Getting a crane on the course is a weight issue because low ground pressure is needed, according to Swazye.Īdditionally, Swazye says the company is launching a new product at the Golf Industry Show in February. There are people on the ground and a climber, who ties off a section of a tree, makes the cut and lowers it down. The expertise of tree work involves several people working by hand. We have the expertise to trim trees, keep their shape and eliminate shade problems they create.”
We can move 1,000-pound logs without disturbing the turf. “Most courses don’t have the expertise and special labor, which is primarily climbers working with a rope and saddle, aerial lifts, bucket lifts, cranes, articulating loaders and chippers. “We focus on alleviating these problems, which includes tree removal,” Swazye says. As many superintendents know, trees are a big deal on golf courses partly because they can create turfgrass problems related to shade. brings to a job, according to Jack Swazye, a consulting forester for the company. That needed expertise is exactly what The Davey Tree Expert Co. “For example, you have to lay plywood down before driving over the turf, and you have to put the chipper in an awkward place so it’s out of the way of the golfers because members expect the use of the golf course.” “It’s a lot more difficult and expensive to do tree work on a golf course,” he says. Stiles says he’s gone through almost every tree contractor in his area to hire one. Stiles spent $25,000 in 2005 but doesn’t know exactly what he’ll spend in 2006 on the tree-removal program.īutgereit, who has been at L’Auberge for two years and helped build the course there, says the contractor he hired for tree work understands the delicacy of working on a golf course and stays off the greens and tees and works quietly around golfers. The tree project at Santa Rosa, which has been difficult because the course has little room on its periphery, started in 2004. Possible damage to surrounding trees and the golf course are common reasons why superintendents choose to contract-out tree work. It can cost as much as $2,000 to remove a tree and plant one in its place.” A tree needs to come down in 30- to 40-foot sections, and then each section is run through a chipper. “If we have dead trees, we address it quickly because once a tree is dead, it becomes a safety issue. “We surveyed all the trees and have taken trees out on the basis of safety – those are the first to go,” he says. There are 200 to 300 trees that need to be removed from the course because of that, according to Stiles. Many pines at Santa Rosa are dying because of pitch canker, which is caused by beetles burrowing in the trees. “Pine trees aren’t considered a good golf course tree,” Stiles says. At Santa Rosa, there are hundreds of 50-year-old Monterey pines that were planted when the course was built. In California, Gill Stiles, golf course superintendent at Santa Rosa Golf & Country Club, contracts-out tree work as well. When it comes to treating the trees at Barton Creek’s four courses, Gorzycki hires an arborist to do the work. Ken Gorzycki, CGCS, director of golf course maintenance at Barton Creek Resort in Austin, Texas, also contracts-out tree work such as major trimming or removal because it’s work that’s over and above what his staff is equipped to do.
In addition to removing dead wood, Butgereit has been replacing trees that were lost as a result of the damage caused by Hurricane Rita.īutgereit, who manages a staff of 24 (half of which are part time), says tree work is needed three or four times a year at Contraband Bayou. Anybody can cut down a tree, but you need someone to cut down a tree without damaging the other trees or the golf course.” “I handle the fertilization and the watering needs, but if I get dead wood, I hire a contractor to get it out – whether it’s a dead limb or the whole tree,” he says. Major tree trimming and removal on the four courses at Barton Creek Resort in Austin, Texas, is contracted-out. One area where he calls for help is with tree maintenance. Tree work is one example.Īt the 18-hole Contraband Bayou Golf Club at L’Auberge du Lac in Lake Charles, La., Ray Butgereit, director of golf operations, contracts-out little. But sometimes it’s better to contract-out certain maintenance practices. Typically, most maintenance work is done in-house. Some do more in-house than others, and that usually depends on staff size, budgets and expertise.
The scope of responsibilities for maintenance staffs at golf courses throughout the country varies.
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