Michigan Golf Journal February 2020

Michigan Golf Journal Golf Course Maintenance Golf course superintendents like me are very often asked one question: “why do you want to cut down all of the trees?” The fact is, I don’t. There is nothing glamorous about tree removals and there will always be people who didn’t like the decision to either remove or leave a tree standing. As a golf course superintendent, I prefer to steer clear of political decisions; my goal is to make objective decisions based on science. Trees are beautiful, but trees are growing in the same soil as the turf on a golf course. Turf and trees growing together creates a competition for sun, moisture, and nutrients; a competition that is almost always won by the tree, leaving a sparse stand of turf underneath. I once had a very smart professor who posed the question, “do you want to grow trees, or do you want to grow great turf?” The point of the question is you can’t have both, so you need to choose. One factor that is rarely considered when planting a tree is the amount of The Cost of Trees on a Golf Course By Rob Steger, CGCS Saginaw CC