Permits were issued last month for RMG to cut up to 450 trees from the golf course. As of the end of last week, 375 trees were down, said Dave Bugher, Lakewood’s assistant city manager for development. Despite knowing the trees were coming down, Oakbrook resident Steve Sloboda said it was surprising to see just how many were targeted.
For those of you who remember our past, we originally opened as Bentwood Country Club in 1994, but during our $1.5 million renovation in 2004, we became the Oakhurst Golf Club. Today our clubhouse looks as immaculate as ever and our course continues to be manicured to the highest of standards.
Click the button to learn more. Our Oakhurst Grill is open 7-days per week, offering a casual dining experience for Houston golfers. Check out our menu & offers! Oakhurst offers the perfect annual membership to suit Houston Golfers.
We feature 18-holes and 7,002 yards from the Championship tees which meander among towering pines and mature hardwoods native to the area. Designed by Dave Marr and Jay Riviere, this Houston golf course presents a formidable but not overwhelming challenge.
As a crucial part of its 20-year restoration plan, Oakmont removed more than 12,600 trees in what will long be regarded as one of the most definitive architectural renaissances in golf history.
On older golf courses, many trees are usually removed during renovation to provide better growing turgrass conditions and to restore the original playing conditions of the holes.
To prevent infrastructure damage “And that well-irrigated, nutrient-soil under a green is like a buffet,” Cutler says. Problem is, as they forage under greens in search of nutrients, those roots can wind up clogging drainage and wreaking havoc on irrigation systems, which, in turn, does harm to the turf above.
Beauty for the Course1- Accolade™ Elm. The Accolade™ Elm Tree (Ulmus japonica x wilsoniana 'Morton') is hardy, exhibits a graceful, upright vase-shape, with a fast growth rate. ... 2- Capital Pear. ... 3- Armstrong Gold Maple. ... 4- Red Oak. ... 5- Bosnian Pine.
There are no trees or very few, and the land has subtle rolling terrain. However, many links-style courses are not built along the coast.
In fact, after the purge, there is now just one tree remaining on the interior of the course, near the tee at hole No. 3.
Here is the approach at No. 7 in 1983. Again, trees everywhere.
And No. 14 this year. This is the reverse angle, looking towards the green. But again, no trees on the fairway or near the hole .
It was a club divided, however, so the superintendent, with the blessing of the greens committee, had to start removing trees under the cloak of darkness, armed with floodlights, chainsaws, chippers, stump grinders, high-powered vacuums, and sod to hide their handiwork.
Along with Garden City, Chicago Golf Club is another course where where Doak removed a lot of trees, as well as Onwentsia, and Medinah #1.
By Tom Cunneff. “Playing down a fairway bordered by straight lines of trees is not only inartistic but makes [for] tedious and uninteresting golf. Many green committees ruin one’s handiwork by planting trees like rows of soldiers along the borders of fairways.”—Alister MacKenzie.
Hanse cites his renovation of Sleepy Hollow in New York where tree removal made the biggest difference. “Restoring the open nature of the landscape that Raynor and Macdonald crafted has been exciting, and the restoration of the views of the Hudson River has been breathtaking,” he says.
Azinger’s comment contained some truth: Well-positioned trees can have a major influence on strategy and scoring. But Tour pros aren’t the ones who tend to have a problem with them. Far more often, the golfers who get irked are the average Jane and Joe. A lot of clubs have their version of Judge Smails, an irascible stuffed shirt on the greens committee who takes issue with a tree not because it doesn’t belong where it is but because they’re tired of hitting it with their errant tee shots. They complain. And complain. Until everyone gives in and the poor tree goes.
In many cases, superintendents simply remove surface roots by running trenchers along the edges of greens, tees and paths. But when that’s not enough, again: see above.
Grass in shady spots stays wetter longer, and sodden turf is more susceptible to fungus and other diseases . It’s also more vulnerable to invasions of poa annua and other weeds that do better in those damper conditions. The solution? See above
Whether Azinger was right (you could argue that trees aren’t really all that tough on Tour pros, and that, more than anything, thick rough and firm greens are what give them fits), his comment missed a broader point: Golf courses do away with trees for all kinds of reasons, and most of them have nothing to do with scoring.
Turf or tree? You can’t always have both, Cutler says. Which one you choose is a calculus involving many factors. Is the tree really starving out your grass? Depriving it of sunlight? Are its roots unsightly? Are they interrupting your children’s play? Some grasses do better in the shade than others. Creeping red fescue is one of those varietals.
Just ask any golfer with a tender wrist: hitting a tree root is no fun. Trees also get old and wobbly. They get struck by lightning. They topple over.
“But if you keep struggling to grow grass of any kind, you might have to do something about that tree,” Cutler says. Trimming a tree isn’t always cheap. Removing one is even more expensive. But it still might be less costly than home repairs after that tree crashes on your roof.
When the right trees are in the right places on a golf course, they add tremendous value. Trees can provide strategic interest and beautiful views, along with a host of environmental benefits. Native trees also give golf courses a distinctive character that connects them with their surroundings.
When Todd Raisch took over as superintendent of The Ridgewood Country Club in Paramus, N.J., in 1995, trees on the course were overgrown and there were hundreds of non-native trees that had been introduced as part of a planting program. Dense shade and limited air movement around the greens were a recipe for disaster.
Ridgewood and Lake Spanaway are very different golf facilities, but their experiences with tree management have important similarities. Both waited too long to address tree issues and paid a heavy price as a result. Documentation and effective communication were critical for building trust and support for tree removal at both courses. Perhaps the most important similarity was that once people saw the benefits of selective tree removal, support grew and additional work was planned.
Selective tree removal at Lake Spanaway allowed more sunlight to reach the putting surfaces.
The experience at Ridgewood shows how bad things can get when courses wait too long to address tree issues, but it also shows the value of being patient once the process begins. After the initial emergency phase, Raisch was very conscious of not doing too much too fast. He took time to document problems and show the benefits of tree removal. Opponents eventually came around.
However, there can definitely be too much of a good thing when it comes to trees on golf courses, and when trees are planted in the wrong locations, they can cause problems for decades.
While tree management on a golf course makes many people uneasy, we can’t allow our discomfort to prevent necessary action. Trees that are poorly placed or overgrown have countless negative impacts, ranging from playability and turf issues to very real safety concerns. Failing to identify and manage these problems is a classic case of missing the forest for the trees.
The first Inverness Club layout was nine holes designed by prominent golfer Bernard Nichols, likely with assistance from early club member and first course superintendent W. J. Rockefeller. Club lore suggests that Nichols’ original routing had only eight holes by accident. The oversight was corrected by adding a short par three along the ridge parallel to today’s 18 th fairway. This hole possibly became the 13 th in Donald Ross’ design a decade later. A drawing from 1911 shows that early in the club’s second decade more holes were added. However, few details exist of these holes or the Nichols nine.
About 100 years after Donald Ross laid out Inverness’ first championship 18 holes, the club embarked on a major project to “return Inverness to its Donald Ross roots.”. Andrew Green led the design work.
Prior to the 1986 PGA Championship he refined the Fazio holes, especially the par four fifth by removing a pond near the green. Continuing with the lead-up to the 1993 PGA Championship and until recently, he has directed bunker renovation, added yardage and built new tees. About 100 years after Donald Ross laid out Inverness’ first championship 18 ...
However, few details exist of these holes or the Nichols nine. The championship course of today began to develop in 1916 when the club hired the noted golf course architect Donald Ross to lay out 18 holes. Many of the holes still being played were created at this time.
Oakhurst Country Club was designed by Ohio native Jack Kidwell, who took great care to preserve the beautiful natural terrain while still providing a premier championship course. Kidwell deftly utilized the rolling landscape covered with mature trees to create one of central Ohio's most challenging private golf courses.
Property is too small for a golf course. Holes have to be on top of eachother. That aside, the couse is well maintained and the staff is courteous and helpful.
Oakhurst is an old style golf course. A nice piece of land with natural features that allowed construction without moving a lot of dirt. The atmosphere is relaxed and quiet. No housing on the course, except for the last two holes, and it's not obtrusive. Very small greens put a premium on approach shot accuracy. Needs some TLC on some of the tee boxes and there is some ground under repair, but it's not enough to be bothersome. I would go back. I took a guest from out of town, and he loved it, thought the land was beautiful.