Monday, October 29

Tree Cutting Season is upon us!

"As beautiful as trees are, and as fond as you and I are of them, we still must not lose sight of the fact that there is a limited place for them in golf. We must not allow our sentiments to crowd out the real intent of a golf course, that of providing fair playing conditions. If it in any way interferes with a properly played stroke, I think the tree is an unfair hazard and should not be allowed to stand."

- Donald Ross, from Golf Has Never Failed Me


About this time every year I am inspired to sit and write something to the members about tree management.  Most likely because I just removed several of them from the golf course and need to do what I can to defend....errr....explain why.  

Let me start out with one fact that you probably won't believe - I love trees.  There, I said it.  I bloody well love trees.  I am at heart a moderate environmentalist with roots in the Pacific Northwest which is arguably  the "tree-huggiest" of all the "tree-huggiest" places on earth.  You couldn't get me out of the woods as a kid.  Being a child of modest means, vacation was often spent in the trees camping or hiking or fishing or any other activity that involved shorts and wool socks.  This love of the outdoors was one of the major reasons I pursued a career in the green industry in the first place.   I see my job as much as an "environmental manager" as a golf course superintendent.  A "Steward" of the land, if you will.

Now that you realize I am a tofu-nibbling tree hugger, I want you all to know that I don't just drive about the course with my "paint can of death" marking trees for the slaughter to suit my mood that day.  There is a great deal of thought, discussion, and education as to the intent of each removal as well as discussions for possible replacement if deemed appropriate.  Just this past month I took the grounds committee out to each area I wished to remove some trees and made my case in person for each stem.  Once the committee understood my reasoning, they even started coming up with suggestions for further improvements down the road.  In the process, they unanimously approved the removals without hesitation.  A little education goes a long way.

Education is important becaus let's face it - people get very emotionally attached to trees.  They are impressive giants of the landscape that almost instantly bring a sense of nostalgia or imply some sort of inherent wisdom within.  This is a big reason most "city folk" join clubs like ours.  Unfortunately for you sensitive types, trees are just plants.  And just like plants in the landscape, there are some that need pruning, some that need attention, and some just need to be yanked out.   While trees can be beautiful and offer a great aesthetic or environmental benefit,  some are just hard weeds that got too big.

Today, we removed several "hard weeds" for the betterment of aesthetics, playing c0ndition, safety and a long-term improvement of our tree stand.  The top priority was to remove the large oak behind #5 green as seen below.   This is the "sister" tree to the one that fell and damaged the green over the summer.  With many of the trees having fallen around it over the years, this misshapen oak was "hung out to dry" by itself.  My biggest fear was that given the growth habit of the tree and the fact that it had almost no protection it would be prone to falling and damaging the green even worse than it's "sister".  Since it used to be part of a thick stand that has since fallen, mostly due to ash borer, the growth habit was all towards the green, putting almost all of the trees weight right where we don't want it.


Noticably "one sided" tree.  We could have pruned it to relieve the weight, but would have been left with an "upside down feather duster"

The branches hung straight towards the green.
After the oak on #5 was down, we focused our attention to the stand of trees surrounding #3 green.  There are several reasons #3 needed attention.  #1.  This green struggles to stay healthy every year.  Lack of morning sun and air circulation make it difficult to grow quality rough let along a top-performing green.  #2 Several of the trees around the third green are Basswood trees that tend to have poor growth habits in large stands.  Also, basswoods (some people around here call them Lindens-incorrectly I think) are very soft wooded trees that have a tendency to rot and subsequently split when they reach a certain size.  Several of them have fallen during my time here, and I vowed to stay ahead of any potential safety issues.  #3 Several of these basswoods were interfering and competing with more desirable hardwood trees like oak and maples that were lost in the shadow of the "hard weed".
Huge roots and bare ground directly adjacent to the green.


Tough to even have nice rough with so many large trees in the area.
Basswoods tend to like to rot as is seen with the hole in this very large, leaning tree.

Because of the thick stands, the basswoods tend to twist and lean to find sun I presume.  Here an old, rotten basswood is masking and outcompeting a very nice little oak tree.  Hopefully this oak will be here another 200 years.  The basswood would have likely rotted and fallen in the near future if we hadn't removed it - probably wiping out not only the oak tree, but the fence and potentially hit our neighbor's home.

Same species, same habit except leaning toward #3 green.  


A better picture of the basswood leaning towards the oak and the home.


As we suspected, the trees were rotting from the inside out, as they tend to do.  Time to cull the weak!





A new gap for sunlight and air to help the green and the surrounding rough be much healthier.  The two innermost trees in the gap are a lovely little oak on the right and a fairly mature maple on the left that were completely masked by those dangerous basswoods.
As you can see in the last picture, the landscape has changed somewhat dramatically.  We have, however, gained a better growing environment for our green and surrounding rough as well as uncovered two brilliant little hardwood trees that will fill the gap eventually with beautiful, specimen quality plants.  There are more that will be removed over time in this area.

This winter, I will also be looking at options for a professional "tree plan" or inventory of sorts.  This property is at the point where many trees have outgrown their area or never should have been planted in the first place.  I think it is crucial that we continue to improve our stand and even have a sensible plan to re-plant where necessary.  Until we have the time and money to complete our plan, we will continue to remove or plant the "no-brainers".    

I could go on about trees and probably end up with a friggin novel.  For another viewpoint that is likely more thorough, better written, and certainly backed with more knowledge, I encourage you to try the link below for an interesting and certainly more professional viewpoint from the USGA:

http://www.usga.org/course_care/articles/management/trees/Man-s-Friend-or-Golf-s-Enemy-/

Five years ago I was hired to manage this property the best that I could with the member's best interests in mind while applying my 20 years of experience, bachelor's degree, and love of the game.  I feel I have and will always do that to the best of my ability.  Unfortunately, to do that it will occasionally involve cutting old, live, mature trees.  Getting top-quality turf conditions for a demanding membership involves a delicate balance between turf and trees that must be managed with great care.  After reading this, I hope you have a little better understanding of the reasons why we remove a tree.  If you would like more information, don't hesitate to call or email.  If you are the type of person who has to go purchase a new mouse because you just crushed yours in anger looking at the slaughter and tree carnage in front of you, I would encourage you to join the grounds committee and get involved in the process. 

Monday, October 15

Fall Cleanup

After a windy weekend, it is easy to understand that the course would be quite messy come Monday.  Few people probably appreciate the amount of time and labor we spend just keeping the course playable this time of year.  Here's just a brief snapshot of a typical fall day "behind the scenes" as three crew members battle a pile of leaves on #8.  The fall color is beautiful, but we've got a month of this yet to go.  Ugh.


Thursday, October 4

Good Cliches

I received an email today that brings to mind the "good" cliches we hear from time to time such as "live life to the fullest", "life is short", or  "you only live once".  Naturally, we tend to ignore or dismiss cliches because we've heard them a million times, but every now and then, you realize why.  Today was that day for me.

This past August, we hosted the LPGA Jamie Farr Toledo Classic as we have for the better part of the last 25 years or so.  The last three times we have hosted, our advance (lead) official was Doug Brecht.  Prior to becoming our advance official, Doug had served many years here as a rules official.

As advance official, Doug would show up the week prior to the event and work closely with me as well as tournament staff getting the course staged and ready for the tournament and onslaught of pro-ams that were to come.  As usual, Doug showed up Monday of advance week and we went through our usual tour of the course and chit-chat session which I always enjoyed.  Usually, after some small talk, I would pry some good stories from him about his adventures and travels with the LPGA and PGA tours.  It just so happened that he had worked the men's Open Championship weeks before and he shared some interesting stories with me from his time overseas.

The tournament week was approaching, and things were going along normally other than Doug had lamented about not feeling too well late in advance week.  He thought it may be the flu or fatigue, and like any "tough guy" he continued working anyhow.  Sunday evening before the first day of tournament week, Doug was on the golf course setting the Monday pro-am pins amidst our last few rounds of member play.  When I asked him how he was feeling, all I got out of him was "not worth a shit" and he stomped off to continue setting pin placements.

Monday  morning arrived and the first of two pro-ams was off and running.  I went to the LPGA office trailer to touch base with Doug and the rest of his team, and he seemed to be feeling a little better after a nights sleep.  He told me he was off to the doctor, and that the other official Marty would take care of the Pro-ams.  This was the last time I saw him.

Naturally, when Doug was not back Tuesday and then Wednesday, we were concerned.  The only information we had was that he was waiting for blood test results and still "under the weather".  The tournament went on without him.

Late in the week, the tournament still going on, Doug was admitted to the hospital, unconscious, partly paralyzed, and required a ventilator to breathe.  I was walking around the golf course with the man just days earlier, and suddenly he is on a ventilator.  With no concrete answers from the doctors yet, we were obviously scared.

Once the tournament was over, Doug was still unconscious and was airlifted to a hospital more near his home in Norman, Oklahoma where he was finally diagnosed with "West Nile Meningitis".  This is the most severe "neuroinvasive disease" resulting from West Nile Virus that attacks the nervous system.  West Nile Virus is transmitted by mosquito bites.

Today, I received an email from the LPGA regarding his condition, and it remains poor.  He has seen little to no improvement over the past 3-4 weeks and he remains paralyzed and on a ventilator.  Doctors have been unable to establish a prognosis for Doug.

His wife, who I met here in Toledo, is a golf teaching professional and a delightful person.  She has remained by his side constantly.  She has reduced her workload in order to make the trip from their home to the hospital daily.

As you can imagine, with no improvement or prognosis, the insurance companies are pulling back expenditures to support treatment and Doug's wife is being forced to find "longer term living arrangements".  They are looking for new facilities that will accommodate his condition and hopefully keep recovery efforts moving forward.  Unfortunately, portions of it are coming out-of-pocket.  To help with the cost, a benefit fund has been established at Banc First in Norman, OK.  I will donate some money to help a good man and a great friend of golf.

So today - hug your spouse, play catch with your kids, kiss your dog,  call your gramma and remember that "life is short" and maybe things aren't as bad as they seem.