Separation In Golf

[Bill Brightly]

Separation and isolation achieved by scale and not barriers is a very keen measure on the quality of the architecture.

And the site... Not every site can achieve this, especially smaller and flatter sites, where wild drives receive no penalty, just a iron to the green from a different fairway.

RCD was mentioned above, Shinnecock is another great course that comes to mind that has both openess and separation. But heather and gorse are far more penal than trees in terms of keeping the golfer on the intended hole. So I think an appropriate number of well placed trees (not rows of pine trees) are needed and most "average" parkland sites.

[Kyle Harris]

Bill,

But even there the trees don't form a corridor, they merely help form the landscape.

[Melvyn Morrow]

A selection of aerial photos courtesy of Scotaviamages . co.uk showing some courses with no or minimal tree planted.

[archie_struthers]

 

In spite of the plethora of trees at Pine Valley, the playing corridors are far larger than most golf courses . Many of the fairways are 1/3 again as wide as most of us play at our favorite clubs.  Although many on this site feel that PV could use some serious tree clearing, its anything but claustrophobic.

That doesn't mean we don't hang on a little too tight on the tee shot on two !

[Steven Blake]

Separation is ok in golf (ala Pine Valley) but nothing can compare to open vistas on the golf course. My take is that open visas allow you to tie the hole you're on with other holes on the property.  You can let your mind wander a little and check out awesome views of the land. The better the land the more you want to see ... That doesn’t mean a landscape devoid of trees but smartly planted trees of high quality whose placement is well thought out. 

If the land you’re on is great ... why cover it up with trees and add separation??  I liken it to a beautiful woman whose is bundled up with 6 layers of clothes on... the more layers you peel off the better the view ... it’s really no different in golf landscapes.  If you have a river, stream, natural rise/fall, pond, or lake open the landscape so they can be viewed and enjoyed. 

In almost every instance when golf courses remove trees to open up vistas, it really, truly enhances the golf course.   The problem arises that those types of tree removals are the most difficult to get approval for because they don't necessarily affect fine turf areas. But that being said, once members/golfers see the after affects of a few of these types of tree removals, it’s hard to deny its long lasting benefits. . .

[Joe Stansell]

I think Chambers Bay is a standout in offering both separation while playing each hole (usually framed by "dunes" on either side) and great vistas throughout -- which are especially expansive from the clubhouse and then on the tee at Holes 5, 9, and 14. In this way, the course allows one to feel isolated from other groups, and yet, simultaneously connected to them as you see them moving below you when you are the higher holes or "bump" into them as you pass through the corridor that separates the transfers from holes 3 and 4, holes 11 and 12, and holes 14 and 15.

Perhaps this partly explains why Chambers Bay is so warmly received?