The High Life

Photographer and golf enthusiast Harry Williams gets a different perspective on one of Wales’s most iconic courses.

I’m generally too busy to play golf as much as I’d like. I probably get out about half a dozen times a year, normally as part of my pub society in Caerphilly. It’s very much a social thing, which probably explains why my handicap has stayed at 28 since 1973!

One of the best things I like about golf in Wales is the ‘Croeso’ or ‘Welcome’ you get, whether it’s at a nine-hole municipal course or 18-hole championship club. We’re also fortunate in our range of superb – and at times very demanding – links courses. Of these, Nefyn in North Wales is probably the most instantly recognisable.

Nefyn and I go back a long way. I took the original aerial shot that was used by Ryder Cup Wales and became an iconic image all over the world.  It’s a breathtaking place. The course sits on a peninsula jutting into the Irish Sea. When you stand on the 11th tee the land stretches out before you, getting narrower as it spears into the water. Holes 11 to 17 are located on that exposed strip of land. With the frequently brutal wind coming in from the west and blowing directly across the course, every golfer has plenty of card-wrecking opportunities over those seven holes.

Playing golf at Nefyn is exciting enough – but it’s nothing compared to aerial photography. I was back there recently on another shoot. I love it. Depending on the weather we usually remove the back door of the helicopter or slide it back so that I have plenty of room to point my camera. 

You get hit by the air from the rotor blades and the wind, and get tossed around quite a lot. When the pilot tells to you that he’s now approaching the operational limits of his aircraft, you know that things are pretty severe. It makes for an interesting ride, especially when you’ve got the door off! But I get a real kick out of it, especially when the shots turn out well.

The last Nefyn shoot was a strange one. We were flying between layers of clouds, and I could put my hand out and actually feel them. That’s never happened to me before, and it added a new dimension to the shots.

The best thing about aerial photography is that it allows me to show the course in its setting, as part of this beautiful country of ours. This time, those broken clouds were unusually low, around 1,200–1,500ft, so we were able to fly just above them and capture the course, village and peninsula through them – a new perspective. If potential visitors had any doubts about coming to Wales, I’d like to think that seeing these pictures would change their perception and convince them to give it a try. Take it from me, they won’t regret it.