Part-time Arrowtown resident Olivia Pinckney has not only painted the posters for the last two New Zealand Open golf tournaments at nearby Millbrook, but also for the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am in the United States.
In February, she followed up depicting superstar Rory McIlroy teeing off at the course’s 17th hole by meeting the man himself.
The 26-year-old, who has been a fulltime artist for the past two years, got into golf art through a hosting role at the NZ Open for co-organisers Michael Goldstein and Mel Gimblett.
Goldstein asked her to do a drawing of their dog, then asked if she would paint the poster promoting last year’s tournament.
‘‘He said he’s seen them around the world in other tournaments,’’ she said.
Then at last year’s Open, Pinckney hosted Pebble Beach Pro-Am tournament director Steve John who, taken by her poster artwork, asked her to do one for his tournament.
After she sent some photos, she was asked to paint McIlroy teeing off at the scenic 17th beside the Pacific Ocean.
To watch McIlroy tee off where she had depicted him was ‘‘a surreal moment’’, Pinckney said.
She was somewhat awestruck meeting him, but her mum Jan said he called her artwork ‘‘awesome’’.
It was also amazing for her to see her artwork displayed in the players’ lounge.
She has also been invited to paint next year’s poster, and will benefit from having now had a good look around the course and the various views it provides.
Pinckney’s also been commissioned to produce the artwork for next year’s NZ Open, and is now pitching herself to other courses.
‘‘I’m trying to see if I can build a portfolio in the golf world.’’
Already she was hopeful of work for the prestigious Te Arai and Tara Iti courses north of Auckland, whose owners are also involved with Arrowtown’s under-reconstruction The Hills Golf Club.
What she loved most about golf art was the landscapes.
‘‘I love landscapes, that’s why I’ve loved getting into golf’’.
Pinckney taught herself to paint while at Cromwell Primary, placed second in a competition and helped paint the school’s mural.
She finished head of visual art at St Margaret’s College, in Christchurch, but went on to study science and marketing at the University of Otago.
‘‘I wanted to do a back-up — I didn’t really think art would be a moneymaker.’’
However, thanks to her fortuitous introduction to the golf art world, she is having to revise that opinion. - Philip Chandler
