PHOTOS: ‘Philadelphia’s most beautiful golf courses’ captured from 300 feet in the air

Golf courses for non-golfers can seem like nothing but a waste of space (and a Saturday morning), but Philly by Air wants to show you a bird’s eye view of golf courses in the Philadelphia area.

Starting with 150 choices, Philly by Air whittled the list to 50. This project is the fruit of a two-month process, according to the company’s site.

Matt Satell, a former digital marketing manager for a publishing company,startedPhilly by Airin 2014after he tried out a drone for fun.

“I’ve always been very passionate about technology,” Satell said in an email interview.

“I got my first drone in early 2014 for fun and started flying it around the area taking pictures,” he added. “A few months later I started my site, Philly by Air, and organically companies started reaching out asking if they could hire me. Things have built up over the past couple years and now Philly by Air is one of the area’s leading providers of aerial photography.”

Drones, while takingimages that just can’t be captured ground level, aren’t always looked at favorably, but FAA regulations could make drone less of a dirty word. According to Satell, the FAA recently began a mandatory online registration process as part of the regulations on drones.

“While the process took longer than most drone pilots would have liked, I think the FAA took a reasonable and measured approach,” Satell said. “They collaborated with the industry to craft a set of rules to ensure drone operators act safely and responsibly, while not crushing the industry with unnecessarily regulation.

“In terms of privacy, I feel like a lot of the concerns are overblown. There are already laws on the books to prohibit someone from invasion of privacy and harassment. There are more than 500,000 drones in operation in the U.S., but I don’t know of a single person being prosecuted for using their drone to harass someone.”

For more information on the courses or to see the rest of “Philadelphia’s 50 Most Beautiful Golf Courses,” click here.