A hole-by-hole golf course flyover is one drone flight per hole, starting behind the tee and following the line of play to the green, flown at a consistent height and speed so every hole in the set looks like part of the same film. Each clip can carry overlays for yardage, hazards, par and handicap. Courses use them on website hole pages, booking listings, GPS apps and social media. The shoot is planned around the tee sheet, the grounds crew, FAA rules on flying over people and the airspace around the course.
This guide covers how those flyovers are planned, shot and delivered in Michigan. For the service itself, see our golf course drone photography page.
Why courses want a flyover for every hole
Michigan golf is a crowded market. The state’s 748 daily fee, municipal and resort courses outnumber the total golf supply in 45 other states, according to a March 2026 National Golf Foundation report. A golfer comparing courses, or a group planning an outing, has a lot of choices and limited patience.
A single course film sells the setting. A set of hole flyovers does a different job: it shows a golfer where to aim on the 7th before they have ever stood on the tee. That is useful on a course website, and it is what a golfer looks for when a hole page or app shows a hole layout. It also keeps working for years if the course does not change.
Planning the flight path, tee to green
Every flyover in a set follows the same grammar. The drone starts low and behind the back tee box, rises to reveal the hole, moves along the line of play toward the landing area, and finishes over the green with the flag in frame. Some courses like a final slow push past the green to show what sits behind it. Whatever the choice, it should be the same on all 18 holes.
Consistency is the hard part. Height, speed, camera angle and the moment the green comes into view should match from hole to hole, so a golfer clicking from the 3rd to the 17th sees one system, not 18 experiments. We plan each route on the course map before the shoot and use repeatable settings in the air.
Doglegs and blind shots need extra thought. On a dogleg, the camera should turn where the golfer would turn, showing the corner and what is in play beyond it. On a blind tee shot, the rise from behind the tee is what gives the golfer the view the hole hides.
| Hole type | How the flight usually works | What to show clearly |
|---|---|---|
| Par 3 | Short rise from behind the tee, steady push to the green | Green shape, bunkers, water short or long |
| Par 4 | Rise, follow the line to the landing area, continue to the green | Fairway bunkers, the landing zone, the approach |
| Par 5 | Longer route with a pause or slight turn at the layup zone | Layup options, cross hazards, the green complex |
| Dogleg | Turn with the line of play at the corner | The carry over the corner and what is behind it |
Overlay graphics: yardage, hazards, par and handicap
Overlays turn a pretty clip into a tool. The common set is the hole number, par, yardage from one or more tee boxes, the handicap (stroke index) for the hole and labels or carry distances for key hazards.
All of that data should come from the course, not from the video crew. The scorecard and the course’s own measured yardages are the source. If the course is re-rating, adding tees or changing a hole, wait for the new numbers before locking the graphics.
A few practices keep the overlays useful:
- Match the course’s look. Use the course’s fonts and colors, and keep the graphic placement identical on every hole.
- Keep the frame readable. Labels for hazards and carries should appear briefly as the drone passes them, then clear away.
- Get clean files too. Ask for every hole without graphics, so the course can update yardages later or use the footage in ads and social clips where the numbers do not belong.
Standard drone or FPV
Most hole-by-hole sets are flown with a stabilized camera drone using GPS positioning. It holds a steady height and speed, which is exactly what a matched set of 18 clips needs, and it produces smooth, calm footage that reads well on a website.
FPV drone video is a different tool. An FPV pilot flies through goggles, so the flight can run low across a pond, skim a bunker face or thread through the clubhouse doors. That energy is great for one signature hole, a membership promo or a social reel. It is harder to repeat 18 times with the same pace, and the line through the air changes with every pass.
There is also a rule to plan around. Under 14 CFR 107.31, the drone must stay within visual line of sight, seen with unaided vision. Because an FPV pilot’s eyes are in the goggles, FPV work uses a visual observer who watches the aircraft directly, in line with the visual observer rules in section 107.33. Our drone vs. FPV guide explains the trade-offs in more detail.
Season and time of day in Michigan
The best light for flyovers is early morning. A low sun throws long shadows that show the shape of fairways, mounding and green contours, which flat midday light washes out. The morning is also when the course is empty and the wind is usually calmest, and gusty conditions make the footage unsteady.
Flying very early has a rule attached. Under 14 CFR 107.29, civil twilight is the 30 minutes before official sunrise and the 30 minutes after official sunset, and a drone flown in that window needs anti-collision lighting visible for at least 3 statute miles.
For the season, the course needs to look its best. In Michigan that usually means after spring green-up, with full turf color and leaves on the trees, through the fall color window on wooded courses. Before booking a date, ask the superintendent three questions:
- When is aeration or topdressing scheduled? Fresh aeration holes show from above.
- When are fairways and greens mowed on the shoot morning? Fresh mowing lines read well on camera.
- When does irrigation run? Standing water and wet turf look dull and reflective.
On the day, flags should be in, bunkers raked, sprinklers off and carts and maintenance equipment parked out of the line of play.
Flying over golfers: what Part 107 allows
This is the rule that shapes the schedule. Under 14 CFR 107.39, a drone may not fly over a person unless that person is directly participating in the operation, is under a covered structure or inside a stationary vehicle that offers reasonable protection, or the operation meets one of the categories in Subpart D.
Subpart D sets four categories:
- Category 1 covers drones that weigh 0.55 pounds or less, including anything attached, with no exposed rotating parts that could lacerate skin.
- Category 2 covers drones on an FAA-accepted declaration of compliance showing an impact below the injury threshold tied to 11 foot-pounds of kinetic energy.
- Category 3 raises that threshold to 25 foot-pounds, but the drone cannot fly over open-air assemblies and may fly over people only within a closed- or restricted-access site where everyone is on notice, or without sustained flight over anyone who is not participating or protected.
- Category 4 covers drones with an FAA airworthiness certificate, operated within their approved limitations.
Golf adds a twist. Under section 107.145, flying over people inside moving vehicles has its own conditions, and a golf cart rolling down the path is a moving vehicle. A cart parked under the clubhouse overhang is a different situation from one crossing the fairway.
In practice. Most professional camera drones used for golf work are well above 0.55 pounds, so the simplest and safest plan is a course with no golfers on the holes being flown. That is why flyover shoots are scheduled ahead of play or on cleared holes.
Closing holes or shooting early
There are three common ways to keep the holes clear:
- Fly ahead of the first tee time. Start at first light on hole 1 and work in routing order. On an 18-hole course, the drone needs to stay ahead of the first groups, so the pro shop’s tee sheet sets the pace.
- Block tee times or send early groups off the back nine. Holding the first several times, or starting play on the 10th while the front nine is flown, buys room on busy mornings.
- Close holes or the course. A maintenance closure, a closed morning or a day with no outings is the cleanest option, and the only realistic way to fly during hours when the course would normally be in play.
Whichever route the course chooses, the pro shop, the superintendent and the marshal should all know the plan, and the crew should hold the flight whenever anyone walks onto a hole being filmed.
Airspace near airports
Some Michigan courses sit in uncontrolled airspace, and some sit close to airports. Under 14 CFR 107.41, flying in Class B, C or D airspace, or within the surface area of Class E airspace designated for an airport, requires prior authorization from air traffic control.
Around Metro Detroit, that includes the Class B airspace around Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport (DTW) and the Class D airspace around Coleman A. Young International (DET) and Willow Run (YIP). On the FAA’s UAS facility maps, all three accept LAANC requests, and approvable ceilings near the runways can be zero, rising farther out. A course a few miles from one of these airports may be limited to a low altitude or need extra coordination. According to the FAA’s LAANC page, LAANC gives pilots access to controlled airspace at or below 400 feet, with approvals that can come in near real time. Requests are checked against UAS facility maps, which set the maximum altitude that can be approved for each grid. If a grid near the course has a low ceiling, a further coordination request can be filed up to 90 days ahead.
We check every course on the FAA maps before quoting and again on the morning of the shoot. Our Detroit drone rules guide explains airspace and authorizations in more detail.
Where hole flyovers get used
One shoot produces footage that works in several places:
- Website hole pages. Each hole’s clip sits on its own page or in a hole-by-hole carousel, with the scorecard data alongside.
- Tee-sheet and booking pages. A short flyover of a signature hole next to the booking button helps a golfer choose a tee time. If your tee-sheet or booking provider accepts video, ask for its file spec before the shoot.
- GPS and course apps. If a GPS or scoring app shows hole video, it will have its own format and length requirements. Get them early so the edit fits.
- Social media. Vertical cuts of individual holes work for Reels, TikTok and YouTube Shorts, especially early in the season and during fall color.
- Google Business Profile. Google accepts profile videos up to 30 seconds and 75 MB at 720p or higher, according to its photo and video guidelines. A short signature-hole clip fits. Our Google Business Profile photos and video guide covers the rest.
Deliverables and file formats
A complete hole-by-hole package usually includes:
- One horizontal clip per hole, named by hole number (for example, Hole-07-Par4.mp4), with overlays if ordered.
- The same clips without graphics.
- Vertical 9:16 versions for social, reframed rather than simply cropped where possible.
- A full-course film or sizzle cut built from the best moments.
- Aerial stills of each hole and the clubhouse for print, rate sheets and listings.
MP4 files encoded in H.264 play almost everywhere and are the safest default for websites and apps. Ask for higher-resolution masters as well, so the footage can be recut later without a second shoot.
Pricing and what to send for a quote
Our golf course page lists hole-by-hole flyovers from $2,500, quoted by the number of holes, alongside course aerial stills from $450 and a course film from $1,500. See golf course drone pricing. A full 18-hole flyover project is quoted after we review the course map and hole count, because the number of holes, overlays, travel and how the tee sheet is handled all change the scope.
To get an accurate quote, send:
- Course name and address
- Number of holes, and whether you want every hole or a selection
- A course map, routing or scorecard with tee positions
- Where the footage will be used (website, booking pages, an app, social)
- Whether you want overlays, and who will supply the yardages
- Dates your superintendent and pro shop can support a morning shoot
Working with RAW Digital Group
Our pilots hold FAA Part 107 remote pilot certificates, and we plan every course shoot around the tee sheet, the grounds crew and the airspace. We fly across Michigan and deliver each hole as its own file, ready for your site and your apps. Send the course details through our contact page and we will review the map and come back with a fixed quote.