Why hiring a production company that understands golf can make all the difference.
We've spent the better part of 20 years producing sports documentaries, features, and branded content. We've filmed just about every kind of athlete, in all kinds of environments. And one thing we've learned along the way is that shooting golf is unlike shooting anything else.
It's something people don't always think about when they're hiring a production company.
After all, a good cinematographer is a good cinematographer, right? Give someone a great camera, put them on a beautiful golf course, and you're going to get great footage.
Well, not exactly.
Golf presents a completely different set of challenges, and understanding the game can make an enormous difference in the final product.
Here's what we mean.
First, Golf Courses Are Huge
Think about filming a basketball game. Everything happens on a 94-foot court. The lighting doesn't change, the action is predictable to a certain extent, and you always know where the game is going to happen.
Now think about filming golf.
You're covering a property that might stretch across 150 or 200 acres. You're moving between holes, dealing with constantly changing light, trying to anticipate where players are going to hit their next shot, and figuring out how to get yourself and your equipment into position before something happens.
And if you're shooting golf course photography or cinematic footage of the property itself, it's an entirely different challenge.
You have to know where the sun is going to be. Which holes look best in the morning? Which ones are better at sunset? Where are the shadows going to fall? How do you capture the contours of a green or the scale of a bunker?
These aren't things you necessarily figure out when you show up with a camera.
They take planning, experience, and an understanding of how golf courses are designed.
And sometimes, even with all that planning, Mother Nature has other ideas.
Pebble Beach Golf Course, Pebble Beach, California - Drone Photography by Jeremy Frechette
You Have to Know What You're Looking At
This might be the biggest difference.
If you're filming a golfer, you need to understand what's happening beyond the swing.
You need to recognize when a player is facing a difficult shot, when a caddie conversation might be interesting, or when something important is about to happen.
You need to know where to position yourself, what lens to use, and when to move.
And maybe most importantly, you need to know when not to move.
Anyone who's spent time around competitive golf understands that there's a certain etiquette to working on the course. You can't just walk wherever you want or start moving your equipment in the middle of someone's backswing.
The same goes for filming at private clubs. There are members playing, club operations to consider, and an expectation that you're going to respect the property and the game.
When you hire a crew that knows golf, you don't have to spend your day explaining all of this.
They already get it.
A Beautiful Golf Course Doesn't Automatically Make Beautiful Footage
We've been fortunate to spend time on some pretty incredible golf courses around the world.
And one thing we've learned is that there's a big difference between seeing an amazing golf hole in person and actually capturing what makes it special on camera.
You can fly a drone over almost any golf course and come away with something that looks nice.
But does the footage really show what makes that course unique?
Does it capture the movement of the fairway? The way a bunker frames the approach? The elevation changes? The relationship between the golf course and the landscape around it?
Those are the details that golfers appreciate, and they're the details that can separate great golf course cinematography from a collection of pretty pictures.
Sometimes the best shot is a sweeping aerial. Other times it's a camera sitting three feet off the ground, looking across a green as the late afternoon light reveals every little contour.
You have to know what you're trying to show before you decide how to shoot it.
Grass bunker at Oak Tree National, Edmond, Oklahoma by Jeremy Frechette
Golfers Can Tell When You Don't Know Golf
This is something we think brands and agencies sometimes underestimate.
Golf has a passionate, knowledgeable audience. And golfers notice things.
They notice when a shot doesn't make sense. When footage of a course doesn't accurately represent the property. When an athlete is filmed in a way that feels unnatural. Or when a piece of content just doesn't feel like it was made by someone who understands the game.
And that's important because authenticity matters, especially in golf.
If you're a golf brand spending money on a commercial, you want the content to connect with golfers.
If you're a private club commissioning a film about your history or your course, you want someone who understands what makes your club special.
If you're a resort trying to attract golfers from around the world, you want footage that makes someone say, "We need to play there."
It's not just about making something look good.
It's about knowing what your audience wants to see and creating something that actually resonates with them.
So Why Linksman Studios?
When we started Linksman Studios, the idea was pretty simple.
We wanted to bring together our experience in high-end sports production and our love and knowledge of golf, and build a company dedicated to telling stories about the game.
Not just tournament coverage. Not just drone footage of beautiful courses. And not just another commercial with a professional golfer.
All of it.
Golf documentaries. Branded content. Golf course photography. Cinematography. Player portraits. Stories about the people, places, and traditions that make the game special.
We understand production because we've spent our careers doing it at the highest levels. And we understand golf because it's a game we're genuinely passionate about.
That combination matters.
It means we can show up at a golf course and know how to approach the property. We can work with professional golfers without needing someone to explain the basics. We can talk to a club about its architecture, its history, or its membership and understand what makes those things important.
And we can take all of that knowledge and turn it into content that feels authentic to the game while still looking and feeling like a high-end production.
Of course, there are plenty of talented production companies out there that can make beautiful images.
But golf is a very specific world. And when you're investing in content about the game, we think there's real value in working with people who already understand it.
Because there's a difference between knowing how to shoot golf and knowing golf well enough to shoot it right.
And that's really why we created Linksman Studios.
— Blake Berson & Jeremy Frechette, Co-Founders, Linksman Studios