Tree Removal, A Comprehensive List of Courses by State in the US

[BCowan]

   I wanted to compile a List of Courses in the US that have removed trees in an attempt to improve growing conditions and restore tree placement to a Courses original design intent.  It doesn't matter if a storm caused 1,000 trees to have been uprooted or if a company was hired to remove trees.  Many courses that have lost trees due to storms, often plant more trees than lost in a storm.  So rewarding restraint is justified.  Same goes for diseased trees that were not originally in the design or were causing poor Turf conditions.  I would like to break Tree removal down to 3 levels.  Low, Medium, and High (Sawdust award).  If you could please post or PM me with courses that have done removal I would appreciate it, please include number of trees that were removed.  Hopefully this list will provide others with a reference to help sell/promote tree removal to their board/club.

Low- (50-249)

Med- (250-1499)

High- (1500+) Sawdust Standard

Alabama

Alaska

Arizona
Desert Forest (Low)- 100 trees

Arkansas

California
Cal Club- (High)- 1,500 trees
Olympic Club (Lake Course)-(Med)-?
Pasatiempo GC- 1,000?
Wilshire CC (Med)- 360 trees

Colorado
Cherry Hills - (low to mid)-  Ongoing
Denver Country Club- (Low-Med)- ?

Connecticut
Golf Club of Avon- (High)~ 10,000 (Paul Bunyan Award)
Waterbury- ?
Yale-?

Delaware

Florida

Georgia

Hawaii
Waialae CC (low)- 239

Idaho
Canyon Springs (low)~200? Trees

Illinois
Beverly CC- (Med)- 700 Trees
Bryn Mawr, IL - (Med)~1300
CC of Peoria (Med) ~ 1,000 trees
Chicago Golf Club- (Low)-?
Deer Park CC- (Low)- 200 trees, and more to go.
Flossmoor- (High)~ 1,500 trees
Glen View Club- (Med)- 600 Trees
Medinah #1 - (mid)- 800 trees?
Medinah #3 - (high)-?
Old Elm, IL - (Med)- 750-1000
Olympia Fields North- (Med)~ 900 trees
Olympia Fields South- (Med)~  250??? trees
Onwentsia Club, IL - (Med)- 800 trees
Ravisloe CC- ?
Shoreacres- (Med)- 1000 Trees

Indiana
Broadmoor CC (Low)- 140 trees over 2 year period
Highland G&CC- (Med)- 500-600 trees
South Bend CC- (Med)- 500 trees, with more to come down
Victoria National- (High)- 4,000 trees

Iowa
Davenport C.C. - (Med)-  500+ Trees

Kansas

Kentucky

Louisiana
Metairie C.C. - (Med)- 400 Trees

Maine

Maryland
Bethesda Country Club- (low)- 140 Trees

Massachusetts
Berkshire Hills CC- (Low)- 70 Trees
Essex CC (high) 15,000  (Sawdust hero)
 Salem CC (low)- 200 Trees
Southampton Country Club- (High) ~ 3,000 Trees
Taconic Golf Club- (High)- 2,000+ Trees
Tedesco- (Med)- 400 Trees
Vesper CC- (High)- 1,500 Trees

Michigan
Birmingham CC- (Med)- 1000+
Bloomfield Hills- (Med)-900
Battle Creek CC- (high)~ 2,800 Trees
Dunes Club- (Med)~ 400 Trees
Meadowbrook- (Low)~250? Trees
Oakland Hills (North)- (Low)-?
Oakland Hills (South)- ?
Orchard Lake CC- (High)- 1500 Trees
Red Run GC- (low)- 100 Trees
University of Michigan (Low)- ?

Minnesota
Midland Hills CC- (Med) ~ 500 trees
Minikahda Club- (Med)~ 700+ Trees
Town G&CC- (Low)- 215 trees, with 100 more to go.

Mississippi

Missouri

Montana

Nebraska

Nevada

New Hampshire

New Jersey
Montclair Golf Club- (Med)- 1,000

New Mexico

New York
Bethpage (Black)- (High)- 12,500
CC of Buffalo- (Med)- around 750 trees
Garden City Golf Club, NY - (high)-?
NGLA- ?
Sleepy Hollow- ?
Southampton CC- (High)- 3,000 trees

North Carolina
Carolina Golf Club- (Med)- ?


North Dakota

Ohio
Brookside CC- (High)- 3,000-5,000
Inverness- Med-high
Kirtland C.C. - (Med)-  500 Trees
Springfield CC- (Med)- 600-800
Sylvania CC- Low-Med

Oklahoma

Oregon
Astoria CC- (Med)-?
Waverley- (Med)- 800 Trees

Pennsylvania
Chester Valley - (Med)- 300+ trees
Concord - (Med)~ 1300 Trees
Downingtown CC- ?
Green Valley C.C. - (Med)~ 400+ Trees
Lancaster C.C. - (Med)~ 500+ Trees
Longue Vue Club - (Med) 300-400 Trees
Manufacturer's Golf & C.C. - (Med)- 1,000+ Trees
Northampton C.C. - (Med)- 400+ Trees
Oakmont CC- ?, Revolutionaries 
Philadelphia C.C. - (Med)- 1,000+ Trees
Philly Cricket Club (Wissahickon)- (High)~1500+
Rolling Green G.C. - (Med)- 750+ Trees

Rhode Island
Potowomut Golf Club- (High)- 2,500 Trees

South Carolina

South Dakota

Tennessee
Holston Hills CC - (high)-?

Texas
Lakewood- (Low)- less than 100
Ross Rogers - Mustang Course, TX - (mid)- 500 trees
Royal Oaks- (Low)- 250

Utah

Vermont

Virginia

Washington
Fircrest- (Med)- 400 trees
Glendale- (Med)- 380 trees
Inglewood- (Med)- 300 trees
Oakbrook Golf Club, WA - (mid)- 450 Trees
Tacoma Golf Club- (Med)-510

West Virginia

Wisconsin
Blue Mound, WI - (high)-?
Lawsonia- ?

Wyoming



 

[Jason Way]

Essex County, MA - 15,000

[Jason Way]

Bryn Mawr, IL - ~1300
Old Elm, IL - 750-1000

FYI, I have a page on my blog to the subject with before-and-after photos for more additions (although I don't have all the numbers). 

http://geekedongolf.com/2015/01/05/the-sweet-sound-of-chainsaws/

I'll keep looking for you.

J

[BHoover]

Brookside in Ohio took down at least 3-5 thousand. Maybe more.

Springfield CC has removed about 700-800.

Just about every course in Ohio (and many other states) have lost hundreds-thousands of ash trees. Presumably you are excluding this?

[Tom_Doak]

Ben:

This is going to be a long list.  Some personal experience, off the top of my head:

Medinah #1 - (mid) 800 trees?
Medinah #3 - (high)
Onwentsia Club, IL - (high) 800 trees
Blue Mound, WI - (high)
Chicago Golf Club, IL - (low) removed planted backgrounds behind many greens
Garden City Golf Club, NY - (high)
Cherry Hills, CO - (low to mid)  still working on it
Holston Hills, TN - (high)


Another extensive tree program that resulted in vast improvement was at Waverly in Oregon.  Gil Hanse took down a ton of trees there and opened up some great views across the property.

[JStewart]

Oakland Hills removed a fair amount on the South course. Sorry, I don't have a number but I'd wager in the "medium" range. The North course saw some tree removal as well (net loss of about 50 trees, I believe). And I know nearby Birmingham CC removed some as well (probably in the "low" range).

[Keith Phillips]

Montclair Golf Club (NJ) - ~1,000 over past decade

Jason, 15,000 really?  Knowing how much we spent to remove our 1,000 I would guess that 15,000 would bankrupt most clubs!

[David_Tepper]

The Lake Course at the Olympic Club has undergone substantial tree removal over the past 10-15 years. I would love to see a lot more tree taken out, but I don't know if that will happen.

[Jason Way]

Montclair Golf Club (NJ) - ~1,000 over past decade

Jason, 15,000 really?  Knowing how much we spent to remove our 1,000 I would guess that 15,000 would bankrupt most clubs!

So the Super said.  Uncovering the rocky hill in the middle of the back nine must have been an enormous undertaking, and the front nine is almost entirely treeless.  Regardless of the number, the story of the renewal of that course is fantastic - right up there with what has happened at Philly Cricket (which is another one to add to this list).  

I'd also add Lawsonia Links to the list.  That course is almost entirely treeless now too.  Perhaps Dan Moore or Jim Nagle could share the number?

[John Kavanaugh]

Victoria National. 4000+ We haven't turned on the fans yet this year. God do I love our super.

[Nigel Islam]

Victoria National. 4000+ We haven't turned on the fans yet this year. God do I love our super.

Really? Wow I knew the place looked different from when I first played it.

[Jim Nugent]

I think Yale and NGLA both took down lots of trees. 

[mike_beene]

Royal Oaks in Dallas has removed at least 200 and probably 250. The course is still wooded but is dramatically improved in look,playability and airflow. The City of Dallas is very restrictive on the removal of healthy trees and if the tree is deemed healthy a new one must be planted the r a fine payed. Lakewood in Dallas removed I am guessing less than 100 trees from the interior of the course but in a number of cases a good tree was saved by moving it to the perimeter

[BCowan]

Thanks to all that posted.  Hope there are more to come

[Phil Young]

Ben,

Bethpage removed slightly less than 10,000 trees prior to the 2002 Open and then another 2,500 plus prior to the 2009 Open on the Black course alone.

[Kevin Stark]

Highland Golf and Country Club, Indianapolis, IN. Medium -- we will be around 500-600 when we are complete.

[Brian Joines]

South Bend CC in Indiana has removed 500+ trees over the past 4 years. More are planned to go in the future, as well.

[PCCraig]

Jason,

You could add Town & Country Club, St. Paul in Minnesota to the list with a "low" listing. I don't know the exact number, but T&C has probably removed over 200 trees in the recent past. Happy to report that just this past week another 15 or so evergreens have been removed around the 18th tee, making for a nice improvement. I think there are another 100 or so Ash and Elm (all in decline/dead/or dying) that are scheduled to be removed (when exactly I don't know).

A few hundred trees might not seem like a lot compared to some of the numbers above, but our course sits on about 90 acres, so it is a little more noticeable.

[Stephen Pellegrino]

Wianno Club - Osterville, MA - High Tree Removal

My best guess is that we've taken down just over 1,500 trees, and that we are about 70% done. I'd expect us to tackle the remaining 30% over the next several years. Tree removal began in 2009/10 under the guidance of Gil Hanse,  and accelerated with the hiring of a new superintendent in early 2014 (who was previously the superintendent at Whitinsville).

[astavrides]

If I get around to it, I'll try to estimate the climate impact of all this tree removal. It would be good if these courses had a plan to plant at least an equivalent number of trees somewhere else.

[Chris Hans]

Vesper CC in Mass- 1,500+ from 07-10 with I'm sure many more since.

[Andy Treen]

Taconic Golf Club - Williamstown, MA


Since the 2009 Gil Hanse renovation 2000+ trees have been removed.


- Andy

[Aaron McMaster]

If I get around to it, I'll try to estimate the climate impact of all this tree removal. It would be good if these courses had a plan to plant at least an equivalent number of trees somewhere else.

Just curious....what are your qualitfications for making an estimate that I would take seriously?

[Andrew Buck]

Bryn Mawr, IL - ~1300
Old Elm, IL - 750-1000

FYI, I have a page on my blog to the subject with before-and-after photos for more additions (although I don't have all the numbers). 

http://geekedongolf.com/2015/01/05/the-sweet-sound-of-chainsaws/

I'll keep looking for you.

J

Great link.  From that site you can add 500 for CC of Peoria, and I'll add 200 (and counting) at Deer Park CC in Oglesby, IL. 

I played CC of Peoria about 18 months ago for the first time in 16 years (it was one of our Home courses in college) and it was amazing the difference the 500 trees made there.

[Ryan Taylor]

If I get around to it, I'll try to estimate the climate impact of all this tree removal. It would be good if these courses had a plan to plant at least an equivalent number of trees somewhere else.

Wouldn't the climate impact be somewhat offset by the improvement in turf grass quality? (assuming turf improves with tree removal) Healthy turf has many environmental benefits - erosion control, stabilization (dust), run-off reduction, cooling, etc.