Golf isn’t always the greatest spectator sport, but that changes when you send pro players out at night to hit a few balls. No, we’re not being flippant. It turns out that watching some of the best golfers in the world play in the dark is a visually arresting sight — provided some cool tech is added in to spice it up — as proven in this cool video.
Shot at the Biltmore Golf Course in Coral Gables, Florida, it’s the work of watchmaker Audemars Piguet, gathering up ten of its ambassadors to shoot the unusual Midnight Masters production. The startling visual style took considerable work to create, starting out with making custom clubs for all the players, complete with LED lights embedded in the shaft and head.
What you see of the course in the video is what the players saw on the night. The balls had been given the glow-in-the-dark treatment, for obvious reasons, while in the bunkers, phosphorescent pebbles were used to provide atmosphere, and those great bunker shots. The only visual effects used after the shoot were to clean up the footage, otherwise everything you watch is the way it looked.
Golf is one of the more unlikely sports to gain some spectacle when played at night — with the right equipment, of course. In recent years, Formula One racing has added twilight and night racing to its annual calendar, with Singapore being the standout. The cars don’t have lights, so the track is illuminated instead. Perhaps this will kickstart an interest in special golf tournaments at night?
The Midnight Masters video features, in order of appearance, Ian Poulter, Henrik Stenson, Bernd Wiesberger, Lee Westwood, Danny Willet, Keegan Bradley, Byeong Hun An, Emiliano Grillo, and Victor Dubuisson. In addition to the main video you see above, there are some short clips showing outtakes on the Audemars Piguet YouTube channel, including one showing a few of the (many) practice shots it took Ian Poulter to hit the glowing golf ball in mid-air.
