The saying goes that a photo tells a thousand words. In golf, that is often true. Catching the right angle, the right moment, the perfect reaction can tell the story of a shot, a birdie, a win or a loss.
Much like a digital advent calendar, we will be counting down the best Photos of the Year from the 2016 season. From December 1st to 24th, we will profile a photo each day and tell the story behind the photo. Each photo will be added below.
Follow us on Instagramto see the photos first each day.
No. 24: "Willett in Crans"
Photographer: Ross Kinnaird (Getty Photos)
"Crans-sur-Sierre has to be one of the most picturesque venues we visit on Tour. The fairways weave through the Swiss Alps so the picture opportunities are endless but you need a plan of attack to make the most of the views. To get the best possible picture of Danny on the stunning 14th green, which by the way is the furthest point from the media centre, a few key factors need to be taken into account. The easy bit is getting the light right. Late in the day the setting sun gives the best results. The 'pin position' is important, if it's positioned too far forward then the player is generally putting away from you. Being at the bottom of the mountain slope, it's a very quiet part of the course so keeping still and quiet is a must. It's is a very rewarding place to work and the hike down to the 14th green rarely disappoints."
No. 23: "Numbers"
Photographer: Will Pearson (European Tour)
"Golf, now more than ever, is a game of data, of numbers, of yardages, landing zones, carry distances, false fronts, run-off areas, pin positions and more. Taking a stroll at Le Golf National ahead of the 100th Open de France this year, I took a moment to check out the yardage book and the multitude of options and potential perils facing the field on the 18th hole of the Albatros course. The 471-yard par four statistically ranked the most difficult hole on the European Tour last year and will be the finishing point when the Versailles venue hosts The Ryder Cup in 2018. This POV shot was captured using a GoPro Hero 4 Black on a chest mount, set on timelapse mode at 0.5 pictures per second."
No. 22: "In The Deep"
Photographer: Stuart Franklin (Getty Photos)
"The was taken on Mauritius just after his second win in two starts. The conditions had been very tough as the wind had been so strong. I remember a shot he played in the first round on the 14th hole which would have been impressive in normal conditions but in such strong wind was something else. On the 17th and 18th he made two very good sand saves to win. I decided after the prize presentation to ask him to do a picture on the beach as we were on a tropical island, in the end we both ended up in the ocean to create this very nice image. He loved it and the photo came out great."
No. 21: "Going for the green"
Photographer: Stuart Franklin (Getty Photos)
"On every course there are a few tee shots that frame really nicely and allow you as a photographer to get close to the players. The 7th tee at Pretoria CC is one of those spots and it just so happens it's drivable. I was following Stone's group and was lucky that he picked driver and I was able to get this shot using a silent burst-mode on my camera. It really shows how athletic a swing he has and looks great with the narrow hole out in front of him."
No. 20: "Watching Rory"
Photographer: Stuart Franklin (Getty Photos)
"This picture of Rory was taken at The Open. The course has a railway line running the length of the 11th hole which makes both the tee shot and approach challenging for the players. With this shot I remember hearing the train approaching so I focused on Rory ready for it to come into frame and hoping that he was still looking up when it did. I couldn't believe the train driver was watching Rory when I eventually saw the photo."
No. 19: "Olesen in the dark"
Photographer: Warren Little (Getty Photos)
"The afternoon light was getting nice and low for the last few groups at the Turkish Airlines Open. Luckily Thorbjorn pushed his tee shot to the right edge of the fairway on the third hole. This meant from the angle I had for the top and his back swing from behind, he was pictured against the shadow cast on a nearby bunker mound. So with the fore ground fairway and bunker mound behind him, Thorbjorn was surrounded by shade. But when you expose for the bright light the shadow becomes black. With the style of hat he wears, it's very easy to distinguish him from other golfers. So although you can't see his face you can see it is the eventual winner Thorbjorn Olesen."
No. 18: "Sergio and Friends"
Photographer: Jamie Kennedy (European Tour)
"It was the day after The Open and Sergio Garcia’s charity day in Switzerland. We have 15 or so of the best players in the world and each was about to head out for a Pro-Am. They had taken a staged photo when we thought that perhaps a GoPro selfie would look cool and capture them all in the same photo. Using an extendable selfie stick of sorts, we had Sergio hold the camera up high and we were able to get the shot. What you can’t see is about 200 staff and fans immediately behind the photo. We took the photo facing down the range to give a clean backdrop and give a sense of where we were, in the Swiss Alps."
No. 17: "Bernd driving"
Photographer: Will Pearson (European Tour)
"One of the most consistent players on Tour over the last few years, I spotted Bernd Wiesberger out on a practice round ahead of this year's Dubai Desert Classic. Equipped with a GoPro Hero 4 Black, I stopped in for a quick chat with the big Austrian before he tattooed his Titleist driver way down the dogleg par five 18th at Emirates Golf Club. One of the great things about GoPro cameras is their great flexibility for capturing innovative, creative angles of everyday scenes and this was a perfect example of that. Standing up close behind Bernd with the camera on a three-way mount grip, I fired off shots in a burst mode of 30 photos in two seconds and managed to luck out with a crystal clear image of the clubhead halfway through his backswing. The unique shot was only complemented further by a narrow, tunnel-esque framing naturally formed out of the famous palm trees of Dubai and some wispy, white trails painted across one of the Middle East's customary blistering blue skies."
No. 16: "My first Ryder Cup shot"
Photographer: David Cannon (Getty Images)
"So the first tee at Hazeltine is almost as good as Gleneagles - will anything ever match that amphitheatre and location in sport again - I doubt it! But the sunrise was lovely if a little fierce for my lens so I used a graduated filter to darken the sky and reduce the flare. This created an awesome sunrise adding a great balance with the huge crowds. I cannot imagine the pressure Matt was feeling but I know him he was loving every second and luckily I grabbed that split second of his first Ryder Cup shot!"⠀
No. 15: "Beef"
Photographer: Will Pearson (European Tour)
"The European Tour is all about character. Character in the different courses, cultures and countries we visit and character in the multitude of personalities to be found in our players, who hail from all sorts of different backgrounds from across the globe. In Andrew ‘Beef’ Johnston, we found the character to end all characters. Born and bred in north London, Beef became a European Tour winner in the south of Spain after taming a ferocious Valderrama layout. As befitting his inimitable character, we knew we had to come up with a suitably unique angle for his trophy shot so we dropped a @GoPro Hero 4 Black inside the historic old trophy, set it off on timelapse mode shooting a picture every 0.5 seconds, and waited for the magic to happen. And with Beef - the beard, the chat, the grin, one of golf’s greatest characters - that doesn’t usually take long…"
No. 14: "Rory and the rookie"
Photographer: Ross Kinnaird (Getty Images)
“It's the Ryder Cup! With every shot played coming under the upmost scrutiny you can't afford to be out of position for a second. A number of factors come into play. The obvious difference is that it's a team game so it's not just about the player hitting the shot. I try to get into position as quickly as possible, then its work the angle I want along with the best background. Often teammates and caddies add to the picture / moment. This putt by @ThomasPietersGolf was a big. Its looked like @RoryMcIlroy enjoyed it every bit as much as Thomas did!”
No. 13: "Spot the headcover"
Photographer: Edoardo Molinari (Player)
Edoardo shared this photo of his dog and his new headcover on hisInstagram accountwith the caption: "Thank you Cuddle Clones for my new driver headcover! Totò really likes his new "clone" friend!"
No. 12: "St. Andrews at night"
Photographer: Richard Heathcote (Getty Images)
"I wanted to try and get something different of the iconic Swilken Bridge at St Andrews for Dunhill Week. I placed the camera on a tripod, actually in the running water of the burn, not being able to see a thing because it was so dark. Using the Live View function of the camera and stretching out across the water I was able to frame the picture with the bridge and the stars using a wide lens. The exposure is 30 seconds long with the ambient street light just enough to give a glow around the bridge without polluting the sky and washing out the stars. The result really gives a cool view, different view of an 800 year old landmark in golf."
No. 11: "Rooftop golf"
Photographer: Jamie Kennedy (European Tour)
"This year's Turkish Airlines Open took place at a new venue in @RegnumCarya resort and when we heard they were using the roof of one of the villas as a tee, we rushed right there on the first practice day. First man up was Max Kieffer and after taking a while to snap some pictures himself, we asked if we could get a shot of him about to tee off. He set up and I held one of our @GoPro Hero4 cameras on a stick above to get a look down the hole whilst capturing the villa's pool in the foreground. The tee was the talk of the player's lounge and on social media all week and added a really cool, different element to the event."
No. 10: "Sergio's swing"
Photographer: Jamie Kennedy (European Tour)
“The Qatar Masters was Sergio’s first event of the season and knowing that we wanted to show people him during practice. Working with Andrew Reddington from Getty Sports, we used several photos of his driver swing and edited them into one image. The outcome was this swing sequence and we thought it offered fans a really good sense of Garcia’s swing and flexibility.”
No. 9: "Raising the trophy"
Photographer: Will Pearson (European Tour)
“Little did we know when we set up this picture with Alex Noren back in July that his victory at Castle Stuart would prove the first of four trophies that the Swede would hoist in the space of five months. Further wins at the Omega European Masters, British Masters and Nedbank Golf Challenge helped secure Noren third place in The 2016 Race to Dubai and the best season of his career – but it all started here, on the windswept east coast of Scotland and the Moray Firth. During his winning photocall, we attached a GoPro Hero 4 Black to Noren via a chest mount to give fans a real POV sense of a champion’s joy and a unique perspective of the traditional trophy shot.”
No. 8: "Himmerland Hill"
Photographer: Andrew Reddington (Getty Sport)
"The 16th hole at Made In Denmark is known as Himmerland Hill. This short par 3 has quickly become one of the most famous holes in tournament golf. The brilliant Danish fans flock there not just to watch the golf but to have fun and party as part of the week-long festival in the area. For the shot, I waited for the crowds to pack into the natural amphitheater and then simply walked to the back of the crowd and took the shot. I needed to get height over the crowd so I screwed my monopod into my camera body and hoisted my monopod over my head. By outstretching my arms and holding the monopod at its very tip I got an extra eight or nine feet of height. I had put a Pocket Wizard onto my camera body which fired the shutter when I pressed another "Wizard". I used a 15mm fisheye lens to get as much of the scene in. It's about the only angle to truly appreciate Himmerland Hill."
No. 7: "Bunker practice"
Photographer: Jamie Kennedy (European Tour)
"At events we are always trying to do what we can to bring the fans as close as possible to the players the events. At the Turkish Airlines Open we set up this shot with Lee Slattery as he warmed up for the first Final Series event. Lee was hitting bunker shots at the short game area and we set up a GoPro Hero4 inside his basket and carefully set up the shot to show him hitting a shot whilst using him to block the bright sun in the background. On Burst Mode we were able to get 30 photos in three seconds and choose this one of the ball just leaving the sand. The shot came out great and fans really seemed to enjoy the unique angle."
No. 6: "Roary"
Photographer: David Cannon (Getty Sport)
"This photo was pure luck. I had literally just left the first tee and decided to walk to the eighth green, not far away. I was in the tunnel under the stand behind the green as Rory stood over his putt. I hardly had time to set anything on the camera and simply held my long lens in my hand and got an amazing sequence of his excitement as the putt dropped. You can see from this picture what it meant. The crowds had been so hard on Rory and this was his answer! Boy, did we hear the crowds on that green. To be fair almost everyone was cheering. Fabulous putt fabulous moment fabulous picture and fabulous response from Patrick Reed - pure electricity!"
No. 5: "Long live the King"
Photographer: Jamie Kennedy
“We were in the Ryder Cup media centre when we heard the news that Arnold Palmer had passed away. We put together an article on his career and the news of his passing and wanted an image that did the man justice. Using the Getty Sport library, I was able to find lots of photo of Palmer throughout his career. I then used an iconic portrait photo of him as the main image and created this mosaic of the great man.”
No. 4: "Team Europe"
Photographer: Justin Rose (Instagram)
Having lost the Ryder Cup just an hour or so previously, Justin Rose and his teammates took this selfie before the closing ceremony. Despite losing the cup for the first time since 2008, Ryder Cup Team Europe were able to put on a smile and the photo represented a lot about what makes Team Europe so strong and likeable. Rose captioned it simply “Still smiling”.
No. 3: "Master Danny"
Photographer: Getty Images
Having been the last man to officially confirm his place at The Masters after the birth of his son Zachariah, Danny Willett went on to win the Green Jacket and posed for a series of family photos when he returned to England on the Tuesday following his return from Augusta. The Englishman became just the third Masters champion to card a bogey-free final round of 67 or less and moved into the top ten in the world thanks to his first Major title.
No. 2: "Olympic history"
Photographer: Ross Kinnaird (Getty Sports)
“Golf was back in the Olympics for the first time in 112 years and I was delighted to be covering it. On the first of the par three holes there was a good crowd following Justin Rose, Rickie Fowler and Jhonattan Vegas. Quite often it's easy to ignore the tee shot on a par three and head to the green for a bit of “bunker action” but with a nice buzz on the tee I chose to work a few groups from a more interesting background. I have one rule I try to stick to when shooting the tee shot on a par three. Keep your eye on the viewfinder and be led by the crowd’s reaction. They started to get a little noisy after Justin's shot so I kept my camera focused on him. There aren't to many 'holes in one' so you need a little luck to be in the right place. Justin and the crowd reacted perfectly. Just as they should when it's the first ever hole in one at the Olympics. Getting his reaction, Jhonatton’s reaction and the emotion of the crowd was amazing. The guy celebrating the most is even wearing a "Rio" tee shirt!”
No. 1: "The Iceman"
Photographer: Matthew Lewis (Getty Sports)
"Henrik winning the Open was certainly one of the moments of the year so to be able to cover it, especially on that Sunday, was an honour. On the 18th hole, we all but knew Henrik would win and we were eager to catch and see the reaction. Henrik holed his 30 foot birdie putt and for a split second as everyone else celebrated, "The Iceman" lived up to his name, staring towards his caddy with almost no reaction. It probably lasted about half a second but I was lucky enough to be on the good side to capture this angle of the moment with Gareth Lord, his caddy, as well as the greenkeepers all celebrating as Henrik just stood there. I'm not sure if it was disbelief, relief or sheer confidence but either way, it made for an amazing photo!"
