of the shot.
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| Roe Park Golf Club and views to Binevenagh over the 6th green. |
10. A special one to finish. This is Dermot Synnott from Destination Golf, playing the 1st hole at Lundin Links, in Scotland. We had a mad dash around Edinburgh and St Andrews, but still managed to sneak in some holes here and there. The flag is above his head up on the ridge. Perfect conditions for late afternoon golf.
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| Lundin Links 1st hole. |
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