Jacob Sjöman was working in Gothenburg, Sweden, as an art director and photographer for a company that produced auto renderings for Volvo, Saab, and other brands. “It was a lot of fun, and I had a salary!” Sjöman says, remembering those bygone days of job security.

Then, one day in 2010, he took some pictures at Hills Golf Club in Gothenburg, one of which ended up on the cover of a magazine. A new career path was revealed.

“It was tough,” admits the Stockholm-based Sjöman, who grew up in a small village called Hannäs, near the town of Åtvidaberg in rustic southern Sweden—about 140 miles south of the Swedish capital. “One year, I wrote emails to 150 golf clubs in Sweden, and I received three responses. One replied, ‘No, thank you.’ The second club said that one of their members took amazing pictures. All three of them said no one way or another. This is why I transitioned to work for international clients.”

Sjöman broadened his vision, to the benefit of his career—and to the many golf courses he has now photographed. Things started to take off in 2016 after he made an impromptu, overnight drive to Lofoten Links in Norway.

“I was in northern Sweden for a book project, but I was interested in seeing Lofoten,” recalls Sjöman, who got his handicap down to 2 as a teenager, playing at Waldemarsviks Golf Club, which was laid out on rock-solid farmland and is about as well known as Hannäs. “I drove for five hours and arrived at night. I started setting up tripods and cameras straight away. I just took pictures for that whole day, so I didn’t really sleep. I captured hole number two under the Northern Lights, and that has become quite famous.”

Sjöman captured a neon-green swirl of the Northern Lights above the second green at Lofoten, on a rocky outcrop in the Norwegian Sea. In a remarkable moment of symmetry between golf and nature, the mysterious lights in the sky formed a halo over the green. Was it spiritual? Everyone has their own interpretation. The image (shown at left) has been published in books, featured on several magazine covers, and made into framed prints; it has even been used for product packaging.

“I try to do my very best with every opportunity, and sometimes that means you have to lose some sleep,” Sjöman says. “After that Lofoten picture, it became easier for me to get work.”

Sjöman combines a love for golf with an eye for the beauty of natural landscapes. “Cape Kidnappers in New Zealand and Lofoten Links are remote places where the atmosphere and beauty of the landscape seem almost unreal,” he says. “You are surrounded by nature in these vast landscapes, and they are spectacular. I love these places, and for people to be able to play golf there is amazing.”

Hole 12

Old Head Golf Links
County Cork, Ireland

Lying south of the historic town of Kinsale, Old Head occupies a diamond of land that juts three miles into the Atlantic. The 220-acre resort boasts an array of ancient Celtic ruins and landmarks, some of which date back to the Iron Age.

“This picture was taken from a drone in August 2023, during an afternoon sunset,” explains Sjöman. “The drop of the cliff is so high, and I wanted to capture it. Drones enable photographers to gain more height, but you need to be careful because it is easy to get too high. Drones have opened a Pandora’s box in photography, and you need to be selective.

“The weather at Old Head can change instantly, which is part of the charm of that place. It is mystical,” he continues. “Photographing Old Head is working with nature at its most spectacular.”

Holes 7, 8 & 9

Point Hardy Golf Club
Cap Estate, Saint Lucia

Point Hardy, designed by Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw, opened in December 2023 and is one of the most celebrated new golf courses in recent years.

“This picture was taken at the course’s grand opening,” notes Sjöman. “There are several layers in this picture. It brings in so many different golf holes, and it also shows the coastline very well. It was taken with a tele-zoom lens, which compresses the image and shows more detail in all the layers. This background would not have worked as well with a wide-angle lens.”

Hole 15

Tara Iti
Te Arai, New Zealand

A contender for the title of finest golf course in New Zealand, Tara Iti was designed by Tom Doak alongside the prime surfing beach of Te Arai. Located 60 miles north of Auckland, the golf course weaves around 225 acres of sand dunes. The Māori consider Te Arai the lifting point between Earth and Heaven.

“Tara Iti is very special, very pure,” says Sjöman. “Around the fairways are the natural sand, the dunes, and then the ocean. I was there six years ago, and this photograph was taken from a drone in the first morning light. There are several balanced layers to this picture, and if the drone was higher, you would lose some of the layers and lots of the detail. There is structure here, provided by the grass and the dunes in the foreground.”