A remarkable salute to the glories of umpteen Scottish seaside golf courses will provide a perfect farewell for Carnoustie photographer Donald Ford.
Donald’s new book will provide a fitting closure to a host of wonderful adventures with his camera after 30 irreplaceable years behind the lens.
The Unique Scottish Links is a photographic celebration of what Donald has described as the most magnificent and natural sporting challenges ever presented.
Alongside nearly 100 images of links golf courses – created from some six thousand miles of wonderful coastlines – he has published some stunning landscape photographs from the same areas.
But let’s go back to how it all started.
Donald was born into a sporting family.
His father won three Scottish caps at cricket, his elder brother Malcolm won 19 while his mother boasted a Ladies’ Championship victory at Linlithgow Golf Club.
When Donald qualified as a chartered accountant in 1968, he was enjoying his fourth season as an amateur footballer with Heart of Midlothian at Tynecastle.
Two exciting changes then set him up for more than 20 years.
First of all, he decided to establish a practice in his home town of Linlithgow, and then he was thrilled to accept an offer from Hearts to turn professional.
As the new business took several years to gather clients, his career at Tynecastle also gathered pace.
Donald scored 188 goals for Hearts during the 1960s and 1970s.
He played for Scotland and went to the 1974 World Cup in West Germany as part of a squad which included Denis Law, Billy Bremner and Kenny Dalglish.
A knee injury in 1975, however, forced him to take the inevitable decision to put his football career behind him, and for 15 years, the accounting practice served him well as its client base expanded.
His cricketing career with West Lothian County blossomed however, and during his third year as captain of the club, he was included in Scotland’s first ever Benson and Hedges squad in 1980.
Professionally he continued to practice as an accountant.
Unexpectedly in 1990 however, disillusionment over the directions which the accounting profession was taking led to him “leaping off the cliff” into a third career – landscape photography of Scotland.
In 1994 he bought an old property in South Queensferry and opened the Donald Ford Gallery.
This latter move proved to be a difficult profession in which to earn a living.
Notwithstanding, the sheer excitement of exploring Scotland’s wonderful landscape and coastal magnificence with his camera over the final decade of the 20th century rewarded him with a host of widely acclaimed photographs.
Having fallen in love with Carnoustie during family holidays there as a child, he and wife Carol bought a beachfront house in the town in 2005.
They have lived there ever since.
Publication of his calendars and books on Scotland’s breathless collection of stunning golf courses proved to be a hugely successful development.
More than 30 years have flown past since he changed profession, and, inevitably, he has recognised that hanging up the camera is getting much closer.
That’s why he’s decided to publish his captivating new A4 book.
In 11 chapters, The Unique Scottish Links features scenes of the great links venues, plus supporting courses in the area.
The book also features a splendid collection of much admired ‘near misses’ from venues all over Scotland.
Donald said: “My fervent hope is that this final publication of my own favourites – and, undoubtedly, a multitude of admirers of our brilliant, unmatched coastal golfing venues – creates as much pleasure to customers as the capturing of each and every image has rewarded my own unbridled enthusiasm.
“The book perfectly relays to the world what this country possesses in an astonishing collection of renowned tests of golfing skills.”
Like so many golfing pilgrims, Donald feels a shiver run down his spine whenever he sees the iconic spires of St Andrews and takes pictures at the Home of Golf.
But he still believes Carnoustie golf links, while missing the famous skyline, wins when it comes to picking his favourite course from those featured in his book.
Donald said: “The ‘unique Scottish links’ are precisely what the title of the book acknowledges.
“Nowhere in any other country in the world may golfers be presented with the wealth – and utter magnificence – of seaside venues whose recreational brilliance was, initially, created by nature.
“I have spent the past 30 years of my life exploring and photographing the utter splendour – and, yes, the ostentation – of Scotland’s unsurpassed grandeur.”
What next for Donald Ford?
“The pace at which the past 30 years have elapsed is quite astonishing,” he said.
“To say that I have been fortunate enough to enjoy good health as time has flown past is an understatement.
“The good fortune I have enjoyed has permitted my third career to be as memorable as the footballing and accounting ones in the last century.
“Nevertheless, it is time to slow down.
“The splendid package of Donald Ford Images will hopefully continue publication of calendars, but the creative adventures around Scotland now need to be in a lower gear.
“It has been an amazing experience, but sense must now prevail.”
To buy the book you can go to the website www.donaldfordimages.com
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