Damn good question. I always just tend to try to picture the shot with and without the tree in question, and in this case it is very close. You are absolutely right that the presence of the center tree off the tee does require one to make a conscious shot choice - and execute it - to have any chance at all at success on the golf hole. And the choices aren't easy, and the execution is damn tough. I'm just leaning toward the idea that without the tree there, choices still need to be made - you still have to decide if you want to hug the right (making an easier approach, but bring more trouble into play on the tee shot) or bail left, which makes for a harder approach, bringing the green-side monster tree more into play. So the choices are LESS, and the execution is easier, but not to an extent to ruin things, in my mind. Given that the trees on both sides of the fairway are very much in play, and the green-side tree dominates all approaches (and the thought process on the tee with or without the center tree), well... the presence of the center tree does seem to me to be overkill.
But you know me, I am malleable, agreeable, shift with the political winds, am a first-class waffler, etc. I could change my mind on this any second.
