Greeting everyone...
Since Ran was good enough to post my essay "A Cry for the Golf Course"
as an In My Opinion piece in November there have been some notable developments at Philly Cricket, and I thought I'd take a moment to a) bring the GCA community up to date and b) seek members' input, observations, experience and advice moving forward.
It has been quite a ride. My essay was really born more out of frustration than hope that anything could actually be accomplished at PCC...too many years of beating my head against the wall had left me despairing that the powers that be at the Club would ever "get it".
However, the response has been surprisingly strong and 100% positive....I have received well over 100 emails both from within the club and from people all over. - From just across the street (Sunnybrook GC) to as distant as Perth, Australia - and all with some variation on the the same story: "we had the same issue at our club...much hand-wringing and debate...finally bit the bullet on tree removal and everyone is thrilled...keep the faith!"
Many GCA members reached out with words of encouragement and advice and I would be remiss if I failed to thank Philip Young for sharing his wealth of knowledge as relates to all things Tillinghast, and also Tom Paul and Wayne Morrison, both of whom took time out of their schedules to meet with me and other PC members in person to offer their help and insight.
In addition, an ad hoc PCC member group conducted a letter-writing campaign which resulted in over 100 members sending signed letters to the Board, Golf and Grounds Committees in support of tree removal and general investment in our Tillinghast course....and I think it is finally making a difference.
In December the Club's newly formed Long Range Planning Committee issued an RFP for the purpose of hiring a qualified golf course architect to prepare a comprehensive master plan for the Flourtown course (trees, bunkers, greens, etc.)...While I wasn't asked to participate on the Committee, it is my understanding that respondents have been reduced to a "short list" and that an architect will be selected in the next month or so. I think this is great. At the club and Committee level the "tree issue" is just too emotional and devisive. I believe it is only under the guidance of a professional architect that the necessary tree work will ever be done.
There has been some positive immediate benefit as well. Also in December the club's grounds committee approved a list of 54 trees to be removed from the course this winter. Granted, many are dead/dying trees which would have been removed anyway, and 54 trees barely scratches the surface of the work that needs to be done, but its a step in the right direction.
Additionally several large "impact" trees have been removed at the problematic 5th, 8th and 18th greens...hopefully enough so that he Club can start to see reap the benefit of the XGD drainage work which was done last winter at these greens.
Lastly, the club did an inventory of the trees on the golf course, counting the number of "interior" (i.e. in play) trees. The figure that was arrived at was 900 trees or 50 per hole. I think that some folks thought this number was low given the number of trees that one hears have been removed at other courses. To satisfy my own curiosity I went out and counted them for myself and confirmed that the number was indeed correct. My take is that one needs to consider that the course ws built on cleared farmland (rather than cut from a wooded area) meaning that every tree out there was planted by the club and most are now quite large. A look at the 1938 aerials in my essay shows that in 1938 (16 years after opening) the course contained somewhere onthe order of 200-300 trees. I also have come up with some new aerials form the late 1930's and 1950 which I will post in this thread.
Question for the DG: Given the old aerials as comapred to the 2007 aerials) what density of mature trees in 2008 do you think would most likely fit Tillinghast's vision for this property?
Thanks again GCA!