One Great Group, Three Great Rounds: Photographing a Golf Trip Through Ireland and Northern Ireland

It all started with an email from Ty Hogan.

He alongside his brother Todd were organising a golf trip to Ireland with a group of 16 friends from Texas and wanted me to photograph a few rounds along the way. We began by working together to decide which rounds would be best for me to cover, eventually settling on Old Head on Tuesday, Royal Portrush on Saturday and Royal County Down the following Monday.

That gave us three very different settings and a chance to capture the same group at different stages of their trip, rather than trying to fit everything into a single day.

The friends had their own competition running throughout the trip, affectionately called the “Hogan Cup”, with brothers Ty and Todd as captains. It gave the golf a little extra purpose, but the friendships and camaraderie were just as much a part of the story as the rounds themselves.

Old Head was our first day together, and it certainly made an impression on the group. The group loved all three courses, but there was something about Old Head that particularly captured their imagination. It was also the windiest of the three rounds I photographed them play.

By the end of that round, there were a few tired faces. Knowing there was plenty more golf ahead of them, I did wonder what condition I would find everyone in when we met again in Northern Ireland a few days later.

I needn’t have worried.

When I caught up with them at Royal Portrush, they were well up for it. By our final round together at Royal County Down, they somehow seemed even more energised than they had earlier in the trip. We were fortunate with the weather up north too, with barely any rain during the rounds I covered and far more sunshine than expected which made for great photos.

For me, that was one of the pleasures of photographing the group more than once. Each time we met, there was already a little familiarity. I wasn’t arriving to meet 16 new people again; I was picking up the story where we had left it.

A single round can provide a wonderful record of a day on the course. Photographing several rounds with the same group gives that record another dimension. The courses and conditions change, but the people connect it all. In this case, the photographs became a record of friends sharing a trip together, with their own competition unfolding along the way.

Old Head, Royal Portrush and Royal County Down provided memorable backdrops. But it was the same 16 friends, and the energy they brought to each round, that made the three days feel like one story.

If you’re planning a golf trip to Ireland with friends and would like it photographed, you’re welcome to get in touch. As Ty and I did, we can look through your itinerary together and work out which round, or rounds, would be best to cover.