Removing Scrub Trees from Golf Courses.

[Duncan Cheslett]

I took a stroll around Cavendish last night and was stopped in my tracks by this view from the 10th fairway to my left up the short 13th hole. The removal of a few birch trees has revealed a previously unseen tantalising glimpse of a hole yet to be played. IMG_3291 (3) by Duncan Cheslett, on Flickr
Meanwhile, from exactly the same spot, this is the view of the 12th green and back along the hole towards the tee...




...or rather, it isn't!
IMG_3293 by Duncan Cheslett, on Flickr
Was there ever a better illustration of the desirability of removing extraneous trees from golf courses?

[Thomas Dai]

Nice to see. Scrub and the like doesn't half mess-up drainage as well, and thus effect playability etc etc. There are these days some terrific ride-on machines available for doing this kind of clearance work. They look great fun to use as well! Run one over a patch of ground every now and then and the self-seeders that if left unchecked grow into scrub or one day large trees never have a chance to grow. Pre-emptive maintenance I think some call it.
atb

[Duncan Cheslett]

I'm unashamedly low-tech.


I've just ordered me one of these Japanese beauties.   


Silky by Duncan Cheslett, on Flickr

[Kyle Harris]

BUT


Sometimes using the scrub to hold off the reveal is much preferred.


Imagine if you could see the 4th hole at Bethpage Black from the 3rd tee. That would be decidedly worse because you would get your first view of the bunker before "turning the corner" after playing out at #3 green.

[V. Kmetz]

BUT

Sometimes using the scrub to hold off the reveal is much preferred.

Imagine if you could see the 4th hole at Bethpage Black from the 3rd tee. That would be decidedly worse because you would get your first view of the bunker before "turning the corner" after playing out at #3 green.

Perfectly stated...

[Thomas Dai]

I'm unashamedly low-tech.
I've just ordered me one of these Japanese beauties.   


Silky by Duncan Cheslett, on Flickr

Nice to see someone using blades rather than cavity backs!
My real preference though is for - https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=HIBHPT293MI -
Atb

[Duncan Cheslett]

BUT


Sometimes using the scrub to hold off the reveal is much preferred.


Imagine if you could see the 4th hole at Bethpage Black from the 3rd tee. That would be decidedly worse because you would get your first view of the bunker before "turning the corner" after playing out at #3 green.

Sometimes...

[JESII]

I guess in the land of opinion and personal preference there's no room for stating something as fact...so in that light I'll simply say I cannot imagine a single example of scrub growth growing to maturity helping a hole or a course in any way.


I don't know the Black Course well enough to comment on the suspense Kyle references but a distant full view of a hole to be played or already played is enjoyable to me every time.

[Mark Pearce]

I don't know the Black Course well enough to comment on the suspense Kyle references but a distant full view of a hole to be played or already played is enjoyable to me every time.

Quite.  And the sight earlier in a round of an imposing hazard yet to be encountered adds to, rather than detracts from, the thrill. 

[Tom_Doak]

It depends on what you're going for.


At Pacific Dunes, when you get to #3 green, you get to see the ocean (and #13, and Five Mile Point), all of which is great.  But the full reveal comes after the halfway house, when you walk around the corner to #4 tee, and suddenly and unexpectedly you are right there ON THE OCEAN.  The power of such moments should not be underestimated -- and I think it has an impact on how people play #4, as well.

[Pete_Pittock]

It depends on what you're going for.


At Pacific Dunes, when you get to #3 green, you get to see the ocean (and #13, and Five Mile Point), all of which is great.  But the full reveal comes after the halfway house, when you walk around the corner to #4 tee, and suddenly and unexpectedly you are right there ON THE OCEAN.  The power of such moments should not be underestimated -- and I think it has an impact on how people play #4, as well.

When I was playing there at the 4th tee I instinctively played left with many a pick up "X".  Eventually I realized that as close as possible to the ocean was the best way to play the hole.

[Jon Wiggett]

Duncan,


by far the best way is to pull the saplings out of the ground as they appear. This can be done quickly and cheaply by a few members with guidance from the greenkeeping crew.

[Duncan Cheslett]

Duncan,


by far the best way is to pull the saplings out of the ground as they appear. This can be done quickly and cheaply by a few members with guidance from the greenkeeping crew.

Clearly, and going forward that will hopefully happen.


What we have though, is a problem 20 odd years in the making. Not only were thousands of trees planted in the 1980s and 90s, self seeding saplings were not kept in check leading to areas of scrub developing where once there was only moorland grass and some heather. The scrub has in many cases become areas of young woodland.


Older members of course, were the ones who spent many hours planting silver birch saplings in their 40s and 50s thinking that they were improving the course. Not all of them take kindly to guys now in their 40s and 50s advocating mass tree removal.


I'm sure a similar story is being played out at clubs across the world!

[Adrian_Stiff]

I like pockets of scrub and trees, we actively encourage it.


My view is, we are sharing the land with animals and nature, they love these little pockets. I am sure the birds, insects, rabbits, hares, deer love the land we share with them. They are safe too.


What I am not so keen on is where committees have planted every space with lines of trees so the holes start to look to similar.


Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, Silver Birch are 10/10 for me, but like all things you need variety so a golf course with a solitary specie would not be so good for me.

[Kalen Braley]

I like the look of the scrub pine found on many of the Central Oregon courses.

[Jon Wiggett]

Duncan,


by far the best way is to pull the saplings out of the ground as they appear. This can be done quickly and cheaply by a few members with guidance from the greenkeeping crew.

Clearly, and going forward that will hopefully happen.


What we have though, is a problem 20 odd years in the making.

Weetabix Duncan 

[Matt_Cohn]

How exactly does one define a "scrub" vs. a "specimen" or whatever other terms would be proper?

[Sean_A]

How exactly does one define a "scrub" vs. a "specimen" or whatever other terms would be proper?

May as well ask how long is a piece of string.

Ciao

[Pete_Pittock]

How exactly does one define a "scrub" vs. a "specimen" or whatever other terms would be proper?

I wouldn't call the trees in the midpoint of K Braley's pictures scrub trees. The area is a desert and jackpines are primary vegetation.
But if you look at the trees 30-40 miles west of the picture then Kalen would have a slightly more valid point.


The "scrub" forest between the 14th/15th and 15th/16th at Cypress Point is a great set-up for the upcoming view.

[Sean_A]

Specimen trees are just trees which people think are good looking.... no? For some that may mean trees are indeginous to the area, or maybe oddly shaped or simply pretty. However, for the interest of a specimen to shine, it usually needs to stand alone or be near other trees which enhance its beauty. The concept doesn't work as a forest of specimen trees.

Ciao

[Duncan Cheslett]

The concept doesn't work as a forest of specimen trees.

To my mind the pines at Formby work as a forest of specimen trees


Formby-0821_350x305_acf_cropped by Duncan Cheslett, on Flickr


The reason they work is because the club has made sure that they are not obscured by scrub trees or their majesty compromised by an untidy understory.

[jeffwarne]

I don't know the Black Course well enough to comment on the suspense Kyle references but a distant full view of a hole to be played or already played is enjoyable to me every time.

Quite.  And the sight earlier in a round of an imposing hazard yet to be encountered adds to, rather than detracts from, the thrill.

this.
and often an upcoming blind hole or shot "isn't" if one was paying attention. Back in the day players would note pin positions as they passed upcoming holes, even on familiar coures.

[Sean_A]

The concept doesn't work as a forest of specimen trees.

To my mind the pines at Formby work as a forest of specimen trees

Formby-0821_350x305_acf_cropped by Duncan Cheslett, on Flickr

The reason they work is because the club has made sure that they are not obscured by scrub trees or their majesty compromised by an untidy understory.

I would rather have a better view to the sea on this hole. Views of trees are everywhere at Formby. Besides, which is the specimen tree? You can't see THE tree for the forest .

Ciao

[John Emerson]

At some point in history these "scrub trees" were tiny saplings.  This is why mowing native areas once or twice a year is paramount if you want to keep those "weeds" out.  This way they never have a chance to grow and later block views, sun etc..