My first experience shooting golf

Last week, for the first time in my short career, I shot golf. Tony Pizza, the Daily Utah Chronicle sports editor, told me that the golf team would be playing in the Cougar Classic in Provo. Tony thought it would be good to get some shots of the team when we had the chance, especially since most of their time is spent playing in Southern California and Arizona.

So I began preparing for a trip to Provo, which is not my favorite place in the world. I checked out where I needed to go and found out the tournament was being held at Riverside Country Club, a private club. I read about club and discovered that it is home to more than 500 members and has been part of the city since 1960 when it opened. After this, I had a nervous feeling because of the uppity attitude Country Clubs are reputed to have, and because this club was in Provo, known to many U students as enemy territory.

Upon arriving, I found my fears about the members to be accurate. I stood out like a sore thumb because I was one fourth the age of every member I saw. They avoided looking at me, and the only person that would say anything to me was a janitor. After making my way through the club, I got on the course and found the players to be more friendly and inviting.

I was worried about shooting golf because of rumors that photographers ruin the player’s swing and other techniques. Tiger Woods has complained in the past about photographers taking pictures in his swing. I was timid at first and worried about moving around to get a better angle. Because I hung back, all I got were boring shots like these.
After the first hole, I loosened up a bit when one of the golfers from UVSC chatted to me and I found a groove. I would shoot on one hole and learned where the hole was. I would watch as the balls landed on or near the green so I could move into a prime position before the golfer got there. I would do the same during tee shots and ended up leaving the game with a variety of shots.
At one point I actually got a shot with the golfer and the ball in it.
My biggest challenge was to know who was who for cutlines. To solve this problem, I took a lot of shots of bags to keep track of names.
Before I went to the shoot, there were two shots I was looking for: reactions and bunker shots. During the round, the Utes shot around par. There was not any big reactions either way except for one picture, but it was not a very good photograph.
There were only two shots of golfers hitting the ball out of the sand, but I missed the ball the first time and was in a bad spot for the second.
All in all, it was a good experience and I look forward to shooting my next golf game.