TELLURIDE, COLORADO - 2025 S T A N D A R D37” x 61” Unframed; 52” x 76” FramedEdition of 12 L A R G E56” x 92” Unframed; 71” x 107” FramedEdition of 12 Editions available in both B&W and Colour There are about 16,000 golf courses in America, but only two are higher in elevation than Telluride Golf Club. When the members play out their rounds against the visual grandeur of the San Juan mountains, the thin air allows them to enjoy an extra 10 % length on their drives. 120 years ago, these mountains were thinly governed and hosted hard living, gun carrying, outlaws, not golf tournaments. When Tarantino shot The Hateful Eight, just a couple of miles up the road, there were no clean-cut characters who looked like Arnold Palmer or Jack Nicklaus. There was little cultural refinement in the San Juan Mountains in the wild west days and the emergence of the genteel game of golf seems a little incongruous - especially at 9,500 feet. Until the club was founded in 1985, there were many more bears and bison in the mountains than there were birdies. With all this in mind, I sensed there was an opportunity to be playful and stage a Wild West golf match on the course. The locals could participate as extras, so long as they dressed in final frontier clothing, and then we just needed a proper ruffian as the lead. I chose my friend Ty Mitchell, an authentic cowboy and DiCaprio’s henchman in Killers of the Flower Moon. But we were not quite finished with the cast. We knew a tame bison out of Santa Fe and his owner was fairly convinced that he would be comfortable carrying the outlaw’s golf clubs. That seemed an idea worth exploring. Early one mid-summer morning, it all came together on the 18th green at Telluride. The view back to the celebrated mountain airport in the distance emphatically identifies the location. Today’s professional golf circuit is enriched by a few cavalier gun slingers and none more so than Bryson DeChambeau. I had a rare momentof inspiration and the title of this photograph is perhaps as fun as the photo itself. ~ David Yarrow
