SawPoints
Trees on the Golf Course
To get the most out of golf course trees, careful management is needed, says the STRI’s Bob Taylor
T
rees can play an important role on the golf course, depending on its type; parkland courses rely heavily
on trees for their landscape, whereas there will be relatively few trees on a links course. They can provide:
• A strategic point of interest, for example at the back of a green
• An offset gateway in a fairway that golfers can play through
• Definition of a hole • Screening between holes
• General visual impact, particularly on a parkland course.
• Ecological value • Carbon sequestration However, trees can also create
problems for the greenkeeper. They can restrict light and airflow to the turf, slowing the speed at which moisture is removed from the surface. Dew needs to dry before golfers walk on the surface, or fungi can spread, leading to diseases such as fusarium. Roots can spread towards, or onto, the
surface of the green, risking damage to mower blades, and robbing the turf of vital water and nutrients. The greenkeeper needs to be aware that root spread can be one and a half times the size of the canopy! On heathland courses, leaf drip and shading from overhang can threaten heathers. Certain trees can also be inappropriate on golf courses. Leylandii are non native and short lived with a lifespan of 30-40 years. As well as looking contrived and offering minimal wildlife value, they start to degenerate, split and can blow over after 25-30 years. The Lombardy Poplar is another species with a short life, and matures from the inside out, so disease can’t be seen from the exterior. Branches snap off and leaf and twig fall is prolific, presenting dangers to man and machinery.
So, to get the best from golf course
trees, they must be managed. Alongside the greenkeeper’s own skills, he may need to take advantage of specialists such as the STRI. Removing trees can be a contentious issue, but a hemispherical analysis, a technique offered by the STRI
provides a quantitative route to assessing if it is necessary, e.g. by pinpointing in a non-subjective way a particular tree is causing the problem. Where a lack of air movement is the
problem, removing just one or two trees may not remedy it. By assessing where the winter sunlight is in the morning (generally to the south east, tracking south west), the ride of trees up to 40- 50m long by 10-20m wide, which should be removed, can be identified. Even if just one tree is the problem,
remember that it may be home to bats, which are protected by law and can’t be disturbed. A bat survey will establish whether it is possible to proceed. Crown lifting can successfully remove low branches and allow golfers to play from the edge of a green, as well as improving air movement. Localised careful thinning through the understory (where young trees up to 6m high are growing through) is another useful technique, but does need supervision as the understory is an important component of the woodland structure.
While golf club members may worry
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