How Would YOU "Bryson Proof" a Course??

[cardia10]

So far today, Bryson is fortunate the Masters has no rough to speak of. Guess we are all driving range legends in our own mind. Watched a small Am driving range contest a few weeks back on you tube. Everyone there hitting it 350-400 yet they aren't on tour. Length is a big benefit, but only if your length fits the hole shape and you know where the ball is going to end up. 

[Cpr3584]

He's a Cinderella boy at Augusta 230 yd 7 iron

[PureDivots]

Remove all sand from 125 yards in. Sand=spin. Firm up the greens and make them roll fast. Reward good iron shots from a distance that have the height and spin to stop and hold the greens.  Closer you get to the hole the longer the rough and maybe narrow up the fairways a hair in the 350-400 yard carry zone.  I want the extreme bombers to think about not being able to keep a 40-90 yard shot on the green especially out of the rough. I want them to think "I am probably better leaving myself 100-140 to get a fuller swing with some bite." 

[Forged4ever]

On 11/10/2020 at 12:20 PM, mocokid said:

Richard could you elaborate on Oakmont, I thought the membership removed all those trees themselves. Of course the chop down all the trees movement going on at most clubs is gonna lead to some easier 2nd shots when the tee ball is off the fairway.  

I hope that all's well and you're gettin to hit the ball👊

 

Regarding Oakmomt, while the membership did indeed remove the trees themselves, it was at the behest of the USGA, which actually gave them a mandate, as I now forget the exact amount of trees on the course in 1994, though the USGA counted them, documented them, and told Oakmont basically what trees and how many had to go if they wanted to remain in the Major's rotation and they gave them an actual tree removal schedule, haha😂😂

 

Initially, Oakmont being Oakmont, and you'd have to know the board members to really understand, however they truly looked/look at Oakmont as hands down, THE finest track in the United States, if not on earth, though I've heard a few begrudgingly give kudos to the Scottish/Irish tracks that it was initially patterned after(The Old Course & Royal County Down), and this is the same group of men that basically told the USGA to pound salt in prior Opens when the board determined the Tourney green speeds, NOT the USGA😂😂

 

So the USGA grew a pair🥜 and basically gave the board boys a mandate, a time frame and a schedule of priority on the tree removals🌲🌳. As a bone(actually two bones🦴) to the club, the USGA kicked Oakmont the 2003 US Am along with the 2010 US Womens' Open, neither of which they probably would've gotten except for this situation, nor did they really care about, cuz for us to co-host the stroke portion of the 2003 Am with Oakmont, it was a major deal for our club, though for Oakmont it was like hosting a collegiate game versus hosting an NFL game. Like Tiger and Jack before him, with Oakmont it's all about PGA Majors!!

 

Having Played the track both Pre and Post tree removal, when it's in Tourney mode, while it is still one of the toughest tracks on earth(I said "toughest," not "best," lolol), it's not what it was with the trees in place, with the reason being that your longest hitters, in the past, with trees, would be in those trees or in the h*ll on earth rough below and around them, and I don't give a sh*t if you're DeChambeau x 2, you ain't goin for the green from that distance, from that rough, onto those greens with a mid iron or longer.

 

Ain't NEVER gonna hapoen!!!

 

So, IF you would've had a full swing shot, you'd be hittin from a 7i up, though most likely a 9i or wedge to play for your third shot. 

 

Now, if your one of the uber long ballers, ya can take it into the other fairway and bring it back, with an unimpeded swing and a clear vision shot, though you still have the glass greens to deal with as far as landing and sticking anything long than a 6i. 

 

It was BRUTAL, and yah, the Tour Boys b*tched up a storm, the USGA listened to em, and Oakmont bent over and took one for the team🤷🏼‍♂️

 

That my friend, is the short version, lol

 

Have a Great Holiday Season Brotha👊

 

Cheers🍻

RP

Edited November 16, 2020 by Forged4ever

[GSDriver]

I'm sorry, I don't get the whole "proofing" courses every time someone starts playing the game differently.

 

Augusta "Tiger Proofed" itself, only to find Jordan Spieth accomplish same on the 'proofed' course....not to mention I think they somewhat ruined ANGC.

 

Lowest score still wins, regardless of what that score is.

[Metro07]

Taller rough, much taller, no help from spectators or marshals to find errant drives and strictly enforce the time limit rule to find their ball.

Edited November 12, 2020 by Metro07

[Cpr3584]

He's all over the course today and could finish over par. Not sure his method is going to work in every major. you need the right balance of power and precision at Augusta. eventually the wild swings will catch up to you 

[Soloman1]

Forget Bryson - how are we going to “Larry Mize proof” a golf course?

[Pepperturbo]

Distance is talked about all the time.  But it's NOT the end all be all for demonstrating high level professional shot-making on TV or to watch in-person.

 

Bryon proof a course means the rough has to be without question, penal.  How about thick 5-6" as opposed to 3-4", more trees paralleling the fairway and tight landing areas.  I want to see "these guys are good", as opposed to banter it about without reason.  I fancy some sphincter tightening on the tee.  At some undermined length it will force those on the tee to reassess and be aware, if he misses the fairway, the only answer is punch out and a stroke, maybe more. 

 

I want to see golfers executing skilled shots and distance control, not golfers hitting woods, hybrids and irons from the tee and still missing the fairways.  That, to my thinking, demonstrates a lack of ability and directional ball control.  Hell, a great many Golfwrx's can do that...

Edited November 12, 2020 by Pepperturbo

[QuigleyDU]

Shorten and widen the course.. Then how far he hits it does not matter.. Growing the rough is an advantage for him not a hindrance. 

Edited November 12, 2020 by QuigleyDU

[swagee]

On 10/1/2020 at 7:47 AM, Forged4ever said:

Hey Gals & Gents, I hope that you all are well👊

 

This is Bryson's take on slowin him down, though what would you do, short of just lengthening the course?

 

My first thought was to set the course up to keep the driver out of his hands, and as far as the rest of the field??

 

Deal with it🤷🏻‍♂️

 

Also, he stated that "distance is now king."

 

Well, distance has ALWAYS been king!!

 

For you youngsters, go back to the archives and read what they said after Jack exploded onto the scene, and Gregory, then Big John and lastly, Tiger🐯 

 

Distance has ALWAYS been King!!

 

Keep the Faith My Friends, we're gonna get through this together😊

 

Fairways & Greens 4ever⛳️

RP

 

https://golf.com/news/bryson-dechambeau-bryson-proof-course/amp/

Just take away his driver, mate 😂

Cheers

[Shilgy]

2 hours ago, Cpr3584 said:

He's all over the course today and could finish over par. Not sure his method is going to work in every major. you need the right balance of power and precision at Augusta. eventually the wild swings will catch up to you 

Could have-didn’t. T20 at the moment about half way thru the afternoon wave.

[mocokid]

4 hours ago, Forged4ever said:

I hope that all's well and you're gettin to hit the ball👊

 

Regarding Oakmomt, while the membership did indeed remove the trees themselves, it was at the behest of the USGA, which actually gave them a mandate, as I now forget the exact amount of trees on the course in 1994, though the USGA counted them, documented them, and told Oakmont basically what trees and how many had to go if they wanted to remain in the Major's rotation and they gave them an actual tree removal schedule, haha😂😂

 

Initially, Oakmont being Oakmont, and you'd have to know the board members to really understand, however they truly looked/look at Oakmont as hands down, THE finest track in the United States, if not on earth, though I've heard a few begrudgingly give kudos to the Scottish/Irish tracks that it was initially patterned after(The Old Course & Royal County Down), and this is the same group of men that basically told the USGA to pound salt in prior Opens when the board determined the Tourney green speeds, NOT the USGA😂😂

 

So the USGA grew a pair🥜 and basically gave the board boys a mandate, a time frame and a schedule of priority on the tree removals🌲🌳. As a bone to the club, the USGA kicked Oakmont the 2003 US Am along with the 2010 US Womens' Open, neither of which they probably would've gotten except for this situation, nor did they really care about, cuz for us to co-host the stroke portion of the 2003 Am with Oakmont, it was a major deal for our club, though for Oakmont it was like hosting a collegiate game versus hosting an NFL game. Like Tiger and Jack before him, with Oakmont it's about PGA Majors!!

 

Having Played the track both Pre and Post tree removal, when it's in Tourney mode, while it is still one of the toughest tracks on earth(I said "toughest," not "best," lolol), it's not what it was with the trees in place, with the reason being that your longest hitters, in the past, with trees, would be in those trees or in the h*ll on earth rough below and around them, and I don't give a sh*t if you're DeChambeau x 2, you ain't goin for the green from that distance, from that rough, onto those greens with a mid iron or longer.

 

Ain't NEVER gonna hapoen!!!

 

So, IF you would've had a full swing shot, you'd be hittin from a 7i up, though most likely a 9i or wedge to play for your third shot. 

 

Now, if your one of the uber long ballers, ya can take it into the other fairway and bring it back, with an unimpeded swing and a clear vision shot, though you still have the glass greens to deal with as far as landing and sticking anything long than a 6i. 

 

It was BRUTAL, and yah, the Tour Boys b*tched up a storm, the USGA listened to em, and Oakmont bent over and took one for the team🤷🏼‍♂️

 

That my friend, is the short version, lol

 

Have a Great Holiday Season Brotha👊

 

Cheers🍻

RP

Interesting elsewhere in the northeast they're chopping away without usga saying a word.

[Shilgy]

@Forged4ever

have you heard anything from any Oakmont members about turf conditions since the tree removal? My understanding is that many courses are reversing the changes made adding trees over the years largely because of the idea that grass does not grow well in the shade. 
The course likely does play a bit “easier” with wider corridors but is the turf healthier?  With the trees they had in the past there had to have been areas where the grass was always thin and is no lusher.

[chippa13]

Leave the courses alone. He'll fizzle like most of the other super-long guys who had their short stints at the top and everyone freaked out about until they became another in a long line of also-rans.

[cardia10]

So does he “identify” as 3 over since his par is 67?

[Forged4ever]

1 hour ago, mocokid said:

Interesting elsewhere in the northeast they're chopping away without usga saying a word.

Ya have to remember also that we're talking about almost 30 years ago cuz the subject was first broached to Oakmont prior to the 1992 Womens' US Open and openly discussed following the men's Open two years later(1994~Ernie Els🏆). 

 

Also, though Oakmont has since removed about 15,000 trees, approximately half of those were downed by 2004-05, with the remaining 7500 taken out in the ensuing decade. Initially, once the board and the USGA had everything worked out, the general membership was not even told and the grounds crew went out at 3-4:00am with golf cart and contractor's night beams and started taking out pin oaks, grinding the trees into dust and throwing sod down in their place. This was all big news and I'm sure that you can find the stories cuz this was a big deal in Pittsburgh at the time, lol.

 

The general membership went apesh*t🦍💩 when they found out later that spring, with cantankerous meetings called off due to screaming matches and once following one of these meetings, a threat was made to call the police if a member did not leave the premises, lol. Also, one group led by two attorneys, one a member of this board, so he shall remain nameless, 😂😂, threatened a lawsuit, though at the end of the day, everyone got on the same page. 

 

The only thing that really didn't get much coverage was the puppet master who started whole "detreeing" movement and was behind Oakmont's board's actions. What's ironic, and this was told to me by their club's attorney(different attorney than WRX member who led the "anti-detreeing" membership movement) is that initially, when the USGA approached the Oakmont board, their board members reacted similarly to how the membership initially reacted to the board when finally told of the movement, minus some of the threats, of course, lolol. 

 

Now, they are the bell weather for the movement and club grounds crew managers from all over the country drop in to speak to the Oakmont Grounds Chief(who's different from the head greenskeeper) about the process. 

 

This lone tree, off of #3 Tee, is the only tree  on the interior of the course. What a difference a few decades makes, lolol

 

Cheers🍻

RP

Edited November 13, 2020 by Forged4ever

[Dr. Block]

6 hours ago, Forged4ever said:

I hope that all's well and you're gettin to hit the ball👊

 

Regarding Oakmomt, while the membership did indeed remove the trees themselves, it was at the behest of the USGA, which actually gave them a mandate, as I now forget the exact amount of trees on the course in 1994, though the USGA counted them, documented them, and told Oakmont basically what trees and how many had to go if they wanted to remain in the Major's rotation and they gave them an actual tree removal schedule, haha😂😂

 

Initially, Oakmont being Oakmont, and you'd have to know the board members to really understand, however they truly looked/look at Oakmont as hands down, THE finest track in the United States, if not on earth, though I've heard a few begrudgingly give kudos to the Scottish/Irish tracks that it was initially patterned after(The Old Course & Royal County Down), and this is the same group of men that basically told the USGA to pound salt in prior Opens when the board determined the Tourney green speeds, NOT the USGA😂😂

 

So the USGA grew a pair🥜 and basically gave the board boys a mandate, a time frame and a schedule of priority on the tree removals🌲🌳. As a bone(actually two bones🦴) to the club, the USGA kicked Oakmont the 2003 US Am along with the 2010 US Womens' Open, neither of which they probably would've gotten except for this situation, nor did they really care about, cuz for us to co-host the stroke portion of the 2003 Am with Oakmont, it was a major deal for our club, though for Oakmont it was like hosting a collegiate game versus hosting an NFL game. Like Tiger and Jack before him, with Oakmont it's about PGA Majors!!

 

Having Played the track both Pre and Post tree removal, when it's in Tourney mode, while it is still one of the toughest tracks on earth(I said "toughest," not "best," lolol), it's not what it was with the trees in place, with the reason being that your longest hitters, in the past, with trees, would be in those trees or in the h*ll on earth rough below and around them, and I don't give a sh*t if you're DeChambeau x 2, you ain't goin for the green from that distance, from that rough, onto those greens with a mid iron or longer.

 

Ain't NEVER gonna hapoen!!!

 

So, IF you would've had a full swing shot, you'd be hittin from a 7i up, though most likely a 9i or wedge to play for your third shot. 

 

Now, if your one of the uber long ballers, ya can take it into the other fairway and bring it back, with an unimpeded swing and a clear vision shot, though you still have the glass greens to deal with as far as landing and sticking anything long than a 6i. 

 

It was BRUTAL, and yah, the Tour Boys b*tched up a storm, the USGA listened to em, and Oakmont bent over and took one for the team🤷🏼‍♂️

 

That my friend, is the short version, lol

 

Have a Great Holiday Season Brotha👊

 

Cheers🍻

RP

I liked it better with trees. It’s a shame the USGA did that. Just another instance of them getting something wrong, in my opinion. 

[Shilgy]

1 hour ago, Dr. Block said:

I liked it better with trees. It’s a shame the USGA did that. Just another instance of them getting something wrong, in my opinion. 

Well, if we want players to play the course as the architect intended perhaps the course should be what the architect designed and built?

[Dr. Block]

18 minutes ago, Shilgy said:

Well, if we want players to play the course as the architect intended perhaps the course should be what the architect designed and built?

That’s fair, though that probably could have been accomplished without removing all but one tree on the course. 
 

Another question that brings me to is: were there no trees on the property when the course was designed? Maybe trees in certain places were part of the original way the designer intended the course to play? I don’t know on that one though.  
 

 

Edited November 13, 2020 by Dr. Block

[Shilgy]

2 minutes ago, Dr. Block said:

That’s fair, though that probably could have been accomplished without removing all but one tree on the course. 
 

Another question that brings me too is: were there no trees on the property when the course was designed? Maybe trees in certain places were part of the original way the designer intended the course to play? I don’t know on that one though.  
 

 

[Dr. Block]

2 minutes ago, Shilgy said:

Well, now we know there were at least two 🙂

[Golfjack]

Stop overreacting people.  He has 7 wins overall, and 3 wins in his best year which was 2018.  Let's wait till he actually wins like 6 times a year to proof anything.  

[Forged4ever]

On 11/12/2020 at 5:42 PM, Shilgy said:

@Forged4ever

have you heard anything from any Oakmont members about turf conditions since the tree removal? My understanding is that many courses are reversing the changes made adding trees over the years largely because of the idea that grass does not grow well in the shade. 
The course likely does play a bit “easier” with wider corridors but is the turf healthier?  With the trees they had in the past there had to have been areas where the grass was always thin and is no lusher.

Short answer is they like the course as is, they like the attention that being in the forefront of the "detreeing" movement has given them and you'd think that it was originally their idea😂😂👍

 

From a course condition standpoint, separating the emotions of the "beauty of the trees," the Playing challenge of dealing with the trees, yada yada yada, only an idiot would try to say that the number of trees that both Oakmont and my Club, which had the second most removed, as we had 12,400+ removed from 2003, a few months before the US Am, through 2017, did not leave the course/turf in much better shape, was easier to maintain, reduced our annual maintenance costs and actually sped up play at our place, lol.

 

Having Played Oakmont after all of the tree removal, I would definitely say that the grass was fuller, lusher & thicker where trees had once been and when grown to Tourney length, the rough is tougher than when the trees were in place, as it's much thicker, though obviously the trees brought into play another obstacle, however, without trees, even if ya outdrive the rough and put it out into the next fairway, ala DeChambeau, you really don't wanna spend four days bringin your balls in sideways right and sideways left onto greens that were designed and pins that were placed on large undulating glass like greens that were meant to be approached from the front🤷🏼‍♂️

 

 While we were looking at removing two trees prior to the 2003 US Am, which we co-hosted with Oakmont, after a few USGA executive committee members along with their agronomist walked the course with us about 3 weeks prior, I tagged along on this lil jaunt, though as co-Chair of the Competition Committee, not a member of the course/green's Committee, and being the lazy pseudo-fat *ss that I was, I rode in a cart, however I will say that the USGA Guys, including the one jerk-off who I've spoken of previously who was at the time a member of both Oakmont and our club, though he since has resigned from both, and was legitimately obese +, walked every friggin yard of the course and the agronomist opined about a few other trees that we might look at taking out, however it by no means was an ultimatum, ala the Oakmont situation, and really not even a request or suggestion, only the opinion of this USGA agronomist, not the two executive committee guys, and I believe that there were 4 other trees mentioned and we ended up taking two of em down, which actually ended up getting us fined $10,000/tree cuz we didn't let the borough know prior, in writing✍️, 😂😂

 

Boy did that go over big at the next general club meeting😂😂

 

I suggested that we give ole fat *ss the bill, as he was on the club finance committee, and his intra-club mailbox was next to mine, lol

 

So yea, once they got the general membership on board, and they saw the money that was in play, plus, a lot of the members enjoyed the course and their rounds much more than when those 15,000+ trees lined the fairways, not having to traipse though, under and around em and for the higher caps, not having to spend 20%+ of their swings  bent over takin half swings and tryin to hit shots that they had little prayers of hitting, so in the end, everyone was happy and and all was forgiven, though for my one Bud, not so much, as he had donated a nice Ford pick-up to the club to use for runnin around and picking up stuff for the course, and apparently the high beams on it were the sh*t, really bright and it really helped em when they were out there in the middle of the night takin down trees, so the group that was led by the attorney got pjssed at Jay cuz they said without the truck the grounds crew wouldn't have cut down as many trees as they had when the club found out(about 17-20😂😂). These are full grown intelligent *ss men who acted like this😂😂. I was dyin when he told me

that he had a mind to take the truck back. I told him that I didn't think that he could do that as he had signed the owners card/registration over to the club, though I think that it was just an emotional reaction versus a logical decision, lol. Some took the tree removal more personal than others, lol.

 

Take Care Brotha and have a Great Holiday Season👊

Richard 

 

 

Edited November 14, 2020 by Forged4ever

[Forged4ever]

2 hours ago, Golfjack said:

Stop overreacting people. 

Most accurate statement in the thread!

 

Cheers🍻

RP

[milesgiles]

44 minutes ago, Forged4ever said:

Most accurate statement in the thread!

 

Cheers🍻

RP

 

Surely all these trees were simply too close to the fairway? This is the typical Surrey/Berkshire heathland approach

 

[url=https://imgbb.com/][img]https://i.ibb.co/fxJbmJF/6356-D2-B5-DFFE-4871-9-CA6-9-CF620-DB313-D.jpg[/img][/url]

 

 

Most golfers couldnt reach the tree line on most holes, they simply frame the hole. But if you are in them, they’re Scots pines, which I believe is the perfect tree for a golf course, no low branches so you usually have some sort of shot out..

Edited November 13, 2020 by milesgiles

[Forged4ever]

22 hours ago, Dr. Block said:

That’s fair, though that probably could have been accomplished without removing all but one tree on the course. 
 

Another question that brings me to is: were there no trees on the property when the course was designed? Maybe trees in certain places were part of the original way the designer intended the course to play? I don’t know on that one though.  
 

 

Following HC Fownes' design of Oakmont, which it is said that he drew his greatest inspiration from The Olde Course & Royal County Down, there were very few trees, with the number that gets thrown around being 3-4, though I've asked where that number came from and no one can provide a definitive source(ideally in course designer Henry C(HC) Fownes' own words), so I gathered that this number(s) came from individual pictures in the Mens' Card Room of the original 18 holes as designed by HC Fownes. 

 

Though I have long ago grown tired of HC's most famous quote, "A shot played poorly is a shot irrevocably lost," which every hard core member will drop on ya if you're Playin with em and b*tch about an errant shot/putt, lolol, it most definitely was THE driving force behind Mr. Fownes' original course design and any changes that he alone personally made over the decades(From 1904 through mid-June 1946, either HC or his son, WC, ran Oakmont CC as the only two presidents that the club had had up to that point in time, basically as a dictatorship), sometimes making a profound permanent change within 24 hours, as he would sometimes accompany groups around the course and if he saw errant shots hit by the group that did not cost the player hitting it at least one stroke, he would have a bunker in place where the player had stood by the next morning.

 

However, Ole HC could turn it up a notch and this story originally came to me from Sam, who didn't care for HC😂😂, though I've seen it in print elsewhere and that was when Sam, who was Playing a morning practice round in a WW II money raising exhibition(war bonds), found that if he hit a cut-fade on #7 into the right rough, he could shave off 25-30yds of the then 459yd Par 4. Well, Sam bein Sam, he was spoutin off about his brilliance in finding this "short cut" in his trek around the track that morning, and when he hit 7 tee that afternoon ready to show everyone how this hole was REALLY meant to be Played, to his utter amazement, and subsequent consternation, was a large 35 yard bunker, minus a full bunker full of sand, though a god forsaken mixture of mud/dirt & sand, where grass had been that Morning😂😂(It was later turned into 3 individual bunkers). It turned out that when Sam was poppin off during a lunch break in the clubhouse, one of the course maintenance employees had overheard him, immediately contacted HC, who mobilized the heavy equipment, hit the course and oversaw the excavation himself, lol. As I stated, the story is documented and another one that you'll grow sick of hearing if ya ever speak to an "Oakmonter," lol. I, unfortunately, had to listen to it from both a few of those knuckleheads AND Sam, as we Played the track together 8 times through the years, I was in his group 5 times and had to listen to his retelling the story while standing on 7 tee EVERY SINGLE FRIGGIN TIME🤪, lol.

 

So, the Fownes' preferred method of penalizing "errant golf shots" was not to add trees(this would come post-1950 when WC passed away though he in fact stepped totally out of the picture in 1946), however to add another bunker or two, or in a fit of madness, one HUUUUUUGE trap, ala the world famous 100yds+ by 50yds+ football field bunker on #3(circa 1935), grow the rough longer or give the greens a good shave.

 

Stay Well Brotha and thanks

for responding👊

 

All the Best,

Richard 

Edited November 14, 2020 by Forged4ever

[drbonesvt]

13 hours ago, Forged4ever said:

Ya have to remember also that we're talking about almost 30 years ago cuz the subject was first broached to Oakmont prior to the 1992 Womens' US Open and openly discussed following the men's Open two years later(1994~Ernie Els🏆). 

 

Also, though Oakmont has since removed about 15,000 trees, approximately half of those were downed by 2004-05, with the remaining 7500 taken out in the ensuing decade. Initially, once the board and the USGA had everything worked out, the general membership was not even told and the grounds crew went out at 3-4:00am with golf cart and contractor's night beams and started taking out pin oaks, grinding the trees into dust and throwing sod down in their place. This was all big news and I'm sure that you can find the stories cuz this was a big deal in Pittsburgh at the time, lol.

 

The general membership went apesh*t🦍💩 when they found out later that spring, with cantankerous meetings called off due to screaming matches and once following one of these meetings, a threat was made to call the police if a member did not leave the premises, lol. Also, one group led by two attorneys, one a member of this board, so he shall remain nameless, 😂😂, threatened a lawsuit, though at the end of the day, everyone got on the same page. 

 

The only thing that really didn't get much coverage was the puppet master who started whole "detreeing" movement and was behind Oakmont's board's actions. What's ironic, and this was told to me by their club's attorney(different attorney than WRX member who led the "anti-detreeing" membership movement) is that initially, when the USGA approached the Oakmont board, their board members reacted similarly to how the membership initially reacted to the board when finally told of the movement, minus some of the threats, of course, lolol. 

 

Now, they are the bell weather for the movement and club grounds crew managers from all over the country drop in to speak to the Oakmont Grounds Chief(who's different from the head greenskeeper) about the process. 

 

This lone tree, off of #3 Tee, is the only tree  on the interior of the course. What a difference a few decades makes, lolol

 

Cheers🍻

RP

Richard love those posts - Pittsburgh born and raised myself (now a yankee in Texas ) - love the history , have been fortunate enough to play a couple times and pre and post oakmont forest over the years.   Last played after the 2007 open
 

2016 - no trees won by DJ a bomber ; -4 imop not a dismantling of the course 

 

 

[Hawkeye77]

We have a few too many trees, but not unreasonable on our course.  Mostly some nuisance trees that are dead/dying and gradually being cut down.  All planted by original and successive owner with no thought other than "the course needs more trees".  New owners addressing the issue finally after several years and dead trees increasing (old messy cottonwoods with limited lifespan).  There are a lot of pine trees and they've discovered by surprise, but for the good, that trimming them all up about 6 feet to speed up play actually has greatly improved air flow - fairways are better and healthier, weeds easier to keep at bay, etc.  Another area course simply couldn't keep its fairways consistent and dense until it figured out a few years ago that trees had grown to the point they were the major cause of the problem.  

[Cpr3584]

well a 63 year old man hitting it 265 yards off the tee just beat Bryson in the first round. his distance argument has officially been put to bed