Golf courses near me… Now with great aerial video included
Oh gods of search, help me find golf courses near me
In the Northern Hemisphere it is getting warmer as summer slowly approaches. Those golf clubs, covered in cobwebs and dust have been waiting for you, patiently, through snow and ice. It’s time to pull them out and take a drive. Many of us fire up our favorite search engine and enter in golf courses near me, find one, jump in the car, and we’re off to a day filled with missed putts, golf balls shot into the woods, and severely bruised egos… Especially when you picked out a course that might be a bit more challenging than you were ready to play on.
Thanks to the folks at Fairway Flyovers, a small business in the United Kingdom, you may have a bit more information available as you look up those “golf courses near me”, aerial video. The team at Fairway Flyovers is making use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), or drones, to provided course owners, and their customers, with a great new perspective of the courses they are about to play.
We reached out to the team to learn more.
Q. We love the idea behind your business, how did you come up with it?
Ashley is a keen golfer and we are both professional stills photographers. The local golf club where Ashley was a member wanted more content on their website and asked Ashley to come up with something.
We both thought that the course would look stunning from the air and decided to invest in the new Phantom 1 and and give it a try out on the golf course. It all literally took off from there!
Q. How do golf course operators react when you talk to them about your work?
When they see the final result they have all been stunned by the quality. However explaining the concept to a committee comprising mainly of retired men can be a little more difficult. So getting a foot in the door and showing them the showreel is essential.
Q. What kinds of drones do you use?
At the moment we use 2 DJI Phantom 2’s fitted with GoPro Hero 4 cameras on a H4-3D gimbal we are also considering a DJI Inspire 1 as well. The Phantom 2’s are very quick to set up and very portable as we travel about on golf buggies which would be far more difficult with a larger drone.
Q. What is the biggest challenge you encounter in your work?
Marketing, Marketing, Marketing! You have to sell your product before you get work and eventually get paid
Q. What training have you taken and are there any schools that we should add to our list of Drone Training Programs?
We obtained our CAA permission for aerial work after attending the Resource Group RPQ-s course
Q. We believe that safety is paramount to public acceptance of drones, having proposed our own set of hobbyist drone guideline. Are there recommendations you would make to fellow commercial drone users about how to safely operate their UAVs?
Check the Notice to airman’s (NOTAM) website prior to flight to see if any low flying aircraft will be operating in the area you plan to fly.
Will this make it easier to find good golf courses near me?
