White 9 Tree Removal

Following the completion of the drainage work on the White 9, the NSCC golf course maintenance staff has now turned its attention to the 2009 tree removal project. As in prior years, the project will completed in house by NSCC staff and will directly follow the master plan laid out by golf course architect Ron Forse. It is important to remember that the trees designated for removal have been selected based upon the following criteria:

• Trees in poor health
• Trees impeding healthy turf
• Trees which provide an unfair playing environment

That being said, of the forty-one trees which are slated for removal in 2009, twenty-five are evergreen trees. There are approximately fifty additional trees that will be removed upon the completion of the White 9 project. As was the case with the Red 9 renovation, many of the trees that will be removed in the future will improve course playability by eliminating unfair lies and double hazards. In some cases trees will be replaced with bunkers and NSCC's signature roll-off areas. Additionally, the White 9 project includes the planting of twenty-five new trees which will be placed strategically throughout the course.

Coordinating a project such as this requires the proper environmental conditions. Most importantly a firm turf surface, achieved through either dry or frozen conditions, is necessary. Fortunately ,the recent cold spell has afforded us the perfect opportunity to get out on the course with the heavy tractors, stump grinders, and utility vehicles to complete the project with only minimal disruption to the surrounding turfgrass. As long as conditions remain firm and the golf course relatively snow free, the felled trees are dragged back to the golf course maintenance facility in order to be chipped. By centralizing our brush chipping operation, we are able to minimize the hauling of wood chips off of the golf course. While the wood chips provided by the project are not aesthetically pleasing enough to be used in the clubhouse's vast ornamental plantings, they are recycled and used throughout various areas on the golf course. The utilization of the chips in this manner serves to reduce our overall waste and reduces costs as well.