Sean,
I like skyline greens because of the threat they pose, the threat of the unknown, PLUS, since most, if not all skyline greens, sit up high, they're usually buffeted by the wind, another of my favorite elements.
As to the tree you allude to, right behind the green, that tree is on the golf course, not 100, 1000 or 10,000 yards removed from the property line.