MyPhillyGolf - Golf and the Good Life

Massive tree removal proposals on classic golf courses are still hotly debated and, in some cases, vehemently resisted. Indeed, removing a single, prominent tree can be just as hotly debated. There’s often no middle ground for measured consideration.

Only 10 years ago, membership committees at courses like Oakmont CC near Pittsburgh and Philadelphia CC were thought to be bold pioneers in this realm when they embarked on their ambitious tree removal campaigns. But dramatic results and roundly positive reactions helped spread the new gospel of "Fewer is Better."

Several clubs in the area have undertaken major tree removal projects in the past decade or so, among them such notables as Philadelphia Cricket Club (Wissahickon Course), White Manor CC, Huntingdon Valley CC and 2013 U.S. Open host Merion GC.

Two recently completed projects, one in the national spotlight and one locally out of the spotlight, illustrate both a new nuanced appreciation of agronomics and a new conciliatory attitude of club members.

For anyone with memories of how the Olympic Club played in past U.S. Opens, this year’s Open was a revelation—and a revolution. The nine-year tree management program at Olympic opened up the course tremendously, offering a number of benefits that seem obvious in retrospect. It’s ironic that, for the second half of the 20th century, the iconic Lake Course at Olympic offered no views of its namesake lake, Lake Merced.

Granted, a good part of the tree removal initiative was given a nudge by the pitch canker disease that affected over 200 pine trees on the course. Nevertheless, why it took so long for Olympic’s Board to see the light and concede to a well-planned tree management program is a question many Northeastern U.S. clubs should be asking themselves and applying reflexively to their own overgrown golf courses.

Locally, the most recent tree removal success story is Manufacturers’ Golf & Country Club in the Philadelphia suburb of Oreland. Over the last 10 years, estimates put the number at nearly 2,000 trees that have been removed from the property—500 over the last two winters. The once claustrophobic experience of driving as straight as possible down a corridor of overreaching trees has become a strategic exercise in positioning one’s ball for the optimum angle on the next shot.

Very big weeds

Golf course designer Ron Forse of Forse Design Inc. in Hopwood, PA, consulted on the Manufacturers’ project. "It's amazing; it’s a huge difference," says Forse. "Of course, you still need the good trees, you need hardwood specimen trees, and you need vistas." And Forse concedes that old courses often need tall trees to prevent golfers from taking shortcuts over dogleg corners, and for safety from stray drives off tees.

Superintendent Larry Corr remembers Manufacturers’ condition before the tree removal process began. In 2001, there was little or no grass where rough should have been. And a golfer could literally be on the fringe of more than one green and reach out and grab a pine tree branch. Aside from overall turf health, excessive tree growth can make course maintenance more difficult and costly. One wake-up call to action occurs when a golf club loses a green or two to disease or simple neglect. The tight mowing of greens today makes sunlight and air movement even more imperative to healthy greens—what might seem obvious in retrospect.

Golf course designer Dr. Michael Hurdzan, of Hurdzan Fry Environmental Golf Course Design in Columbus, OH, has to remind clients often that trees can be weeds. "A tree out of place is nothing more than a weed," Hurdzan says. Strategically placed, though, they can be sand traps in the sky.

Trees can be weeds in number of ways. For one, they can suck up the resources that the grass needs—sun, soil nutrients, water, fertilizer, pesticides, etc. Secondly, they can make nearby trees much less healthy. And finally, of course, they can just be a plain nuisance to golfers.

Strategic interest

One argument for tree removal that often goes unused is that having fewer trees increases the strategic aspects of a golf course. It’s not that fun or interesting when every time you miss a fairway, the only option is to chip out sideways to get back into play. And large stands of trees take away the opportunity for golfers to attempt a heroic recovery shot out of a difficult situation that might require weighing risks and rewards.

The counter argument is often that the holes will be poorly defined when the trees start coming down. However, even though Olympic has taken out hundreds of trees, the remaining trees still define the holes more than adequately and are still "confining" during play. The fact that the Lake Course at Olympic has only ONE fairway bunker is a clear indication of how well trees can still confine a hole and force strategic play, even when drastically thinned out. Corr says Olympic and Manufacturers’ situations were similar also in that the crowded holes prevented golfers from playing draws and fades to use the slopes of the fairway for more roll out or less, depending on the situation.

Hurdzan does admit that there is a human emotional reason for tree-lined fairways. Contained views make us feel good, like a frame around a picture, Hurdzan explains. On the other hand, open vistas can encourage golfers to anticipate the challenge of the upcoming holes and plan future strategy from angles they would not get from the tee of that future hole.

Changes in attitudes

It’s important to note that golfer attitudes can be as fickle as Paris runway fashion. Look at aerial photos of classic courses in their early days, such as Oakmont and Augusta National, and you’ll notice that many are nearly completely bare of trees on the interior of the course. Costs of planting unnecessary trees was most certainly a factor, but the course designers were often trying to emulate the treeless courses of the home of golf, Scotland.

As the Scots say, "Nae wind, nae golf." If a course is lined with dense stands of 70-foot-high trees, wind is also less of an impact on the playing of the game. Though it’s possible that many U.S. players might prefer light wind on their casual rounds, this was not how the game was played during its development in the U.K. and in the U.S.

Another attitude change that is often only evident after a massive tree removal project is how the views of the golf course and surrounding landscape are more pleasurable during a round of golf. It’s impossible to explain to club members resisting the project how much they’ll enjoy the new vistas.

From Manufacturers’ elevated clubhouse, members can now survey the entire course and see the farthest reaches of the property. And likewise, the historic clubhouse is now in view from just about every part of the course.

Golf course designer Kelly Blake Moran, based in Fleetwood, PA, says its crucial to find a "champion" on the club’s board who sees the many virtues of proper tree management—and knows that a fight is likely. "It's really something that's not debatable," Moran says. "But a lot of times you just could compromise, or just not do it at all." A commitment to the cause requires a thick layer of skin and a lack of desire to try to please everyone.

Moran is known for his emphasis on strategic course design, which gives the golfer many options as well as many hazards. The most strategic golf course in the world is still St. Andrews, which has virtually no trees.

Moran emphasizes that overgrown or poorly placed trees can totally negate any strategic interest in the hole. "That, to me, is offensive," says Moran. "But that's a little bit harder to sell to the members."

The root causes

Tree management is a balancing act between all the factors mentioned above, as well as the sentimental value that each member feels toward his or her favorite holes, views or trees. Members may have planted some of the trees themselves or monitored their progress over decades. Some may even be the equivalent of protected historical landmarks or rare specimen trees.

Viewed in its most positive light, tree removal often thins out trees that are struggling and improves the health of the trees that remain. "You've got to think holistically," says Forse. "Often, the golf course just feels cleaner."

There are some reasons for the rampant tree planting in mid-20th Century America. There was the fear of a second Dust Bowl, there was government-sponsored row planting of trees and there was a broadly expanding environmental consciousness after World War II. Tree planting seemed like all upside and no downside.

However, trees were planted with a substantial lack of foresight, often at the direction of well-meaning but misguided golf chairmen. The planters didn’t didn't know—or think about—how big each tree might get or how much it might lean onto the course or infringe on the space of other trees. Often, there was no respect for the distance between trees that naturally occurs in forests. Pine trees generally don’t grow into each other as they do on many courses in the Northeast, and the natural canopy of deciduous trees obscures the sun and usually prevents large trees from growing closer than 20 to 25 feet apart.

Deception and perception

When Oakmont began its tree removal program, it operated under cloak of darkness. The grounds crew would take down trees during the night, fill in the hole and cover up their tracks before break of dawn. Perplexed members would scratch their heads when an errant shot they were sure would be "in jail" was instead playable.

And the dramatic changes weren’t just down the sides of the fairways. Oakmont removed trees behind greens to remove depth perception cues and aiming targets. The 16th hole at Oakmont is a great example of an elevated "horizon" green, with no backdrop, where players are forced to use their wiles and trust their caddies for the right club and line of attack.

Manufacturers’ Corr admits that members don’t always listen to recommendations from superintendents. Maybe they think that superintendents have ulterior motives, personal biases, axes to grind or an overzealous dedication to plant life.

But Corr understands the complex relationships between playability, strategy, aesthetics and economics. One can argue that courses will, in the long-term, save money on maintenance with a tree management program, but it also helps to have a proven course designer back up the plans you propose.

Hurdzan reassures that the goal with tree removal is always to improve the golf course and enhance the strategic elements of each hole. "We try to keep the timeless heritage of the golf course, but modernize it," he says.