As we hit the half century of golf tournaments, here is a bucket list of events to cover for SHANK

The 2025 Alfred Dunhill Links Championship will be the 50th golf tournament SHANK has provided on-site coverage of, and the 28th of which we have been accredited for by an organising body. SHANK has provided our audience with remote coverage of hundreds of tournaments throughout the last decade, but there is nothing quite like being on site. In the past it was to gain access to interview players and create future content for the magazine, website and social media, and more recently it has been to create visual imagery and in-depth written content. All of which is original, whereas being remote relies on supplied material, which is the same as every other media outlet receives, unless they have someone accredited.

The very first event was the RICOH Women's British Open, then administered and run by IMG for the LPGA and Ladies European Tour, before it changed hands after the 2017 event at Kingsbarns to the R&A. Accreditation to the biggest and best events in world golf is obviously a privilege and not a right, it has to be earned, and the organising body has to see value in what you bring to the event, and now in 2025 I would like to think SHANK has earned that right.

Is our audience vast - no, not in comparison to the other similar, but not as good platforms. But it is global and engaged, and crucially for events in the St Andrews region and Central Belt of Scotland, it is local too. Coverage of the 2023 Alfred Dunhill Links Championship reached 12,000+ unique individuals in the North East Fife and Tayside region, roughly 1 in 40 people across the area., with the same ratio of people in St Andrews and Cupar following SHANK. SHANK has followers in USA, Australia, New Zealand, Germany, South Africa, Japan, Nigeria, Ghana, Ireland, Italy and France to name just a few countries around the world. SHANK's coverage of the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship has had a reach of between 200,000 and 400,000 across social media in each of the last three years, and with the platform expanding to six sites in 2025 it is fair to expect this number to grow.

SHANK is also recognised by most of the important organising bodies in the sport, being on the press distribution lists of the USGA, DP World Tour, PGA of America, Scottish Golf, Asian Tour, LIV Golf and the International Golf Federation, as well as the International Olympic Committee.

So far, in the 12 years since SHANK launched I have been accredited to the following events:

2013, 2017, and 2021 RICOH/AIG Women's Open (R&A, LPGA, Ladies European Tour)

Anna Nordqvist (Champion) and Louise Duncan (Low Amateur) at the 2021 AIG Women's Open Matt Hooper

2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024 and 2025 Alfred Dunhill Links Championship  (DP World Tour)

Tyrrell Hatton wins the 2024 Alfred Dunhill Links Championship Matt Hooper

2013 Johnnie Walker Championship (DP World Tour)

2014 Aberdeen Asset Management Scottish Open (DP World Tour)

2014 Junior Ryder Cup

2014 BMW International Open (DP World Tour)

2015 Dubai Duty Free Irish Open (DP World Tour)

2018, 2022 and 2024 Senior Open (Legends Tour, PGA TOUR Champions)

KJ Choi wins the 2024 Senior Open at Carnoustie Matt Hooper

2019 Solheim Cup

Suzann Pettersen celebrates holing the winning putt at the 2019 Solheim Cup Matt Hooper

The first tee shot at the 2019 Solheim Cup at Gleneagles Matt Hooper

2021 Hero Open (DP World Tour)

Grant Forrest celebrates winning the 2021 Hero Open at Fairmont St Andrews Matt Hooper

2021 Trust Golf Women's Scottish Open (Ladies European Tour, LPGA)

Ryann O'Toole checks out the trophy at the 2021 Women's Scottish Open at Dumbarnie Matt Hooper

2023 St Andrews Bay Championship (Asian Tour, International Series)

Eugenio Chacarra with the trophy after winning a 10-hole playoff Matt Hooper

SHANK (previously as St Andrews Golf Magazine) received accreditation to the 2014 US Women's Open, at Pinehurst. Elizabeth Bethel attended as a writer on my behalf.

and I have covered the following events without accreditation being required:

2013 New Golf Club Championship

2014 Scottish Senior Open

2014 Scottish Amateur Championship

2014 European Amateur Championship

2014 World Hickory Open

2016, 2019, 2021, 2022 St Andrews Links Trophy

2016, 2019, 2021, 2022 St Rule Trophy

2019, 2021, 2022 R&A Local Clubs' Gold Medal

2019, 2022 The Open Final Qualifying

2021 Scottish Senior Women's Open

2021 Tartan Pro Tour St Andrews Classic

2025 St Andrews Links Collegiate

In 2026 it is my intention to be on site to cover the BUCS Tour Finals, Battle Trophy, R&A Local Clubs' Gold Medal, St Rule Trophy, St Andrews Links Trophy, Boyd Quaich, ISPS Handa Senior Open (Gleneagles), Alfred Dunhill Links Championship, and St Andrews Links Collegiate. But outside of the traditional central belt of Scotland region in which most of the on-site events have fallen, I have a bucket list of events I would be honoured to gain accreditation for to cover for SHANK.

1. The Masters

The iconic Masters leaderboard Shannon Hurst

For anyone in golf media the holy grail is Augusta National, and The Masters. For a photographer it is heaven on earth, and the place to judge yourself against all other golf photographers at the top of their field, and for a writer it is the ultimate place and event to describe through pen or keyboard. The Media Centre, or Press Building as it is known, is the greatest in the world, of any sport, or any other part of media for that matter. The media are seen as being important to tell the story of Augusta and The Masters Tournament, and as such they are held in high esteem, perhaps more so than by others in the sport.

Unlike one particular organisation, Augusta National has given me and SHANK the time of day. In August 2024 I contacted them and they actually responded to give me more detail on the process for applying for accreditation. Alas I did not get the opportunity to take it further for 2025, but it is something I will be investigating for the future, as I believe SHANK can provide a different perspective to the other established media outlets, and reach a different audience.

2. Olympic Games

In 2024 SHANK provided comprehensive remote coverage of the Paris 2024 Olympic Golf Tournament, with images and written reports courtesy the International Golf Federation, as well as original ancillary coverage on shank.golf and social media. I entered the application process for Paris 2024 in the autumn of 2022, and after an exhaustive and fair process SHANK wasn't given accreditation by the IOC, but they had suggested contacting the IGF for sport-specific accreditation, something which I did not get the opportunity to do, but may in the future.

I am a huge advocate of golf in the Olympics, and covering an Olympic Games would be the highlight of my career, and the biggest thing SHANK could possibly cover. Unfortunately the next opportunity for a European Olympics would seem to be 2036 or even 2040.

3. Ryder Cup

The Ryder Cup is the event which inspired my interest in golf, and after an unsuccessful application in 2014 I will definitely be applying for the 2027 event in Ireland.

4. US Open

SHANK has been on the USGA media list for more than a decade, and they accredited us to the 2014 US Women's Open at Pinehurst, so I am of the belief it is entirely possible we would be successful in a future application to cover their incredible championship. I have an article already in the draft stage called Pinehurst and St Andrews, home away from home, and with the US Open and Women's Open returning to Pinehurst in 2029, it may be the perfect opportunity to apply and cover the events with the help of my US-based friends.

5. Australian Open

The Australian Open could lay claim to being the greatest non-American or European golf tournament on the planet. It has a roll of honour unlike most events outside the Majors, and the courses it is played on are among the greatest in the world. Currently the tournament is located in Melbourne, and with my former housemate now permanently living there with his girlfriend it could be the perfect opportunity to arrange the trip of a lifetime to cover one of the great events in golf.

6. New Zealand Open

I have as many as 10 friends and acquaintances in the sport of golf who are from New Zealand, and this stunningly beautiful and golf crazy country deserves more recognition over here, as does their national Open. The New Zealand Open is 17 years older than The Masters, and 9 years older than the PGA Championship, and is played over a unique format on some of the most remarkable courses on earth. SHANK would dedicate the greatest amount of coverage the New Zealand Open has ever had in the media in the UK, and with SHANK having already a small following in New Zealand, it would be an opportunity to grow its audience further.

7. OMEGA European Masters

The OMEGA European Masters is what I would consider the Monaco Grand Prix of Golf, played on the most remarkably beautiful course in the world, and truly part of the community which hosts it. The winners get their own star in the street, and it has nearly 100 years of history. The photographic opportunities are incredible there, and it would be an honour to cover this tournament.

8. BMW PGA Championship

The BMW PGA Championship is played on one of my favourite courses, and it is a course which truly needs to be visited rather than watched on television. I did so 20 years ago for the HSBC World Match Play as a spectator, but to cover this event would be fantastic. I could also combine it with a visit back to see my family in the south west.

Other events I would love to cover include the Dunlop Phoenix Tournament and VISA Taiheiyo Masters in Japan, the Hero Dubai Desert Classic and DP World Tour Championship, the Waste Management Phoenix Open, AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-am, the THE PLAYERS Championship, US Amateur and the Carnegie Shield, in Dornoch.

SHANK, written by Matt Hooper