Photography — The Player's View

The stunning colour photographs that fill the Player's View books were all taken by William fforde — a member of the Royal Photographic Society — and now form part of The Hynes Collection at the University of St Andrews.

William presents each course and its design in a way that shows off the work of its architect, using photography of record taken from the angles a player might experience while actually playing a round. His generally wide-format compositions deliver studies in landscape photography that are dramatic yet realistic — putting the reader on the tee or fairway, about to play the next shot.

Deliberately, there is no romantic or artistic embellishment: no tinted skies, no photoshopped mists and reverse views of a hole are used only to reveal a blind or semi-blind shot.

William fforde shooting the hole from ground level beside the tee marker, Adriatic Golf, PGA National Croatia

William at work, shooting the hole from ground level — the tee marker in the foreground — Adriatic Golf, PGA National Croatia, 2013

From the Collection

Courses across the World

Mid Ocean, Hole 1 — Bermuda — August 2006 — from the fairway bunker, early morning

Tbilisi Hills, Hole 9 — Georgia — June 2022 — from the tee

St Enodoc, Church course, hole 11, from the 14th tee over the church

St Enodoc, Church Course, Hole 11 — England — May 2019 — from the 14th tee

Karlstejn, hole 25, from tee into the sun

Karlstejn, Hole 25 — Czech Republic — October 2020 — from the tee

Baltimore Country Club, Five Farms East course, hole 3, from tee

Baltimore CC, Five Farms (East), Hole 3 — United States — July 2015 — from the tee

Wentworth, West course, hole 3, from fairway bunker

Wentworth, West Course, Hole 3 — England — June 2019 — from the fairway bunker

Wide-Format Studies

Panoramas, photomerged

Composed from several frames to deliver the effect of a larger-format camera, though shot throughout on an FX-format Nikon.

St Enodoc, Church course, hole 8, panorama with birds

St Enodoc, Church Course, Hole 8 — England — May 2019 — from the tee, early sun, with birds — panorama

Royal Wellington, Heretaunga course, hole 10, panorama

Royal Wellington, Heretaunga Course, Hole 10 — New Zealand — March 2019 — from the fairway — panorama

Hankley Common, hole 10, panorama from the back tee

Hankley Common, Hole 10 — England — September 2021 — from the back tee — panorama

Applebrook, hole 10, panorama from the tee

Applebrook, Hole 10 — United States — June 2015 — from the tee — panorama

Karlstejn, hole 17, panorama with castle

Karlstejn, Hole 17 — Czech Republic — October 2020 — from the fairway, with Karlstejn Castle — panorama

Omaha Beach, Mer course, hole 6, panorama from the fairway

Omaha Beach, Mer Course, Hole 6 — France — May 2021 — from the fairway — panorama

Trevose, Hole 10 — England — June 2019 — from the tee — panorama

Adriatic Golf, PGA National Croatia, hole 13, panorama from the fairway

Adriatic Golf, PGA National Croatia, Hole 13 — Croatia — May 2013 — from the fairway — panorama

Sotogrande, hole 1, panorama from behind the tee with birds

Sotogrande, Hole 1 — Spain — November 2025 — from behind the tee, with birds — panorama

Marbella Golf, hole 11, panorama from the tee

Marbella Golf, Hole 11 — Spain — June 2014 — from the tee — panorama

Forward & Reverse

The exception that proves the rule

Reverse views are used only rarely — here, at Mid Ocean's par-4 4th, sixteen years apart: the tee shot into the sun, and the rare look back down the hole from the fairway.

Mid Ocean, hole 4, tee shot into the sun with player shadows

Mid Ocean, Hole 4 — Bermuda — August 2006 — player's view

Mid Ocean, hole 4, reverse view from fairway to tee and ocean

Mid Ocean, Hole 4 — Bermuda — November 2022 — reverse view, from fairway to tee

Snap

Courses across the World

Panoramas, photomerged

The exception that proves the rule

A permanent archive for your course