Tree liability

[Jim Sherma]

My club has been trying to manage the old trees out while replanting in places so that there will be something more mature as the old trees get taken out. The warm winter in PA meant that there was no meaningful removal in the course's interior because the ground never froze fully and larger equipment and trucks could not get across the course without causing damage. As winters get shorter and warmer this will continue to be an issue and likely move more of this work to the drier summer months.


The amount of work required to manage this across 45 holes of golf is going to be very significant but needs to be done. I've had a large chunk of tree come down rather close to me and I doubt I would have walked away.

[mike_malone]

During Brian Chapin’s time Rolling Green did a health inventory of every tree. We then removed the sick and dead ones in the interior of the course.


 Once you do that you can judge how to deal with the remaining trees. Do they affect strategy and views?  How do they look as solitary trees? Many more were then removed.


In the end I believe you need to take out too many to take out enough.


Now we will get Hanse Design’s  advice for planting some to return some original design elements with modern agronomic principles.

[Jaeger Kovich]

MYD - You heard anything recently about the liability in trees in relation to line of sight?

[Carl Johnson]

Seems to me that it's a no-brainer that the course and super should have a tree management program that, among other things, gets rid of trees that for reason of age or disease or whatever pose a danger.  At my club we recently took down what seemed to me to be pleasing tree, very large, that posed no danger.  Yet our powers that be were on top of it, determined that the tree was so old that it now posed a risk, and took it down.  I kind of miss the look of tree, which did not impact play significantly, but the correct action was taken.  Trust the experts.

[Mike_Young]

MYD - You heard anything recently about the liability in trees in relation to line of sight?

You trying to trick me?

[Mark McKeever]

The only thing worse for a club than having most of the trees the same age is having members mostly of the same age.

LOL, well said Mike.