By Joy Chakravarty
The moment Mike Crowe stepped onto Te Arai Links, he knew he faced a unique challenge.
Crowe is a veteran of European Tour Production, with over four decades of broadcasting experience. He has lost count of how many tournaments he has helped produce over his 40-year career. Name a golf course and a golf tournament, and the chances are that he has had a role in bringing the visuals from there to millions of homes worldwide.
When the Irishman came on a reconnaissance trip to the course for this year’s Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship, he immediately realized Te Arai Links would severely test his skills the same way it would ask questions of the 120 elite amateurs gathered this week.
Designed by Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw, 15 holes of Te Arai Links’ South course hug the Pacific Ocean, with white sand dunes gently sloping toward the water and the Little Barrier Island (or Te Hauturu-o-toi, as the locals call it) and the Great Barrier Island (Aotea) rising dramatically from the aquamarine blue waters in the distance.
"How do we capture the beauty of this stunning piece of land?”
“Oh, my God! How do we capture the beauty of this stunning piece of land?” was the first thought that struck his mind.
Adding to Crowe’s challenge, this will be the first televised tournament held on the course. So, there are no blueprints to follow. It is also a blessing in disguise, because everything has to be planned from scratch, which helps him think outside the box.
“There are various nuances to a golf telecast. One part is the golf itself,how can we capture the drama unfolding, the heroics, the emotions? That is most important. Then, there are things like something as invisible as the wind is affecting the shots,” said Crowe.
“And finally, how do we make it look visually utterly stunning? You want people to see the telecast and say, ‘wow! I want to go and play there’.”
Doing things differently
Crowe says they have tried to do things differently this week.
“On most golf courses, you have a TV tower on the back center of the green on most holes. That is the best place for the cameraman to capture the flight of a ball coming straight at them,” he adds.
“Here, almost every hole is spectacular. You also want to capture the ocean, which is the unique selling point of this course. You want to include the Pacific Ocean, the islands, the forests and the beach.
“Take the fourth and the fifth holes, for example. The fourth is a sweeping par-four downhill with a 30-meter drop from the tee down to the fairway, and then from the fairway down to a green that’s nestled into a small set of bunkers. Sitting directly behind is the infinity green of the fifth hole, and the white sandy beach behind it, followed by islands behind.
“If we have a camera behind the fifth green, it will only capture the golf shots from an elevated fairway that cameras will flatten out.
“So, instead of putting the green tower there, we’ve come 100 meters short and right of the green and gone way up the hill. It’s created some problems for the camera person because he’s now going to do a sideways ball fall, but it’s going to be stunning to watch.
“Then, there is the 11th hole, which heads towards the ocean, and a stretch of three holes – the 16th, the 17th and the 18th – which runs perpendicularly alongside the ocean. We wanted to capture the whole vista. So we found one of Auckland’s tallest cranes (150 feet) and reached out to one of the finest cameramen I know (Bobby Dunn), who has plenty of experience shooting in that kind of wind.
“I think it will be spectacular.”
The No. 18 tee box ahead of the 2026 Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship being played at the Te Arai Links in Auckland, New Zealand
2026 AAC
An orchestra
Crowe says the live telecast of a golf tournament was like a rousing orchestra performance.
“Sellers (Shy, CBS golf producer) is the writer. He has the storylines, the ideas and the ebbs and flows that make for interesting viewing. He must write his music on the fly, because things change so quickly on the golf course. The 100-odd cameramen and technicians are the musicians. My job is to be like a conductor,” says Crowe.
“I am also in awe of golf course owners and designers who have the vision to create a property like this. It’s incredible how they bring a golf course to life from barren, uninhabited land.
“I feel spiritually connected to these people, and I’m hoping when they see what they’ve created and how we televise it, they will be immensely proud. It was their job to make it a great test for the golfers. The competition is always sacrosanct, but it is our job to capture something more.”
So, tune in to the live telecast this week, and prepare to be wowed.
