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Mike Sweeney

Tree Removal List - Last 10+ Years
« on: January 13, 2013, 07:42:43 AM »
Over on the thread:

No rough - Will Streamsong start a new conditioning trend?
http://www.golfclubatlas.com/forum/index.php/topic,54441.0.html

there were mixed emotions on Streamsong's ability to start a "no rough" trend.

Dunlop White has done a number of tree articles here on GCA:

http://www.golfclubatlas.com/in-my-opinion/below-the-trees-by-dunlop-white-iii/

http://www.golfclubatlas.com/in-my-opinion/an-anatomy-of-a-restoration/

http://www.golfclubatlas.com/in-my-opinion/the-shrinking-fairway/

Thus, I thought it would be useful to create a running list of courses that have removed trees over the last 10 years or so:

Oakmont Country Club was certainly a catalyst in starting the trend:





Yale has jumped into the tree removal trend. This is looking back at #8 where the left side (from the tee) has been cleared out.



Here is the 9th at Yale where the bank to the right and also the trees behind were cleared out:




Others? Please provide pictures if possible.



« Last Edit: January 13, 2013, 12:32:07 PM by Mike Sweeney »

David_Tepper

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Re: Tree Removal List - Last 10 Years
« Reply #1 on: January 13, 2013, 09:28:27 AM »
Mike -

The Olympic Club's Lake Course has made a good start on tree thinning & removal. I just wish they would finish the job! ;)

Sorry, no pictures.

DT

Mike Sweeney

Re: Tree Removal List - Last 10 Years
« Reply #2 on: January 13, 2013, 09:40:41 AM »
Mike -

The Olympic Club's Lake Course has made a good start on tree thinning & removal. I just wish they would finish the job! ;)

Sorry, no pictures.

DT

Google is your friend, a nice video piece on Olympic's tree removal:

http://www.golf.com/video/tree-removal-opens-lake-course-olympic-club

and a piece by Dunlop:

http://fhfcgreendepartment.blogspot.com/2012/06/olympic-club-and-trees.html


Jeff_Mingay

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Re: Tree Removal List - Last 10 Years
« Reply #3 on: January 13, 2013, 09:40:52 AM »
My home club, Essex Golf and Country Club Club (Windsor, Ontario), has done a very good job with tree removal over the past 10 years under the direction of superintendent, Chris Andrejricka. Not only have a large number of trees that were affecting turf been removed but almost all of the goofy pines and flowering trees are gone. A natural looking forest of indigenous hardwoods has been restored for the most part, which gives the course a very stately look.  

jeffmingay.com

Mike Sweeney

Re: Tree Removal List - Last 10 Years
« Reply #4 on: January 13, 2013, 09:47:10 AM »
My home club, Essex Golf and Country Club Club (Windsor, Ontario), has done a very good job with tree removal over the past 10 years under the direction of superintendent, Chris Andrejricka. Not only have a large number of trees that were affecting turf been removed but almost all of the goofy pines and flowering trees are gone. A natural looking forest of indigenous hardwoods has been restored for the most part, which gives the course a very stately look.  





Article @ Links by Jeff - http://www.linksmagazine.com/golf_courses/essex-golf-country-club

Jeff_Mingay

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Re: Tree Removal List - Last 10 Years
« Reply #5 on: January 13, 2013, 09:50:21 AM »
My home club, Essex Golf and Country Club Club (Windsor, Ontario), has done a very good job with tree removal over the past 10 years under the direction of superintendent, Chris Andrejricka. Not only have a large number of trees that were affecting turf been removed but almost all of the goofy pines and flowering trees are gone. A natural looking forest of indigenous hardwoods has been restored for the most part, which gives the course a very stately look.  





Article @ Links by Jeff - http://www.linksmagazine.com/golf_courses/essex-golf-country-club

Interesting Mike, I had no idea LINKS had that article posted online. I think I wrote it about a decade ago.

Funny, too, that's photo of Essex Co. Club not Essex Golf and Country Club :D
jeffmingay.com

Tom_Doak

  • Karma: +2/-1
Re: Tree Removal List - Last 10 Years
« Reply #6 on: January 13, 2013, 12:08:16 PM »
Garden City was the first course where I started a tree removal program, 22 years ago now.  It was a slow process at first [it began with a single flowering tree behind the 10th green], but gradually picked up steam and then I couldn't even stop them from taking down a big elm by the 18th tee near the end!  The course had a bit of an "open feel" when we started but nothing like the old days, or today.

The other courses where we've taken out the most trees:

Onwentsia Club
Chicago Golf Club
Medinah #1  [though it will still have a lot of trees]
Blue Mound

Note that I am NOT one of those people who think that all golf courses should be denuded.  At San Francisco Golf Club we are trying to sort out a tree replacement program, to make up for the trees that are dying off ... although I have tried to open up certain view corridors that were lost when the trees were planted years ago.

Anthony_Nysse

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Re: Tree Removal List - Last 10 Years
« Reply #7 on: January 13, 2013, 12:16:19 PM »
NGLA really got this ball rolling when Karl Olsen was Supt. I'd say the program started in the mid 1990s.  Mark Kuhns, now Superintendent at Baltusrol got the tree removal program started with tree removals in the very early morning under the lights.
Anthony J. Nysse
Director of Golf Courses & Grounds
Apogee Club
Hobe Sound, FL

Sean_A

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Re: Tree Removal List - Last 10 Years
« Reply #8 on: January 13, 2013, 12:25:24 PM »
Trees definitely have their place on a golf course.  Its just that far too often trees of the wrong sort and number swamp courses both visually and agronomically.  For instance, when I see the Oakmont photos, the occasional oak in that setting would be sublime.  I don't know if the club cut any down which could have been aesthetically pleasing once the rubbish trees were cleared out, but I doubt it.  

Notts took out a ton of trees behind the second green to great effect.


Huntercombe took a baby step in hacking their forest down.


Ciao
« Last Edit: January 13, 2013, 12:44:34 PM by Sean Arble »
New plays planned for 2024: Nothing

Joel_Stewart

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Tree Removal List - Last 10 Years
« Reply #9 on: January 13, 2013, 01:03:43 PM »
The Olympic Club's Lake Course has made a good start on tree thinning & removal. I just wish they would finish the job! ;)

Olympics is small compared to California Golf Club and the Meadow Club.  Both of these are full blown projects compared to selective removal.

Jeff_Mingay

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Tree Removal List - Last 10+ Years
« Reply #10 on: January 13, 2013, 03:08:42 PM »
Sean,

That hillside behind the green at Notts looks great. Was it entirely covered with trees?

Good call on Cal Club too, Joel. The transformation there is amazing - non-indigenous junk gone with beautiful stands of cypress and long views revealed. Cal Club is a an excellent study in tree removal.

Glad to hear they're making progress with removals at Meadow Club s well. Restoration of the meadow would be stunning.
jeffmingay.com

Andrew Hastie

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Tree Removal List - Last 10+ Years
« Reply #11 on: January 13, 2013, 03:54:14 PM »

I believe Plainfield removed several thousand trees!

Wade Whitehead

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Re: Tree Removal List - Last 10+ Years
« Reply #12 on: January 13, 2013, 06:55:17 PM »
Philadelphia Cricket Club conducted significant tree removal in the past decade.  There are photos in other threads.

WW

Patrick_Mucci

Re: Tree Removal List - Last 10+ Years
« Reply #13 on: January 13, 2013, 09:45:39 PM »
Shinnecock, Southampton, Westhampton, Mountain Ridge, Somerset Hills are a few that come quickly to mind.

Jason Topp

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Re: Tree Removal List - Last 10+ Years
« Reply #14 on: January 13, 2013, 10:52:51 PM »
Minikahda

Joe Leenheer

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Re: Tree Removal List - Last 10+ Years
« Reply #15 on: January 13, 2013, 11:09:09 PM »
Some course in Canton, OH took down a few trees back in the 2000's....about 800 of them.

Brookside? Anyone heard of it?  ;)

http://www.bsilvadesign.com/upload/press/04_Brookside2.pdf
Never let the quality of your game determine the quality of your time spent playing it.

James Boon

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Tree Removal List - Last 10+ Years
« Reply #16 on: January 14, 2013, 08:49:55 AM »
Are any of the courses in the States that are removing trees doing so for environmental reasons or is it all to do with playability, easthetic and Restoration?

I ask, because most of the courses I can think of in the UK that have done any tree removal, seem to me to have done it to return the more out of play areas to their native habitat ie linksland or heathland. The trees will have often self set and taken over, through some will have been planted, and these are then removed to encourage the heathland or dune habitat species to again thrive. Tree removal also seems to be to be done to help reduce shade and shelter to greens and other managed areas, but only seems to me to have an incidental effect of the playability of the course and its aesthetic rather than it being a driving factor, as appears the case on the other side of the pond???

I know the tree removal at Notts (which Sean mentions above) was done around 10 years ago or so. The local Wildlife Trust pay the club a small sum for returning these areas to heathland and maintaining them so, to encourage this rare habitat and the biodiversity that it brings. Now it may be that the tree removal was originally for architectural and heritage reasons and the wildlife benefit was a useful bonus, but most talk seems to be the other way round?

Cheers,

James
2023 Highlights: Hollinwell, Brora, Parkstone, Cavendish, Hallamshire, Sandmoor, Moortown, Elie, Crail, St Andrews (Himalayas & Eden), Chantilly, M, Hardelot Les Pins

"It celebrates the unadulterated pleasure of being in a dialogue with nature while knocking a ball round on foot." Richard Pennell

Jud_T

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Re: Tree Removal List - Last 10+ Years
« Reply #17 on: January 14, 2013, 09:19:57 AM »
Skokie, Lawsonia, Broadmoor CC and Tamarack
« Last Edit: January 14, 2013, 11:07:48 AM by Jud Tigerman »
Golf is a game. We play it. Somewhere along the way we took the fun out of it and charged a premium to be punished.- - Ron Sirak

Josh Tarble

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Tree Removal List - Last 10+ Years
« Reply #18 on: January 14, 2013, 09:26:51 AM »
French Lick - Donald Ross underwent a significant renovation and tree removal program if I'm not mistaken. 

Mark Smolens

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Re: Tree Removal List - Last 10+ Years
« Reply #19 on: January 14, 2013, 10:42:01 AM »
Flossmoor

PGertner

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Re: Tree Removal List - Last 10+ Years
« Reply #20 on: January 14, 2013, 11:00:12 AM »
2300 to date.....on a 100 acre property....

Not done yet

Patrick Gertner
Potowomut Golf Club
East Greenwich RI

PCCraig

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Tree Removal List - Last 10+ Years
« Reply #21 on: January 14, 2013, 11:38:12 AM »
Can anyone estimate the costs of these massive tree removal programs? For example, what would it cost to take down 100, 500, 1000 trees?

I think there are quite a few clubs that are interested in removing trees, but the excuse I hear most often is "well, we do what we can...but it's too expensive to do more."

What can courses do to make a big difference on a smaller budget?
H.P.S.

Mike Sweeney

Re: Tree Removal List - Last 10+ Years
« Reply #22 on: January 14, 2013, 11:41:04 AM »
Can anyone estimate the costs of these massive tree removal programs? For example, what would it cost to take down 100, 500, 1000 trees?

I think there are quite a few clubs that are interested in removing trees, but the excuse I hear most often is "well, we do what we can...but it's too expensive to do more."

What can courses do to make a big difference on a smaller budget?

It is my understanding that Scott Ramsay at Yale figured out a way to break even by selling the trees. I could be wrong and you can contact him at:

scott.ramsay@yale.edu

Steve_ Shaffer

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Re: Tree Removal List - Last 10+ Years
« Reply #23 on: January 14, 2013, 12:41:10 PM »
Mike,

In addition to Cricket, other Philly courses - LuLu, Manny's and Sunnybrook, among others- can be listed.

"Some of us worship in churches, some in synagogues, some on golf courses ... "  Adlai Stevenson
Hyman Roth to Michael Corleone: "We're bigger than US Steel."
Ben Hogan “The most important shot in golf is the next one”

PGertner

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Tree Removal List - Last 10+ Years
« Reply #24 on: January 14, 2013, 01:32:30 PM »
Regarding costs:

We are a working class private club in economically hard hit Rhode Island. Our budget is not even close to elite clubs. Over the years, we have become very efficient with our program. A few details:

1. Of our 2300+ removed trees on a 100 acre property, my winter staff of 2 has removed, cleaned up and stump ground 98% of the removals. (Over 8 years) A hurricane or two have helped... We have contracted out the removal of maybe 100 of the oldest and more difficult takedowns. Spring and summer staffs remove stump grindings and fill holes with topsoil, grade and seed. Topsoil is our biggest expense today (besides labor) for stump holes.

2. We are lucky that we have full time staff. (4 of us) We easily accomplish our winter work and tree work from Dec 15 to March.

3. We have been able to give away most of the hardwood. Advertise on Craiglist that you have free wood, and it disappears, quickly. Some even take pine. (We make all outsiders handling wood sign a liability release form)  We have only sold a few pieces, as we determined early on that trying to sell wood would have been not worth the extra time and effort.

4. We are lucky in that we have a state park next to us that has bridle paths and they happily accept wood chips for their horse trails. For a few years, we gave chips to an company in NH who converts them to wood chips for consumers.  

5. We are also fortunate in that we are able to borrow a wood chipper from another local club. In turn, we frequently lend them turf renovation equipment that they are lacking. It helps to be friendly to our neighbors!! During early years when we paid to rent a chipper, we would rent one for a week or two in late March and chip all winter treework then.  

6. For us, the cost of NOT doing the tree work is important as well. Turfgrass has vastly improved. Greens are at least 50% bentgrass and their day to day condition has improved immensely. Same for fairways, tees and roughs. Incredible views and vistas have been opened up and members are very proud of their golf course. Today, the club is improving financially....but would not want to think of what may have happened here if tree work was neglected in the very crowded and competitive Rhode Island golf market.  

We have bought a few pieces of equipment to help. We purchased a skid steer loader, off lease from another club that gets use in all facets of our operation. We purchased a used stump grinder.

Early on, our operation was not nearly as efficient as it is today. In previous years, we rented a wood chipper, and have paid people to take wood and chips from the club. Occasionally still, there are a few expenses but this has not been a budget buster for the Club. As a matter of fact, our 2013 "Tree Program" account is unfunded....but we also have 15-20 trees down on the property as I write.

Patrick Gertner
Potowomut Golf Club
East Greenwich, RI
 
« Last Edit: January 14, 2013, 01:34:10 PM by PGert »

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