St Andrews sunrise wins BIGGA’s photographic competition
An early morning image of sunrise over the Castle Course at St Andrews Links has been proclaimed the winner of the 2021 BIGGA Annual Photographic Competition.
Taken by Course Manager Jonathan Wood, the image shows the course bathed in early morning light, with greenkeepers working in the background and atmospheric Scottish skies overhead.
Jonathan said: “Working on a golf course, you get to see the most incredible sunrises and so my camera goes everywhere with me. It’s funny, I would change holes a lot because it was a good excuse to take my camera out and when I spotted that scene, I jumped out of the buggy and fired off a couple of shots. It was a good morning for it and I just knew it was going to be a good photo.
“I have always had an interest in photography and from a mental health point of view, it’s certainly helped me over the past two years. You don’t have to have a fancy camera, but it’s an excuse to go outside and you realise that in the bigger scheme of things we are quite small.”
Jonathan is now a two-time winner of BIGGA’s annual photo competition, having been successful in 2014 with an image he took while course manager at Trevose in Cornwall. He wins a Nikon digital camera worth £365 and a framed print of his image, to be presented during the BIGGA Welcome Celebration at BTME 2022 in January.
From competition entries received throughout the year, 24 finalists were chosen and put up for public voting on BIGGA’s social media channels. Photographer Mike Hyde of Carefree Golf Photography also lent his expertise to the judging process.
Mike explained why Jonathan’s photograph was the pick of the bunch. He said: “When I shoot, I try and create imagery that evokes emotion and this picture absolutely does that for me. It stirs a desire to get out and play golf, although I would probably rather be taking photographs in that light!”
For the first time, entries into the competition were divided into three categories: Greenkeeping, Landscape and Wildlife.
While Jonathan’s photograph won the Landscape category, Joe Simpson of Ipswich Golf Club won the Greenkeeping category and Laura Sayer-Hall of Wallasey Golf Club won the Wildlife category. Category winners all receive a £150 shopping voucher.
Twelve images were selected for the BIGGA 2022 desktop calendar, which is distributed with the January edition of Greenkeeper International, the monthly magazine for members of the British & International Golf Greenkeepers Association (BIGGA).
You can view the 12 images selected for the BIGGA calendar 2022 here:
1 of 12 January: Tiarnach Magee's image of New Year's Day at Royal County Down
2 of 12 February: Thomas Bird's image of the 5th at Sutton Coldfield
3 of 12 March: Jonathan Wood's image of the Castle Course, St Andrews Links
4 of 12 April: Lee Carratt's image of fallow deer relaxing on the 11th hole at Belton Park
5 of 12 May: Chris Gurton's image of morning topdressing at Bury St Edmunds
6 of 12 June: Craig Sinclair's image of a resident 'Bambi' at Camberley Heath
7 of 12 July: Laura Sayer-Hall's image of 'new tee markers' at Ardfin
8 of 12 August: David Ball's image of dawn fairway mowing at Thetford
9 of 12 September: Alex Lungu's image of Reigate Hill
10 of 12 October: Elliot Walters's image of leaf clearance at Robin Hood GC
11 of 12 November: Joe Simpson's image of a bunker raking shift at Ipswich GC
12 of 12 December: Jake Austin's image of frosty morning at Hankley Common
Registration for BTME 2022 and the associated Continue to Learn education programme is open. The event takes place from 23 to 27 January 2022 and you can find out more by heading to the BTME website, www.btme.org.uk
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