# Impossible Golf Courses > William Watt imagines golf courses in some of the world’s most remote and stunning landscapes through these experiments in AI generated photography. He also speaks to AI enthusiast and architect Rob Wilson about how the technology is evolving and what the future might hold. Written & edited by William Watt and Rob Wilson with Midjourney AI. Published on contours.golf 5 May 2023, updated 28 November 2024. Tags: Technology. Cover photograph: An AI image of an imagined course: bunkered fairways on low orange cliffs above a rocky shore. The page, with its photographs: https://contours.golf/journal/impossible-golf-courses/ --- Photograph: An AI image of an imagined Lombok course: a green and pond in a palm-fringed rainforest valley. ### PADI HILLS GOLF CLUB ### LOMBOK, INDONESIA // 8.6510° S, 116.3249° E > ###### PROMPT: /imagine: An 18 hole golf course located in the rice paddies of rural Lombok, Indonesia surrounded by lush rainforest. \* This was the shot that started a week-long (so-far) obsession with Midjourney AI and the stunning, almost photo-realistic images it can produce. I had dabbled with the technology a few months back, navigating the clunky discord forum-style user interface, but had been unable to get anything worth showing. But as with any rapidly evolving technology, it pays to persist and try to learn it’s mysterious ways, and after a couple of days of tinkering, it felt like I had hit the jackpot with this image. The level of detail in the topography and vegetation blew me away. I compared it to actual photographs of Lombok and could barely tell the difference. Except of course for the randomly assembled pieces of golf course that had been integrated quite brilliantly into the landscape. Whether or not the holes were actually playable, or if the routing was even vaguely accessible, it seemed like something people might want to see. I was gradually able to work up my hit rate of images that I considered ‘passable as real’ to around 1 in 10, and a ‘worthy of sharing’ to around 1 in 25. *\*Prompts have been simplified for the purposes of this article. Most locations took 15-20 prompts to gather enough imagery to create a post-worthy destination.* ### PADI HILLS GOLF CLUB Photograph: A fairway with bunkers and a stream winding down a valley of palms and thick rainforest. Photograph: A pale green with one bunker in a rainforest clearing, sun breaking through dark cloud above. Photograph: A green in a narrow jungle valley above a rocky creek and pool, tall trees all round. Photograph: A round green above a still pond, a bunkered fairway climbing a valley of palms and rainforest. Caption: The par - 5 opening hole at Padi Hills Golf Course. Photograph: Seen from above in hazy gold light, greens and bunkers follow a stream through the rainforest. Photograph: A bunkered fairway and lone tree in a rainforest clearing, a grassy slope in front, hills beyond. Photograph: An imagined clubhouse from above: a long curved roof among palms beside bunkered greens and ponds. Caption: The Padi Hills Clubhouse. Photograph: A library of tall bookshelves and armchairs, its glass wall looking out on misty rainforest and lawn. Caption: The Padi Hills Library. Photograph: A dining hall of round timber tables under a coffered timber ceiling, glass walls onto forested hills. Caption: Main dining hall. Photograph: A long glass hall with a polished floor and palms in planters, rainforest beyond the windows. Photograph: A round glass room with curving beds of plants set into a shining floor, broad trees outside. Caption: The upper level lounge offers expansive views across the golf course. Photograph: Low sun pours into a round glass lounge, armchairs around a column, rainforest outside. Photograph: Round tables and chairs in shadow before tall curved windows onto a garden of pools and trees. Photograph: Curved sofas and low round tables before a sweep of glass, lawns and broad trees outside. ### COYOTE CANYONS ### UTAH, USA // 37.5930° N, 112.1871° W > ###### PROMPT: /imagine: A stunning par-4 golf hole located at the Many Pools Trailhead in Zion, Utah, United States.” Once Padi Hills had been thoroughly explored, I began thinking about other landscapes that might accommodate a spectacular looking golf course. I had hiked around Bryce Canyon and Zion National Park on a trip to the US in 2018, and the scenery there had stuck with me ever since. After researching some reference locations and course design inputs, I started generating. The extreme, exposed landscape proved more challenging than the heavily forested Padi Hills, but through primarily a process of trial and error, a style emerged that felt plausible. After exploring the Canyon floor and water hollows, the temptation to explore the upper reaches of the canyons was inevitable, and some extreme if not impossible holes started to emerge. I kept some of them in the series, and it certainly made good fodder for instagram (by far the highest performing series from the project). Some who discovered the post organically (as opposed to existing followers who knew a little more about the project) thought the course was real, and started suggesting buddies trips to Utah, before being disappointed to learn Coyote Canyons does not (and will definitely never) exist. But for my taste some of these shots dance a little too close to the line of implausibility. As a photographer that is where a good portion of the interest lies in this technology – can something generated inside a server somewhere be as good (or better than) reality? The answer for me is ‘not yet’ – the resolution and finer detail just isn’t quite there yet. But ‘when’ could be a lot sooner than many expect. Advances in this technology are being talked about in WEEKS, not months or years. I fully expect by the end of the 2023 it will be impossible to tell the difference, with the naked eye at least, between a real world photograph and an AI generated image. The implications of which are hard to predict. Photograph: Coyote Canyons as the AI imagined it: a green and pond among autumn trees below red sandstone peaks. ### COYOTE CANYONS GOLF COURSE Photograph: A still pond curving past a green, golden trees and tall sandstone cliffs behind. Photograph: A green beside a reflecting pool among red rocks and yellow trees, a striped red mountain behind. Photograph: Looking down a red-walled canyon to a fairway dotted with bunkers and a green on its floor. Photograph: A flagged green deep in a narrow canyon, red rock ledges in front, a pale peak beyond. Photograph: A fairway curling between patches of snow, orange trees and snow-dusted cliffs behind. Photograph: A green and a sandy hollow on a ledge far below, between sheer striped canyon walls. Photograph: A green under a dusting of snow, a red-leafed tree and a mesa wrapped in low cloud. Photograph: A creek winding past bunkers to a green under an overhanging sandstone wall, golden trees beside. Photograph: A long fairway of bunkers on the floor of a pale eroded canyon, pines on its slopes. Photograph: Bridgewater Cliffs as the AI imagined it: a green in golden dunes above a beach, low sun. ### BRIDGEWATER CLIFFS ### MORNINGTON PENINSULA, AUSTRALIA // 38.2854° S, 145.0934° E > ###### PROMPT: /imagine: An 18 hole golf course located on the clifftops of Bridgewater Bay on the Mornington Peninsula As a regular visitor to the Mornington Peninsula, I have spent many late summer afternoons walking along the rugged coastline between Rye and Sorrento with camera in hand. In the right conditions, it is a stunningly beautiful part of the world, and I always find myself imagining golf holes in the sandy dunes that sit along the top of the cliffs. The quality of the AI generations for this area surprised me even more than previous locations. Having such an intimate knowledge of the area, I was sure there would be errors or flaws that a local could pick up on in the images. But from the coastal flora, to the distinctive orange colour and shape of the cliffs and sand, and even the harsh quality of light that we get in southern Australia, it was spot on. The AI almost seemed to enjoy routing the holes on this stretch of coastline using the prompts, and it was a pleasure exploring the different coves, beaches and inlets from any angle I wanted during endless perfect afternoon light. ### BRIDGEWATER CLIFFS GOLF COURSE Photograph: A flagged green in a hollow of grassy dunes, a sandy track in front, surf beyond. Photograph: A fairway between scrubby dunes beside a long beach, wind-blown tussocks in the foreground. Photograph: A green with a flag among sandy dunes and coastal scrub, a long beach under heavy cloud. Photograph: Greens on rocky cliff tops above a churning sea, headlands fading into the distance. Photograph: A green below sandy blowouts and tussocks, a long beach beyond under a stormy sky. Photograph: Greens and a bunker on rocky ledges above surf breaking along a cliff coast. Photograph: A fairway in a valley of scrub-covered dunes beside a long beach, pale tussock grass in front. Photograph: Surf surging through jagged rocks below a green on the cliff edge, hills across the water. Photograph: A bunkered green in a dune hollow above a beach and a headland, tussock grass in front. Photograph: A broad fairway and green along a scrubby clifftop, pale cliffs curving away above the surf. Photograph: Seen from the air at sunset, greens on red-brown cliffs above white water. Photograph: A green with deep bunkers in golden grassy dunes above a beach, the sun low over the water. Photograph: From above, a bunkered fairway runs along low cliffs above a rocky shore and a sandy beach. Photograph: From above, a bunkered green in a clearing of coastal scrub behind a long beach, evening light. Photograph: An imagined clubhouse terrace curving under a sweeping concrete roof, a glass dining room beside, the sea beyond. ### BRIDGEWATER CLIFFS CLUBHOUSE Photograph: A clubhouse with a disc-shaped roof and curving glass terraces cantilevered over an orange cliff. Photograph: A curving concrete terrace under a cantilevered roof, tables behind glass, dunes and the sea beyond. Photograph: A low glass clubhouse on the edge of a sandstone cliff, people on its terrace above the sea. Photograph: A shop carved into sandstone: a curved timber counter, shirts on racks, the sea through an opening. Caption: The Bridgewater Cliffs pro shop is embedded in the natural rock. Photograph: A bar with stools along a glass balustrade, looking down a beach and cliffs to green fairways. Photograph: A long timber dining table in a room of bare concrete and glass, the sea beyond. Photograph: An indoor lap pool along a glass wall, stone on one side, the sea and a headland ahead. Photograph: A bedroom with a low bed and armchair behind a wall of glass, sunlight glaring off the sea. Photograph: A glass-walled dining room and terrace on the cliff edge, the sun low over the sea. Photograph: A sunken curved seat around a fire pit under a sweeping roof, the coast at dusk. ## Rob Wilson Interview **Prior to really getting stuck into Midjourney, I had reached out to a couple of people I had seen posting imagined golf courses on Twitter and Instagram that sparked my curiosity. Rob Wilson, a building architect and virtual golf course designer, was one such person. I caught up with him over email to discuss the technology and gain some insight into how he saw it fitting into the golf course industry in the years (or maybe even months) ahead.** *Contours: Rob, what is your background, and where did your interest in golf course architecture begin?* Rob Wilson: My interest in golf architecture started shortly after I started playing golf at 11 years old. My brother in law was a scratch golfer and off-loaded a bunch of old golf books on me and one of them was the World Golf Atlas. I was immediately hooked by the book and spent countless hours studying the course plans and pictures. St Andrews, Pine Valley and National Golf Links were particularly compelling to look at and opened my eyes to a much broader spectrum of what golf courses could be. Throughout high school I filled my art books with sketches of course routings and perspective views. In my later years of high school and university I got into designing courses for programs like Sim Golf and the Jack Nicklaus golf series. At this point in my life I had actually considered a career in golf architecture and after reading Tom Doak’s Anatomy of a Golf Course I went as far as to write him a letter which he generously provided a lengthy reply to. Given the low probability of entering into the field of golf design I decided to enter into a building architecture program and through that got hooked on building architecture. I ended up taking a job with a really good local architecture firm and have spent the last 15 years designing community based buildings and really enjoying the process. A bit of art mixed with a bit of science. I’ve still kept an interest in golf design as a frequent reader of the discussion board at [Golf Club Atlas](https://golfclubatlas.com/) and have made four trips down to Bandon Dunes between 2002 and 2022 where I’ve discovered my love for links golf. In 2016 I discovered a new golf game called *The Golf Club* that had a course designer and gameplay that was far and away better than the earlier programs I had used, and it reignited my interest in virtually designing courses. *Can you talk about a bit about virtual golf course design – what software do you use, is there a community around this, what are its possibilities and limitations?* The program I use to design courses virtually was originally called *The Golf Club* – the newest release called PGA 2K23. Over the last seven years there’s been a great community of designers that share our work through websites like [TGC tours](https://www.tgctours.com/) which organizes seasons of virtual golf tournaments on our courses, much like the PGA Tour. The design community is a tight knit group who collaborate on courses and organize design competitions. With LiDAR data combined with Open Street Maps (OSM), we can now recreate existing golf courses with a high level of accuracy as well as take real plots of land and route our own golf courses over them. I’m currently working on a version of Capilano Golf Club, one of Stanley Thompson’s great courses up here in Vancouver. I’ve also taken on a fun project where I’m doing a redesign of a course near Vancouver called 18 Pastures. The course is on a wild site but is notoriously difficult, overgrown and in bad condition. I’m attempting to see if there’s anything that could be done to make it more playable and open it up. Photograph: A green ringed by deep round bunkers, a yellow flag and two wind-bent trees under storm cloud. Caption: AI Generated art by Rob Wilson. Photograph: A flagged green ringed by crater-like bunkers on a dusty plain, a blue-green planet in a black sky. Caption: Lunar bunkers are not to be trifled with, even if it is a low gravity environment. Photograph: An angular silver buggy with knobbly tyres and a roof rack on stony ground by a cave. Caption: Golf carts are essential on the moon – space suits are difficult to walk in and a well struck drive can travel over 2km. *How have you seen AI start to impact your work in building architecture, and do you see these potentially transferring across to golf course architecture?* As the broad scale application of AI is fairly recent we’ve only just started thinking about the potential use of it in architecture. Previous to AI we have used algorithmic programs like Grasshopper that integrate with 3D modelling programs like Rhino and Revit to generate and iterate design options through parametric inputs. I would imagine if AI integrated into these programs we could generate design options at a much higher rate. There’s already AI based software that can spit out simple residential multi family buildings and office layouts from a series of drop down lists. The program claims it can also adhere to building codes and coordinate structural, mechanical and electrical services. This type of technology would seem to be particularly attractive to residential developers who want to generate buildings that have the highest ROI. My firm typically designs community buildings funded by municipalities who care more for the user experience where the measure of success is more qualitative and less quantitative in nature. I’d like to see how AI can design a building taking into more nebulous parameters like light quality and spatial composition. *What drove you to first start experimenting with AI generation models for golf course designs, and what was your reaction when you started to see what was coming back?* I had seen some images posted on Twitter by a member of the virtual design community Peter Flory (of Lido Fame) and was kind of blown away and mystified by what he was getting. At the time I figured it was some complex software he was using. After some people in my office started experimenting with the program Mid Journey, which runs as a bot through the Discord app, I realized that the generation of these images was really as easy as typing in what you want to see. I figured I would give it a try and was amazed by what it could generate given all the layers of text information I would input. *Can you share some of the techniques and ideas you have used in your prompts to generate these images?* The main function in MidJourney is “Imagine” where you type in a prompt and it spits out four images. You then select the image that you like and upscale it to a single detailed image. You can also take that image and create variations of it. Each render takes less than a minute so you can iterate very quickly. At first I was typing in some descriptions like “*golf hole set amongst sand dunes*”. The results were ok but they seemed kind of generic and a bit cartoony. I then continued to add more layers of description like “*a hyperrealistic wide angle image of a par 4 golf hole set over rugged rolling terrain along grassy Pacific Northwest coastal dunes with dense cypress trees, long fescue grasses and gorse bushes. Bumpy terrain. Rugged bunkers cut into and blended into natural landscape. Windswept. Barren. Rumpled fairways. Stormy skies. Misty ethereal with diffuse light*.” The more info I put in, the more granular and detailed the results were. There is a second function within Midjourney called “Blend” which I’ve found gives you a bit more control of the output. Rather than a text prompt, you select two images to blend together. For this function you can use both the images created from previous renders as well as real-world images of golf courses. For example I could take an image of the 10th hole at Pine Valley and cross it with an image of the 12th hole at Augusta resulting in a vaguely familiar hybrid. I’ve also found you can save images of just landscapes from the internet and then blend with an image of a golf hole to allow you to choose the landscape that gets reflected in the image. After many AI renders you end up with a palette of images that you can combine in different ways depending on what you are trying to achieve. For example, I might want one of my renders to have more fairway so I’ll take the original render and blend it with an image of the 18th hole at St Andrews. What’s great about this function is that you can start to manipulate the results rather than simply describing what you want and having the AI do it all. I’m hoping in time we’ll see more AI functions that will give us even more creative control over the images. *The visual impact of the generated images that come back can be quite striking, and perhaps a starting point for some ideas, but this probably has limited use in a practical sense. What do you think is the next step of AI in golf course design (and potentially construction) that will make a truly useful tool in the process?* Beyond purely aesthetic matters I don’t see why AI couldn’t be used for more advanced spatial problem solving like routing a golf course. With the Lidar data available now you would think that it would be possible for it to read the terrain and generate a sequence of holes based on a set of predefined parameters like number of holes, number of par-3s, 4s, 5s, maximum length of a course, maximum cross slope for a fairway, hole proximity and safety, blindness, orientation to specific views, prevailing winds. It might be a challenging bit of programming for the software to make this work but it doesn’t seem too far off. That said, I’m not convinced it will spit out something better than what Tom Doak could produce but maybe it could be used as a tool for early exploration of design options. For sites like Sandhills where there were literally hundreds of potential routings you would think it might be a way to generate options very quickly. As I noted above in regards to architectural design, AI might be limited with respect to the qualitative aspects of the routing and design process and perhaps will never replace the well trained hand and eye of a golf architect completely. Most of greatest golf architecture is the result of an architect being on site with an intimate knowledge of and hands-on connection to the site and its great to see a new generation of architects carrying on that tradition. When I listen to Bill Coore talk about spending countless days just walking around a site its hard to argue with that approach when you look at the results! There might be some more technical applications of AI if the course is prebuilt in a digital model, for instance a course could use AI software to look at site drainage resolution and analysis. *Routing a golf course is the sort of deep thinking problem that tends to separate the truly great designers from the pack. It seems to require great imagination and intuition. Is this perhaps where AI could be of greatest benefit? In what practical ways might it help this process?* At this point I think it works well as an idea generator. For example you could take a picture of the raw landscape of a site and blend it with a hole with a bunkering scheme that you like, the result could be an early visual concept for the course. We use the term precedence a lot in architecture and its basically using completed buildings for design inspiration. With AI we can now create a realistic precedence without requiring that the building exist in real life. I think the same could be applied to golf design. Furthermore, in architecture studios one thing that is often done early in the design process is to find ways to break out of your normal way of thinking. For example you’ll be asked to draw a section view of a building and then part way through they’ll ask you to shift your thinking and make a plan out of the section view. The process is disruptive but can lead you down unexpected paths that you wouldn’t necessarily arrive at on your own. Perhaps the AI process could be used to help some designers think about things in a different way and break out of the box a bit. *With bulldozers and shaping equipment now offering millimeter level precision, it is feasible that an entire course can be constructed from a 3d model, as we have now seen in practice with The Lido at Sand Valley. What possibilities does this open up in terms of automation and integration with AI?* If the hypothetical software existed to generate an AI course routing from Lidar data you could feasibly create and build a course almost completely via AI with minimal human input; barring the limitations as described in the response above. To be honest, the wholesale AI approach, much like building architecture created from drop down lists, sounds kind of scary and could result in a renaissance of bad golf architecture with AI generated courses delivered efficiently but perhaps lacking the nuance and delight usually brought through the collaboration between the golf architect and their associates on site. Perhaps this would usher in a generation of courses analogous to the post war era where the promise of technological advancement in golf design created a greater detachment from the site resulting in courses devoid of a sense of place. I think AI should be used where it can elevate design exploration and perhaps expedite some of the more tedious technical aspects of golf design and construction. Photograph: From above, a round building with a stepped grass roof in a lawn cut from the rainforest. Caption: One of the rejected designs for the Padi Hills Clubhouse. Photograph: An AI image of the imagined Kakadu Hollows from the air: fairways through woodland below sandstone escarpments. ### KAKADU HOLLOWS ### NORTHERN TERRITOY, AUSTRALIA // 13.0923° S, 132.3938° E > ###### PROMPT: /imagine: A stunning 18-hole golf course located near Kakadu National Park The only course so far to illicit some controversy has been Kakadu Hollows, with some fearing the imagined imposition of a golf course onto the sacred grounds of Kakadu National Park to be ‘dangerous and uncharted territory’. I understand the argument, but I think it lacks an understanding of what the AI software is actually doing here. At least in the form that I’ve been using it, none of the images depict actual physical locations. They are one-off, unique generations based on the software’s understanding of the topography and flora of the area, combined with my prompts to incorporate specific golf elements and apply virtual camera directions. Even entering the exact same prompt seconds after the initial rendering will conjure an entirely different landscape. It is possible to upload a specific reference image and have the software re-imagine it and blend it with another image (see Rob’s interview piece below for more on this) but, as far as I know anyway, that is not what is happening in the majority of image generation. In any case, I loved seeing the landscapes of the Northern Territory shown in this way, even if this course is one that will certainly never be built. ### KAKADU HOLLOWS GOLF COURSE Photograph: From above, a bunkered fairway beside a dark river in a gorge between red cliffs. Photograph: A green and bunkers in a shadowed valley between rocky outcrops, low gold sun on the grass. Photograph: A pool below a rocky outcrop in long grass, a green and red flag beyond among slender trees. Photograph: From the air, fairways wind through open woodland below a long orange sandstone escarpment. Photograph: A fairway beyond tall golden grass and a dark boulder, weathered rock stacks under a blue sky. Photograph: A green and fairways among rocky outcrops and a narrow creek, scattered trees in the grassland. Photograph: Seen from high above, bunkered fairways follow a creek through bush below sandstone cliffs. Photograph: A rock pool among smooth boulders and slender trees, a green beyond. Photograph: A green past a dark boulder, long golden grass in front and rock stacks behind. Photograph: A creek in a rocky channel leading to a green, tall grass and trees under a blue sky. Photograph: A broad fairway in a valley between piled boulders, young trees and long grass. Photograph: An AI image of the imagined Lakagígar Links from the air: braided rivers across black volcanic ground. ### LAKAGÍGAR LINKS ### ICELAND // 64°03′53″N 18°13′34″W > ###### PROMPT: /imagine: A dramatic golf course located near Lakagígar Iceland is kind of an obvious option when it comes to dramatic landscapes, but I had a lot of fun with this one nonetheless. The contrast of the black volcanic soil was always going to be fun to work with, and as someone who hasn’t travelled anywhere like this, some of the ground level shots in particular surprised me with the extremity of the canyons and ridges. I hope these images and my discussion with Rob sparked some interest for you in the technology and it’s applications to golf. But if not, I hope the images were fun to look at, and that you can dream of some impossible golf when you’re next practicing your swing in a quite moment. ### LAKAGÍGAR LINKS Photograph: A fairway winding between rows of yellow-leafed trees to a green, under a blue sky. Photograph: From above into the low sun, fairways on dark lava ground split by a rushing river. Photograph: A bunkered fairway beside a river in a shallow gorge, moorland running to hills, the sun low. Photograph: A rushing river between black rock outcrops and rumpled fairways, seen from above into the sun. Photograph: Golden light on sea cliffs and a grassy headland above the surf, faint fairways on top. Photograph: A green with a white flag in rough grassland, dark crags and hills under grey cloud. Photograph: A green with a flag beside a rocky stream winding through moorland and low cliffs. Photograph: A green with a flag below a dark cliff, pot bunkers scattered down the grassy fairway. Photograph: Fairways on grassy cliff tops above a black sand beach and sea stacks, surf rolling in. Photograph: A green and grassy mounds framed by orange autumn trees, dry grass in front. Photograph: A river rushing through black lava between fairways, the sun on the horizon. Photograph: Grassy cliff tops with fairways above a black beach, sea stacks and breaking waves. Photograph: A green with bunkers on a grassy clifftop, dark sea cliffs and long swell beyond. Photograph: A green with a flag in a field of moss-covered black lava and orange grass, hills beyond. Photograph: A fairway in a valley among dark rocky mounds, a green beyond in hazy golden light. Photograph: Montaperti as the AI imagined it: a green and pond below a hilltop town, pink wildflowers in front. ### MONTAPERTI GOLF CLUB ### TUSCANY, ITALY // 43.7711° N, 11.2486° E > ###### PROMPT: /imagine: A subtle and beautiful golf course on the outskirts of Sienna, Italy” Watching the Italian Open on television, I was reminded of my journey to the Tuscany region nearly 10 years ago where I fell in love with the town of Sienna and it’s surrounding hills. For this course, I imagined a very rustic and natural aesthetic, allowing the Tuscan landscape to take centre stage. The clubhouse was an enjoyable addition, imagining something historic and classic fit out in contrast to the other destinations which all had a modern and minimalist approach. *Please leave a comment below if you had any feedback, ideas or insights into this article – we love hearing from our readers.* ### MONTAPERTI GOLF CLUB Photograph: Bunkers in long grass before a green, a towered stone villa and cypresses beyond in evening light. Photograph: A pond before a green with golfers walking, cypresses and pines, a hillside town beyond. Photograph: From above, a bunkered green beside a stream, an old stone building and a stone bridge. Photograph: A fairway rising between flowering shrubs and pines to a bunkered green, a pale villa above. Photograph: A stream under a small stone arch below a green, pink and yellow flowers in front. Photograph: A pond and bunkers before a green with a white flag, cypresses, umbrella pines and villas beyond. Photograph: Red and white wildflowers before a bunker and green, cypresses and a town of terracotta buildings beyond. Photograph: A bunkered green below a brick villa with a bell tower, long seeding grass in front. Photograph: A green with bunkers among rounded shrubs and cypresses below a hill town with a stone tower. Photograph: A cream villa with arched loggias and a tall cypress behind a bunkered green and a pond. Photograph: A terracotta villa with arched doors above a grassy slope and a path edged with pink flowers. Photograph: A long arched gallery of red armchairs, lamps and a tiled floor, tall windows onto a lawn. Photograph: Open arched glass doors onto a gravel terrace of cane chairs between cypresses, a lawn beyond. Photograph: Lake Como Country Club as the AI imagined it: bunkered greens among pines, a lake and mountains beyond. ### LAKE COMO COUNTRY CLUB ### LAKE COMO, ITALY // 45.991° N, ,9.2278° E > ###### PROMPT: /imagine: A subtle and beautiful golf course on the banks of Lake Como, Italy” Having cancelled a trip to Lake Como earlier this year due to family commitments, I was keen to explore the region from my desk and what better way than imagining a golf course along the lakeside. The rugged terrain of the area made for a dramatic setting, and combined with a light morning haze and classic Italian architecture, this is a course I would happily travel 24 hours to play. ### LAKE COMO COUNTRY CLUB Photograph: Greens and clipped shrubs among tall pines above a lake between mountains, in soft haze. Photograph: A stone villa on a point above a misty lake, a fairway and clipped shrubs below. Photograph: A stream through clipped shrubs past a green, tall pines and low sun beyond. Photograph: Fairways among woods running down to a lake town, mountains layered in haze. Photograph: A timber building with broad verandas above terraced gardens, a fairway and the lake in haze. Photograph: A terrace of tables, lamps and green-cushioned chairs, the sun flaring over the lake and mountains. Photograph: A bunkered fairway beside a lake between steep wooded mountains, villas on the shore. Photograph: Greens among rocks, clipped shrubs and umbrella pines on the lake shore, a building on the hill. Photograph: A bunkered green on a slope above a lake inlet, pines, villas and blue mountains beyond. Photograph: A building of stacked terraces down a lakeside bluff to small greens and hedges, the lake hazy. Photograph: An AI image from high above: braided rivers across black volcanic plains, fairways between them. --- © 2024 Contours. No content may be reproduced in any form without express permission. will@contours.agency