Arklow's 6th, 7th and 8th.

09.40am, January 19th: Shooting on freezing cold mornings – it was 1C – is not fun for the fingers but you do get amazing colours that turn greens to icy blues. Frost may be a common sight on Irish parklands in January, but links courses are usually spared.

I have been capturing this particular image at Arklow for a few years but never when it looked like this. The three flags line up beautifully, with the par-3 7th green in the foreground, then the par-4 6th and the par-4 8th in the distance. The early light helps to carve the shadows across the dunes.

Ballybunion's (Old) 16th

21.23pm, May 19th: Every golf course photographer pines for the opportunity to shoot Ballybunion. It has so many amazing viewpoints, from the high dunes to the low valleys. There is a warmth and solitude to this image over the 16th green, a late evening rush of last light filling the frame. Colours were of the golden variety and shooting out to sea captured the mood perfectly. The warmth didn’t last long, however, as seconds after taking the shot the sprinklers came on and the first blast hit me in the face. Still, no pain, no gain.

Galway Bay 13th

21.03pm, June 10th: I doubt any golfer would turn down the opportunity to play on a warm summer’s evening as the dropping sun turns its glow to gold. Galway Bay captures this better than most with sea putting on a shimmering display on two sides. From this angle, the 13th green uses Galway City as a backdrop and your attention is drawn to the golfers driving off the 14th. It emphasises the joy of late evening golf. It may not be a typical ‘golf course’ image I take while on a commission, but it captures a moment we all relish.

Co Sligo's (Rosses Point) 4th

20.53pm, July 8th: The location of Co Sligo’s par-3 4th green remains one of the most spectacular in Irish golf. Appreciating the full scale of the pedestal-like perch needs long shadows and late light. I got both for this image and this is the angle you approach from, so you get an excellent taste of the challenges you face. It is a nerve-wracking tee shot and this photograph shows why… including the tilting green.

Enniscrone's 15th

5.09am, July 9th:  FOUR AM starts are rarely fun, but some mornings you look out the window and just know that something special is coming. The deep light before the dawn adds bounce as you clamber through dew-drenched grasses in the dunes. Waist high at times. Enniscrone has many big, swinging greens and the Index 1 15th is one of the most lethal, tucked into a nook in the dunes. Under a brilliant sky, the entire green complex looks like it is caught on a tide… only fitting given its beach-side location.

Ring of Kerry Holes 18, 17 and 11

06.59am, July 16th: One of the joys of photography is being in the right place at the right time, especially when the light lingers only briefly. Such was the case at Ring of Kerry. With its hillside location there are so many potential angles to show off the glory of the Co. Kerry landscape, but I had always fancied this view from above and behind the 18th green. Visible are the 18th green, and 17th green and fairway. The 11th green is also visible in the bottom left hand corner. It knits together so perfectly.

Jameson (Portmarnock) Links, 18th hole

7.43am, August 6th: The 18th at Jameson Links – formerly Portmarnock Links – is a thriller of a finishing hole. Never mind the length (408 metres, Index 7), the hotel behind the green and the dune along the right, separating you from Velvet strand, promise a stunning way to conclude your day.
I love grasses/flowers in the immediate foreground, adding depth and colour, while showing golfers the DNA of the hole ahead. It is not easy to achieve with a drone and this ground image puts you in the golfer’s shoes.

Portstewart's No 2

20.28pm, August 12th: As at Ballybunion, the huge dunes offer a wealth of opportunities for glorious photographs. But it is not always about height… sometimes being low and shooting upwards reveals the thrill and/or the difficulty of a particular golf shot. The scale of Devil’s Hill – the 2nd hole is so named – looms large above the small green. My goals were to show how the green sits wedged high in the dunes and the tightness of the approach. The blue flowers were a wonderful bonus.

Tullamore's 14th

21.10pm, September 10th: Old parkland courses offer so many opportunities to display the scale of nature. Trees, hundreds of years old, can dwarf greens, fairways… and the lone golfer. Shooting back down the 14th at Tullamore highlights the trees towering over the hole, the strong slopes surrounding the green – not to mention the quality of course conditioning – and how the fairway fades into the setting sun. It also captures the moment when the golfer reaches the top of the fairway crest and discovers how close the ball is to the hole.

Bunclody's 1st

8.43am, October 27th: Two minutes of light. That was all I had for this shot and I was still 100 yards away when the sun appeared. (You try running with tripods, ladder and a bag of kit!) Yes, I would have liked more time to improve the composition – I don’t like the bunker on the left being cut off – but the light was mind-blowingly good, helped by the autumn colours flooding through the trees and the sinking mist pinched between the canopies.