This article originally appeared in the October issue of NCGA Golf Magazine
Celebrating the Work of Photographer and NCGA Friend Joann Dost
By Sarah Joplin
In Joann Dost’s first career as a professional golfer, she spent many hours studying her swing, practicing her drives, and mastering her putting. When she undertook her second career, setting aside her clubs for a camera, she transferred some of the same mindful methods she’d developed with her game to her practice of photography.
As the lie of the ball shifted to the lay of the land, she internalized something she’d read in what has become her all-time favorite photography book by a British chap named Charles Waite. The book, titled simply “The Making of Landscape Photographs” opens with a chapter called “A Frame of Mind”. In it, Waite advises “Your brain and eyes are the most important pieces of equipment that you have.”
Further he claims that “when taking a photograph you know to be good the sensation you’ll always have will be a modest one; it’ll be an inner “ah”, the knowledge that something is right.” Dost couldn’t agree more and claims that to be precisely what happens when she creates her best work. She knows the unique sensation Waite articulates when he writes: “The heartbeat slows down, the whole metabolism seems to come down toward the rate of the landscape, and the mind, almost as if coated with an emulsion itself, starts to soak up the meaning of the place.”
Dost concurs wholeheartedly with Waite; she takes time to internalize the landscape and the light before making a photo. “I go and study the golf course and then wait for the right lighting conditions,” says Dost. “That’s how I get that inner “ah” when I take the photograph.” As a result, Dost has accumulated many “ahs” in her career. Notable photos to her credit include every aspect of golf including the courses and their clubhouses, many iconic players, defining and historical moments of the sport and the legendary natural vistas that provide their context.
As emulsion on film has been replaced by pixels in digital files, Dost has kept pace with the evolution of the photography industry from large-format film to medium format and 35mm transparencies, from her pioneering helicopter aerials to drone visuals. Nevertheless, Dost holds true to the traditional photography she learned from some of the pioneers in the art form including Ansel Adams. It was Adams who provided her first big professional break, referring Joann to photograph for the 1982 Pebble Beach U.S. Open book.
Lucky stars and hard work are two components that have contributed to Dost’s 40-plus year success. Collaboration is another factor as Joann has had many mentors and allies. Some of her earliest photos, taken when Dost was fresh off the LPGA Tour herself, were taken covering the 1981 Walker Cup Matches at Cypress Point Club for the USGA magazine. Her alliance with the NCGA followed naturally when Dost hit it off with the late Association head, John Zoller, and was hired to document the building and opening of Poppy Hills Golf Course.
In 1992, she spearheaded a wall calendar fundraiser with the Board of Directors that generated hundreds of thousands of dollars for the NCGA Foundation. Over the years, Dost engaged course owner clients to purchase the cover feature of the NCGA Golf Magazine to showcase their properties. In turn, the Association purchased her framed photos to serve as event gifts and awards and as décor for the entrance to Poppy Hills and the board room of the NCGA headquarters. In years past, her work also been offered for sale to members through the Poppy Hills Pro Shop.
Just as Dost photographed Poppy Hills from the moment the first shovel went in the ground, she likewise captured its redesign in 2013-2014. Joann has supported the NCGA Foundation’s Youth on Course and her photos have appeared editorially in the member magazine for decades. Such features have included the AT&T National Pro-Am when it included Poppy Hills on its rotation, coverage of the 2019 USGA Junior Championship at Poppy Hills and a photo essay of the 2023 Women’s U.S. Open at Pebble Beach Golf Links. Members should know that Dost extends a 20% courtesy discount to NCGA members on her website at joanndost.com. The discount code NCGA20 allows them to take advantage of this benefit.
Dost’s photographic talent, innate generosity and creative ideas have served the NCGA in myriad ways while her alliance with the West Coast powerhouse has benefitted her through her work being viewed by its robust membership, availing herself of countless networking opportunities and, of course, enjoying the benefits of membership herself since 1997. In turn, Joe Huston, NCGA Executive Director explains that "As a former professional golfer, Joann brings a rare understanding of the game’s rhythm and beauty. Her images have elevated our branding and deepened the emotional connection golfers feel when they step onto our courses."
Dost enthuses that “The NCGA is great at engaging new golfers, running tournaments and events and finding new ways to grow and serve the membership.” The latter prompted the building of Poppy Ridge Golf Course in the mid-90s and was a boon to membership in and around the Bay Area, creating a hub for Northern California member activity. Dost was one of the first to photograph Poppy Ridge so it was little wonder that the NCGA turned to her when they embarked on redesigning the course in 2024.
Members have been able to follow progress on the web with Dost’s still photographs and aerials illustrating the process of course construction and grow-in leading to re-opening. Dost says that she is “thrilled about this new golf course. I think it’s terrific!” She adds, “It was super exciting to work with the architect through the whole process and envision how the course was going to turn out.”
Huston expands on her vision, commenting that "Her lens doesn’t just capture the landscape — it captures the soul of Poppy Hills and Poppy Ridge. Through her photography, she’s helped us tell the story of our renovations, our identity, and our belief that every golfer belongs here."
Her professional journey comes full circle in this issue with the publication of her imagery capturing the spirit of the recent Walker Cup Matches again played on the Monterey Peninsula all these decades later. It makes for another example of the collaboration between Dost and the NCGA that has been mutually beneficial and has stood the test of time.