[tlavin]

The question is only mildly rhetorical.  I was doing some professional reading today and I came across this case about a landowner's liability for fallen trees.  (I'll post the link at the end of the post.)  We have discussed the need for tree management in countless threads, but I'm not sure that we've discussed the very real danger that old trees pose to players and employees on golf courses.  Here in the Midwest there are hundreds of courses full of trees that are a disaster waiting to happen.  In my career, I've actually had a case where somebody became brain-damaged when an oak limb fell and struck them.  It happened to be a young mother.  At a local private club in Chicago, a member was killed in the same way while standing on a putting green.

The point of this post is that club members have a responsibility to work with their superintendents and identify potentially hazardous trees.  Forget about the legal liability for a moment; we should do whatever we can to make our golf courses safer so our friends and our friends' friends don't get injured or killed.  Here in Chicago, the Morton Arboretum has a service where, for a fee, they come out and inspect every tree on the property, identify the species and identify any problems (like cavities in large trunks or branches).  All too often, this information resides in a desk drawer of the superintendent who is powerless to cut down trees because of the overly passionate tree huggers.

The case that I am linking to has an exhaustive analysis of liability in these situations.  Maybe people can forward it to their Board or to club counsel. 

http://state.il.us/court/Opinions/AppellateCourt/2009/2ndDistrict/November/2080995.pdf

Just another public service announcement from your local ambulance chaser!

[Jud_T]

Terry,

Yet another reason why I don't like trees on golf courses...Add in the guys who drunk-drive their carts into water hazards and we might get back to some good strategic design....

[Steve_ Shaffer]

Here are some experts:

http://www.vineandbranch.net/Premise_liability_4-9-07.pdf

[Kalen Braley]

Terry,

I see what you're saying...

But by far and away the most dangerous thing we do on a daily basis is jump in our cars and drive to work.  Its not even in the same league in terms of how much more dangerous it is to drive in a car than play golf!!

So with that, I'm advocating everyone drive a steel tank-like vehicle with padded innards...that way no one would ever die while getting from Point A to Point B.   

[Doug Ralston]

Don't be fooled, those damned trees do it on purpose. They are fighting a covert war agaist God's appointed dominion of Man upon this planet. If we don't cut every one of them for firewood, we a gonna be savaged again and again. 

Get a life!

Doug

[Ronald Montesano]

Only if it doesn't make a sound

[Matt Day]

We're working now on tree management using multi spectrum aerial photography as the corner stone of the plan. It measures the chlorophyll levels of the tree, identifying the weakest trees. This is then followed up with a visual inspection by an abor expert to evaluate the tree. This is to protect the trees and identify any that are dangerous and should be removed (worst case)

this year we have treated several hundred trees with fungal and fertiliser treatments injected into the tree. As we have one of the largest remaining standards of Tuart tree (eucalyptus gomphochepala) left in Perth we have a obligation to look after them. The Tuart is native to Western Australia and can get up to 35 metres in height

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