Selling a Tree Program at your Club by Gary Sherman is posted I.M.O.

[Ran Morrissett]

Gary Sherman (THE Gary Sherman who knows more about Stiles & Van Kleek than anyone) successfully had his club adopt a prudent tree management program. The step by step process that he and his club went through is described in detail in Gary's In My Opinion article.

A lot of people are looking at this site and the more such specific examples of positive change that we can chronicle, the more we might be helping other clubs - you just never know!

For instance, one of Australia's leading clubs is tabling Dunlop White's tree article at their next board meeting and I am sure that they will follow up with Gary Sherman's as well.

If anyone has been involved in a bunker or green restoration project, please consider sharing your experiences as well.

Cheers,

[harley_kruse]

Ran

Curious to know which club in Oz is going to table Dunlop Whites tree article?

HK

[Ran Morrissett]

Harley, RS

[harley_kruse]

Most interesting. I was there only yesterday and as always, I feel that it is the course environs that let it down.

[Paul Richards]

Gary:

Very good article.

[Paul Richards]

Maybe someone out there in GCA-land has
an answer that comes to mind having read
Gary's fine work.

No matter how hard we try to educate the
membership, there are just some individuals
who either refuse to listen, or just would
rather wait until the end and then complain
that "they were never told."  

How do you defeat this apathy?

Gary, did you face this problem at your
club during the process you described here?

[Ed_Baker]

Gary,
Fine work,congratulations.

Paul,
It has been my experience that there is always a percentage of membership that is eternally pissed off about something.No matter the issue,you simply are not going to have it universally accepted.Don't worry about it,do the best you can for as many members as you can,and accept the fact that no matter how hard you try,ANYTHING you do or contribute will be criticized by a few.

[Gary Sherman]

Paul,

You will never please 100% of the membership.  All you want to do is get the key influencers in the club to support the project.  They bring the majority along with them.  Every club has a few stiffs who don't want to change anything.  These are the same people who play 100 rounds a year and spend $10 a month in the 19th hole.  The first major tree project we did after the pilot (which was a few obvious pine trees that needed to go) was removing 16 medium pine trees to the left of the first green.  These were planted in the late 1970's and had grown into a dense pine jungle.  We did the project in early December when there were only a few foolhardy golfers still playing.  Of course rumor mongering spread quickly.  I got my Board supporters to call and stifle a couple of the trouble makers and set the record straight with them.  We also posted a reminder in the 19th hole about the project along with the reasons (ie benefits).  This last winter we removed about 15 or so more trees. No one complained.  In fact a number of people now ask about when we are going to remove the rest that are part of the plan.  If budget was not an issue, it would be done by now.

[Gary Sherman]

For those interested in educating themselves about trees and their relationship to the golf course, this is a partial list of references.

Golf Course Tree Management by Sharon Lily, Arbor Press. This is an easy read and a great introductory education.  This is a must for your library.

Grasses, an Identification Guide by Lauren Brown, Houghton Miflin.  Good reference for identification of native grasses existing on your course.

National Audobon Society Field Guide to North American Trees, Knopf.  Impress your friends by identifying trees on the course.  It will also help you in determining the proper environment for transplants and new plantings.

Landscape Restoration Handbook by Donald Harker, Gary Libby, Kay Harker, Sherri Evans, Marc Evans:Lewis Press.  This is for the serious only-not a laymans reference. Very technical.  Reviews different forest/grassland ecological restoration.